The U.S used the Texas-Mexico border dispute to annex Texas as a state and gain more land from Mexico. Basically all the land that Mexico owned in North America was given to the U.S after the U.S defeated Mexico in the war.
American founding fathers were concerned with the limits of democracy. Their concerns are similar to those of political philosophers such as John Stuart Mill (<em>On Liberty</em>) and Alexis de Tocqueville (<em>Democracy in America</em>). In particular, they were concerned that an excess of democracy would lead to a “tyranny of the majority.”
The tyranny of the majority refers to a situation in democratic rule where a self-interested majority can put their interests above those of the minority. It is an inherent weakness of majority rule and can lead to the oppression of minorities.
Alexander Hamilton wrote to Thomas Jefferson about this worry after The Constitutional Convention in 1787, and the constitution that was drafted reflects these concerns. The Electoral College is partly a safety mechanism to prevent the democratic victory of a tyrannical despot. Other mechanisms introduced were the Bill of Rights and the division of power, which prevents the centralization of all power in one individual, even a democratically elected one.
One way could be by accusing others of being witches, drawing the attention off themselves and bringing it somewhere else.