Chafing at the way the restrictions imposed by the Spanish officials hampered their commerce, the people were readily led by Wilkinson and his associates to consider the Federal authorities as somehow to blame because these restrictions were not removed.
The Indian Ravages.
The discontent was much increased by the growing fury of the Indian ravages.

There had been a lull in the murderous woodland warfare during the years immediately succeeding the close of the Revolution, but the storm had again gathered.

The hostility of the savages had grown steadily.

By the summer of 1787 the Kentucky frontier was suffering much.

The growth of the district was not stopped, nor were there any attempts made against it by large war bands; and in the thickly settled regions life went on as usual.