08 January 2008
The Articles of Confederation
Even more daunting than adopting state constitutions was the framing of a government for the United States. When Great Britain finally concluded a peace treaty in 1783, letting the American Colonies go, the nation was composed of 13 state governments.
Early nationalist sentiments soon collided with parochial interests, with suspicions of how central power might be used to the disadvantage of individual states. Drafting of a structure to link the states had begun in 1776, but it was 1778 before the Articles of Confederation were adopted and 1781 before all the states had agreed to that document. Distrust of central power was manifest in Article II, which declared, "Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled."
The Articles of Confederation created a central government that proved feeble and ineffective. In Congress, each state, regardless of population, had an equal vote. The state legislatures were allowed to decide how delegates to Congress were to be appointed, and a state could recall and replace its representatives at any time for whatever reason it chose.
Congress lacked the powers essential to accomplishing national policies. It had no taxing power, having to rely instead on the states' willingness to provide funds -- and the states often proved unwilling. The vote of nine of the 13 states was required for Congress to exercise its powers, such as making treaties or borrowing money. Amendments to the articles required the assent of all the states, giving every state a liberum veto, that is, sufficient veto power to paralyze democratic process. Tiny Rhode Island thus could thwart the will of the other 12 states -- as it did in vetoing a proposal to give Congress the power to levy duties on imports.
In particular, commercial rivalries spawned trade discrimination among the states. Landlocked states found themselves at a notable disadvantage, dependent on states with good seaports. Founding Father James Madison likened New Jersey, situated between New York and Philadelphia, to "a cask tapped at both ends," and North Carolina, between the deep harbors of Hampton Roads and Charleston, to "a patient bleeding at both arms."
The feebleness of the central government further was highlighted by the lack of executive or judicial power to deal with domestic disorder. For example, beginning in 1786, during a period of economic depression, mobs of impoverished farmers in western Massachusetts prevented the courts from functioning and ordering foreclosures. Daniel Shays, a farmer and former Revolutionary War officer, led a force attempting to seize the arsenal at Springfield, Massachusetts, but was repulsed.
In general, perhaps no flaw in the articles was as glaring as the inability of the central government to act directly on individuals, rather than hope for the states to act.
In 1785, Virginia and Maryland appointed commissioners to settle disputes over uses of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributary rivers. These delegates then called for the states to be invited to discuss whether a more "uniform system" of trade regulation might be in their "common interest." Congress responded by calling a meeting at Annapolis, Maryland, in 1786. Only five states attended that meeting, and its members recommended that there should be a constitutional convention in Philadelphia to consider what should be done "to render the constitution of the federal government adequate to the exigencies of the Union."
Virginia took the lead in appointing a delegation, and other states followed, forcing Congress to act. Finally, in February 1787, Congress endorsed the calling of a convention. Significantly, however, Congress's resolution said that the convention should assemble "for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation" and reporting to Congress revisions that would become effective only when agreed to by Congress and confirmed by the states.
