selves. They were to learn this through a state of things verging upon anarchy; amid the decay of public virtue, the conflict of sectional interests, and the almost total dissolution of the bands by which society is held together. In this state of things was to be at last developed the fundamental idea on which the Constitution of the United States now rests-the political union of the people of the United States for certain limited purposes, as distinguished from a union of the states of which they are citizens.

We have, therefore, now reached the first stage in the constitutional history of the country. What has thus far been stated comes to a single point, the earliest great illustration of the radical defects in a purely federative union. The next stage which succeeds presents the second illustration of this important truth.

CHAPTER V.

NOVEMBER, 1777 - MARCH, 1781.

ADOPTION OF THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION.-CESSIONS OF WESTERN TERRITORY.-FIRST POLITICAL UNION OF THE STATES.

We have now to examine the period which intervened between the recommendation of the Confederation by Congress, in November, 1777, and its final adoption by all the states, in March, 1781, a period of three years and a half. The causes which protracted the final assent of the states to the new government, and the mode in which the various objections were at length obviated, are among the most important topics in our constitutional history. But, before they are examined, the order of events by which the Confederation finally became obligatory upon all the states should here be stated.

The last clause of the Articles of Confederation directed that they should be submitted to the legislatures of all the states to be considered; and if approved of by them, they were advised to authorize their delegates to ratify the instrument in Congress; upon which ratification it was to become binding and conclusive. On the 20th of June, 1778, a call was made in Congress for the report of the delegations on the action of their several states, and on the 26th of the same month a form of ratification was adopted for signature. On the 9th of July the ratification was signed by the delegates of eight states: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and South Carolina. North Carolina ratified the Articles on the 21st of July; Georgia on the 24th; New Jersey on the 26th of November; Delaware on the 5th of May, 1779; Maryland on the 1st of March, 1781. On the 2d of March, 1781, Congress met under the Confederation.

Undoubtedly one of the causes which deferred the full adop

tion of the Confederation to so late a period after it was proposed was the absence from Congress of many of the most important and able men, whose attention had hitherto been devoted to the affairs of the continent, but who began to be occupied with local affairs soon after the extraordinary powers were conferred upon Washington. In October, 1777, Hancock left the chair of Congress for an absence of two months; and the votes on a resolution of thanks to him for his services as presiding officer show a great paucity of talent in Congress at that moment.' Twentytwo members only were present, and of these the only names much known to fame, at that time or since, were those of Samuel Adams, John Adams, and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, the two Lees of Virginia, Hayward and Laurens of South Carolina, and Samuel Chase of Maryland. Franklin, Arthur Lee, and Silas Deane were then in France. Patrick Henry was Governor of Virginia. Mr. Jefferson was in the Legislature of Virginia, having left Congress in September, in order, as he has himself recorded, to reform the legislation of the state, which, under the royal government, was, he says, full of vicious defects. Mr. Madison was also in the legislature of his native state, a young man of great promise, but unknown at that time as a continental statesHe entered Congress in March, 1780.

man.

In the year 1778, when the delegations were called upon for reports on the action of their several states upon the Confederation, and when the first objections to the Articles were to be encountered, Hancock had returned to Congress. Samuel Adams and Elbridge Gerry were among his colleagues from Massachusetts. John Adams was in Europe, as Commissioner of the United States to the court of France. Dr. Franklin was still abroad. Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, Laurens and Hayward of South Carolina,

1 Hancock retired on the 31st of October, for a short absence, after an unremitted service of two years and five months in the chair. A vote of thanks was moved, as soon as he had concluded his address; but before the question was put, it was moved "to resolve, as the opinion of Congress, that it is improper to thank any president for the discharge of the duties of that office;" and it is a curious fact that on this motion the states were equally divided. The previous motion was then put, and five states voted in the affirmative, three in the negative, and the delegation of one state was divided. Journals, III. 465-467.

Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, and Oliver Wolcott of Connecticut, and Robert Morris of Pennsylvania, were present. The rest of the members, with one brilliant exception, were not men of great distinction, influence, or capacity. That exception was Gouverneur Morris, who came into Congress in January of this year, with a somewhat remarkable youthful reputation, acquired in the public councils of New York.

When this Congress is compared with that of the year 1776, and it is remembered that the Declaration of Independence bears the names of John Adams and Robert Treat Paine of Massachusetts, Francis Hopkinson of New Jersey, Benjamin Rush and Dr. Franklin of Pennsylvania, Cæsar Rodney of Delaware, Samuel Chase of Maryland, George Wythe, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Harrison of Virginia, William Hooper of North Carolina, and Edward Rutledge and Arthur Middleton of South Carolina— none of whom were now present—we perceive at once a striking difference in the two bodies. This difference was not unobserved by those who were then deeply interested in watching the course of public affairs. More than once it filled Washington with dark forebodings; and in the early part of the year 1778 it had attracted the notice of Hamilton, whose vigilant comprehension surveyed the whole field of public affairs, and detected the causes of every danger that threatened the health of the body politic."

1 Writings of Washington, V. 326, 327, 350.

2 "America once had a representation that would do honor to any age or nation. The present falling off is very alarming and dangerous. What is the cause? and how is it to be remedied? are questions that the welfare of these states requires should be well attended to. The great men who composed our first council-are they dead, have they deserted the cause, or what has become of them? Very few are dead, and still fewer have deserted the cause: they are all, except the few who still remain in Congress, either in the field, or in the civil offices of their respective states; far the greater part are engaged in the latter. The only remedy, then, is to take them out of these employments, and return them to the place where their presence is infinitely more important. Each state, in order to promote its own internal government and prosperity, has selected its best members to fill the offices within itself, and conduct its own affairs. Men have been fonder of the emoluments and conveniences of being employed at home; and local attachment, falsely operating, has made them more provident for the particular interests of the states to which they belonged than for the common interests of the Confederacy. This is a most pernicious mistake,

The objections made by the legislatures of several of the states to the Articles of Confederation were found, when examined, to consist almost entirely of propositions for mere verbal amendments, chiefly for the purpose of rendering the instrument more clear. All of these amendments were rejected. Some of the states objected to the rule for apportioning the taxes and forces to be raised by the states for the service of the Union; but Congress rejected every proposition to alter it, as it was believed to be impossible that any other rule should be agreed upon.

But there was an objection made by the state of New Jersey which should be particularly noticed here, because it foreshadowed one great idea which the Constitution of the United States afterwards embodied. This objection was, that the Articles of Confederation contained no provision by which the foreign trade of the country would be placed under the regulation of Congress. The sixth of the Articles of Confederation declared that no state should levy any imposts or duties which might interfere with any stipulations entered into by the United States with any foreign power, pursuant to the treaties already proposed to the courts of France and Spain; while the ninth article declared that no treaty of commerce should be made by the United States whereby the legislative power of the respective states should be restrained from imposing such imposts and duties on foreigners as their own people were subjected to, or from prohibiting the exportation or importation of any species of goods or commodities whatsoever. The effect of these provisions was simply to restrain the states and must be corrected. However important it is to give form and efficiency to your interior constitutions and police, it is infinitely more important to have a wise general council; otherwise a failure of the measures of the Union will overturn all your labors for the advancement of your particular good, and ruin the common cause. You should not beggar the councils of the United States to enrich the administration of the several members. Realize to yourself the consequences of having a Congress despised at home and abroad. How can the common force be exerted, if the power of collecting it be put in weak, foolish, and unsteady hands? How can we hope for success in our European negotiations, if the nations of Europe have no confidence in the wisdom and vigor of the great Continental government? This is the object on which their eyes are fixed; hence it is, America will derive its importance or insignificance in their estimation." Letter by Hamilton to George Clinton, written from the headquarters of the army, February 13, 1778. Writings of Washington, V. 508.