Jefferson flirted with Jacobinism while Sam Adams steadfastly opposed it.
What ultimately disillusioned Jefferson was his increasing realization that the Parisian mob controlled the entire country, and that the Assembly only represented Paris, not France - sending emissaries to replace elected local officials with Paris appointees.
It is very unlikely that anyone on this side of the Atlantic would have tolerated, much less called for a Parisian Reign of Terror.
It was called for by many pamphleteers at the time. Most foreign observers did not realize that it was the Terror until it was already over.
If Bradford was some kind of home grown Robespierre, then I can’t find any evidence of that in a cursory investigation.
That's because his attempt to seize Pittsburgh failed. If Robespierre had received one or two fewer votes in the Convention to get appointed to the Committee of Public Safety, he might never have taken power and would be remembered as harmless today himself.
Furthermore, it is my opinion that people who oppose unjust taxes are not — indeed can not be — leftists.
That's just the issue: what is an unjust tax?
If Obama voters were suddenly to be taxed at the same rate as productive Americans, there would be riots in the streets.
Why? because they want productive citizens to shoulder all the tax burdens and pay for them. Not because they are secretly conservatives.
This is also what the majority of the Whiskey Rebels wanted too: despite the name, the majority of the protesters were not landowners or distillers, but simply opponents of Easterners. They favored increasing property taxes on the rich rather than paying sales taxes on whiskey.
Excellent post. Thanks!