Daniel Shays was a farmer that fought in the revolutionary war. The Articles of Confederation had no power to collect taxes, and therefore, no power to pay their soldiers. Shays was put in a horrible position, as he had left his farm for years only to not get paid. Not only was he not getting paid, but the new Continental Congress was trying to pay off a war and was imposing slightly harsh taxes, which is obviously money Shays and others in his position didn't have. Shays gathered some of these people together. They ended up rioting and burning down courthouses, basically saying "if you don't have the documents, you can't prove we owe taxes."
