=243. Dangers shown by Shays’ Rebellion and Other Disturbances.=—In New Hampshire an armed force assailed the legislature at Exeter and demanded an issue of paper money. In Massachusetts, the collection of debts and taxes was forcibly resisted. The people in the central part of the state, led by Daniel Shays, collected into a motley army, and not only attacked the arsenal, but kept the state in a turmoil for more than six months. At length “Shays’ Rebellion,” as it was called, was put down by Governor Bowditch (1787), but with difficulty. Not one of the insurgents was punished. The states seemed to be growing farther and farther apart and more and more independent. There was really great danger that this tendency would go on till the United States, like Europe, would be made up of many independent nationalities. As if to make improvement impossible, the framers of the Articles of Confederation had provided that no change in them should be adopted unless agreed to by all the states. The consequence was that whenever any change was proposed, some state objected and the proposal was lost. It was a time of such perplexity and danger that it has been aptly called, “The Critical Period in American History.” THE CONSTITUTION. [Illustration: ALEXANDER HAMILTON.] =244. First Effort for a Convention.=—During all this time Washington, Hamilton, and Madison had been writing letters to show that a change was necessary and to devise a means of bringing it about. At length, the legislature of Virginia issued a call in 1786 for a general convention to meet at Annapolis, Maryland. But the smaller states were very shy of committing themselves to any scheme proposed by any of the larger states, and only five states responded to the call. Of course nothing could be done. The very absence of representatives, however, revealed some of the difficulties of the situation. =245. Second Effort toward a Convention.=—The next year another course was adopted and with greater success. The call for the convention was issued by Congress. The purpose of the call was not to frame a new constitution, but to modify the old one. Twelve of the states appointed delegates, Rhode Island, the smallest of the commonwealths, alone standing aloof. The convention met at Philadelphia in May, 1787, and unanimously chose Washington as its president.