What occurred in january 1787 when a group of ex-revolutionary war soldiers, fearful of losing their property to creditors and tax collectors, forcibly prevented the courts in western massachusetts from operating?

Shay's Rebellion.

The Rebellion itself and their reason for it comes directly from the weakness that the Articles Of Confederation cast on the central government. Daniel Shays, a Revolutionary War veteran and leader of the Rebellion, along with four thousand other rebels, protested the economic and civil rights injustices that plagued the nation at the time. They tried to raid the Springfield Armory in order to acquire weapons to overthrow the government, but they failed. However, it was not a national army that put the rebellion down, but privately funded militiamen, as the country did not have the sufficient funds to fund troops.

Ultimately, this occurrence served as the catalyst for the writing of the Constitution, and the elimination of the highly ineffective Articles Of Confederation.

The Shays Rebellion occurred.