They saw it coming.
Franklin saw it coming, too...as he dourly noted at the close of the Constitutional Convention, that the government they created, should serve well "for a Score of Years, before ending in Tyranny, because the People have become Corrupt."
Franklin underestimated the power of the Constitution - it worked largely as intended for 160 years, before the corruption of the New (raw) Deal and removal of Senators as the States' voice. It limped on for another 65, before the Left, having created chaos with foreign policy, dollars, and insane immigration policies, all led us to September 11. And of course they never let a crisis go to waste - SOME Dumbo operative had the "Patriot" Act on a thumb drive to give to bumbling, gobsmacked W, to get behind. Just as twenty years later, another Dumbo operative had Operation Warp Speed at the ready, along with a list of Ex-O lockdown orders.
But that's another matter. The Constitution survived one attack after another, for 225 years. That's about the length of time an empire or republic historically lasts. We did good...the trouble for us, now, today, is, we're about to deal with the collapse.
That's no fun.
While I think decentralization, such as dissolution of the Washington Empire, is a way to bring order to our collapse, we couldn't have worked such a government back circa 1800. Remember, it was tried - and it failed, with the Articles of Confederation.