The Columnist Manifesto

From Alexander Hamilton, by Ron Chernow:

In June 1783, two months after ratification of the provisional peace treaty with Great Britain, most of the soldiers in the continental army had not been paid their wages. Indeed, many were owed several years of back pay. But an impotent Continental Congress was unable, or unwilling, to impose taxes to raise money to pay off and muster out the troops.

A disgruntled band of soldiers billeted in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, marched on Congress in Philadelphia to demand their pay. Armed with muskets and bayonets, they surrounded the hall of Congress, made threats and demands, and got increasingly drunk and unruly. The members of Congress refused to bargain with them. But since the governor of Pennsylvania refused to call up the militia to protect Congress from the mob, the members decided to retreat to temporary quarters in Princeton, New Jersey.

These quarters -- both the living accommodations and meeting rooms -- were cramped. James Madison bunked in a tiny single room with one bed, which he shared with another congressman, and no writing desk. The title of this post was his complaint on that point.