In the fall of 1786, George Washington got a letter that I imagine messed up his whole day.

I picture him in his study out there at Mount Vernon. Outside his French-pained windows,

several hundred captive black people are toiling away on his vast farmlands. Washington

is 54, but feeling older. His rheumatism is acting up. It's been three years since the

Treaty of Paris ended the Revolutionary War with the British recognizing the United States.

Washington spent eight years away from home leading the continental army, so he's written

that he wants to live quietly from now on, under the shadow of my own vine and my own fig tree.

There, at his desk, he opens the letter from his friend and former military officer, Henry

Knox, writing from New York.

My dear sir, I have long intended myself the pleasure of visiting you at Mount Vernon,

and although I have not given up that hope, Knox gets past the pleasantries and to his point.

He tells Washington about the commotions in Massachusetts, farmers protesting high taxes and

showing up with guns by the hundreds to shut down county courts.

This dreadful situation has alarmed every man of principle and property in New England.

They start as from a dream and ask what has been the cause of our delusion.

Wealthy people in New England wanted these protests to stop, but the Articles of Confederation,

the nation's first federal agreement created after the Revolution, gave the national government

no power to tax, make federal laws, or keep a standing army. The Articles tied together

loosely what were essentially 13 independent republics. The Confederation Congress could

sign treaties, print money into clear war, but couldn't put down uprisings like the one

in Massachusetts. So, Knox is telling Washington, the current arrangement just doesn't work.

Our government must be braced, changed, or altered to secure our lives and property.

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