The American Constitution and the Myth of Shays Rebellion

David Frum: The myth of Shays Rebellion and how it relates to the Constitution is ubiquitous. He says that a popular leader who provoked an insurgency against the state of Massachusetts in 1787 was only sort of at the last minute put down by combination of federal and state, militia and federal forces. That experience was kind of the last straw that really justified kind of authorized in the public side, the constitutional convention of 1787, right? And he says delegates went into that convention saying, look, we need to create a strong state that can suppress these kinds of rebellions so that we don't have to deal with demagoguery in the future.