The Nightmare of Despotism

"In 1786, armed men shut down courts in five counties across Massachusetts and, early the next year, marched on the federal armory in Springfield. The mobs included debtors trying to prevent the courts from foreclosing on their farms, and opponents of centralized government. The insurrectionists believed that the newly adopted Massachusetts Constitution, drafted in 1779 by John Adams, would shift power from the poor to the rich, from the many to the few, from the backcountry to Boston, from democracy to aristocracy."

"Observing the rebellion from New York, Hamilton worried that civil unrest in Massachusetts could augur the rise of a demagogue on the national stage, one who might pander to angry debtors across America and threaten the stability of the new nation. The insurrection was eventually put down by a private army hired by Massachusetts Governor James Bowdoin, after members of the state militia refused his call to do so."

"In Hamilton's view, the greatest threat to the American experiment was a demagogue who might flatter the people, overthrow popular elections, and consolidate power in his own hands. "Of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics," he wrote in "Federalist No. 1," "the greatest number have begun their career by paying an obsequious court to the people.""

Shays's Rebellion (1786–87) saw armed debtors and opponents of centralized government shut courts across Massachusetts and march on the Springfield federal armory to prevent foreclosures. Insurrectionists argued the Massachusetts Constitution concentrated power toward the rich, the few, and Boston. Revolutionary veteran Daniel Shays led the protests after suffering crippling debts. Massachusetts Governor James Bowdoin hired a private army to suppress the uprising after state militia members refused to act. Observers in New York feared the unrest could empower a national demagogue to seize popular support and threaten republican stability, prompting calls for a stronger federal framework.

Read at The Atlantic