It's June 20th, 1783.

Philadelphia, the heart of the American experiment.

400 armed soldiers of the Continental Army march toward Independence Hall.

The war is over. Last shots of the revolution have been fired, but the peace?

That hasn't quite yet arrived.

The Treaty of Paris, that final diplomatic bow tying off the conflict, is still two months from being signed, and now the soldiers who fought for American independence are turning

their weapons on the very Congress they once defended.

James Madison watches from Inside Independence Hall and writes later that the soldiers were

pointing muskets to the windows, quote, end quote.

He said that they were drunk, angry, and, quote, becoming increasingly abusive.

They want their pay. America, this patchwork of 13 states, is buried under a mountain of war debt, loans from France

obligations to the Dutch bankers, and worst of all, back pay owed to the very soldiers who

bled for the nation's freedom. The Young Republic has no real treasury, no power to tax, and barely the power to function.

These men, who stared down the red coats and endured brutal winters of near starvation, are now facing a bitter truth.

They might never ever see a dime of what was promised.

Whispers in the barracks turn to shouts and suddenly 400 Continental Army troops erupt into action.

The soldiers bar the door of Independence Hall. The delegates are now trapped inside, held hostage by their own troops.

The crowds outside grow more and more restless, fueled by the rum and their sense of betrayal.

It's a full-blown mutiny, a powder keg ready to explode, the fragile unity of a nation barely

born.

It takes Alexander Hamilton, himself a veteran of revolutionary battles, to calm things down.

He negotiates, convincing the soldiers to stand down just enough for Congress to leave the building

...