CONCLUSION OF THE PRESENT VOLUME.
The limits of this volume do not admit of a farther description of the
Framers of the Constitution. The nine persons of whom some account has
been given were the most important members of the Convention, and those
who exercised the largest influence upon its decisions. But the entire
list embraced other men of great distinction and ability, celebrated,
before and since the Convention, in that period of the political history
of America which commenced with the Revolution and closed with the
eighteenth century. Such were Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Robert
Morris of Pennsylvania, John Dickinson of Delaware, John Rutledge and
Charles Pinckney of South Carolina, and George Mason of Virginia. Of the
rest, all were men of note and influence in their respective States,
possessing the full confidence of the people whom they represented.
The whole assembly consisted of only fifty-five members, representing
twelve sovereign and distinct communities.[455] That so small a body
should have contained so large a number of statesmen of preëminent
ability is a striking proof of the nature of the crisis which called it
into existence. The age which had witnessed the Revolution, and the
wants and failures that succeeded it, produced and trained these great
men, made them capable of the highest magnanimity, and gave them the
intellectual power necessary to surmount the difficulties that
obstructed the progress of their country to prosperity and renown.
These, with a few of their contemporaries at that moment engaged in
other spheres of public duty, are the men who illustrate and adorn it,
and the knowledge of their lives and actions is of unspeakable
importance to the people of the United States.
To that people is committed a trust, which imposes upon them a greater
responsibility than now rests upon any other people on the globe. They
possess a written and exact constitution of government, framed with
great wisdom by their own deputed agents, and deliberately adopted and
enacted by themselves. That Constitution rules over a country of vast
extent, inhabited by more than twenty millions of prosperous and
intelligent freemen, who constitute one of the first nations of the
world. Nowhere on the face of the globe has the experiment of
self-government--that experiment so rarely tried, so rarely successful,
and so important to the welfare of mankind--been conducted on a scale so
grand and imposing. To prevent a failure so disastrous to the best
interests of the human race as the failure of that experiment here must
inevitably become; to guard this Constitution, the work of their own
hands, from every kind of attack; to administer it in the wise spirit in
which it was framed; to draw from it the blessings which it was designed
to confer; to unfold, to cherish, and to defend its great principles for
the benefit of a countless posterity;--this is the high duty imposed by
a noble ancestry and an overruling Providence upon the people of this
Union of each succeeding generation.
It calls upon them, with a remonstrance in whose tones there is both a
warning and a cheering voice, to remember that they have a country; to
appreciate and fearlessly to survey the truth, that national honor and
success, internal tranquillity and peace, reputation abroad and safety
at home, can exist, for them, only under the Union which the Divine
government, for its own all-wise purposes, has made a necessity of their
condition; and to see that the ruin of self-government in America must
involve its ruin for the whole world.[456]
FOOTNOTES:
[455] For a full list of the Delegates, see the Appendix to this volume.
[456] In this connection, I cannot avoid a reference to Dr. Francis
Lieber's profound and admirable work "On Civil Liberty and
Self-government." Whoever will follow that very able writer in his
masterly exposition of the principles of Anglican liberty, will become
satisfied that the American branch of it is more strictly a system of
"self-government" than any other, speaking with reference to the
application of the principle to every department. The destruction of
such a system, therefore, would be the destruction of self-government in
its most complete form. No one can suppose that the popular principles
in the English Constitution would continue to expand, as they have done
for the last fifty years, if the corresponding principles in America
were to be overthrown, or even if they were to receive a sensible check.
APPENDIX.
IN CONGRESS.
CIRCULAR LETTER OF CONGRESS RECOMMENDING THE ADOPTION OF THE ARTICLES OF
CONFEDERATION.
IN CONGRESS, YORKTOWN, November 17th, 1777.
Congress having agreed upon a plan of confederacy for securing the
freedom, sovereignty, and independence of the United States, authentic
copies are now transmitted for the consideration of the respective
legislatures.
This business, equally intricate and important, has in its progress been
attended with uncommon embarrassments and delay, which the most anxious
solicitude and persevering diligence could not prevent. To form a
permanent union, accommodated to the opinion and wishes of the delegates
of so many States differing in habits, produce, commerce, and internal
police, was found to be a work which nothing but time and reflection,
conspiring with a disposition to conciliate, could mature and
accomplish.
Hardly is it to be expected that any plan, in the variety of provisions
essential to our union, should exactly correspond with the maxims and
political views of every particular State. Let it be remarked, that,
after the most careful inquiry and the fullest information, this is
proposed as the best which could be adapted to the circumstances of all,
and as that alone which affords any tolerable prospect of general
satisfaction.
Permit us, then, earnestly to recommend these articles to the immediate
and dispassionate attention of the legislatures of the respective
States. Let them be candidly reviewed, under a sense of the difficulty
of combining in one general system the various sentiments and interests
of a continent divided into so many sovereign and independent
communities, under a conviction of the absolute necessity of uniting all
our counsels and all our strength to maintain and defend our common
liberties; let them be examined with a liberality becoming brethren and
fellow-citizens surrounded by the same imminent dangers, contending for
the same illustrious prize, and deeply interested in being for ever
bound and connected together by ties the most intimate and indissoluble;
and, finally, let them be adjusted with the temper and magnanimity of
wise and patriotic legislators, who, while they are concerned for the
prosperity of their own more immediate circle, are capable of rising
superior to local attachments, when they may be incompatible with the
safety, happiness, and glory of the general confederacy.
We have reason to regret the time which has elapsed in preparing this
plan for consideration; with additional solicitude we look forward to
that which must be necessarily spent before it can be ratified. Every
motive loudly calls upon us to hasten its conclusion.
More than any other consideration, it will confound our foreign enemies,
defeat the flagitious practices of the disaffected, strengthen and
confirm our friends, support our public credit, restore the value of our
money, enable us to maintain our fleets and armies, and add weight and
respect to our counsels at home and to our treaties abroad.
In short, this salutary measure can no longer be deferred. It seems
essential to our very existence as a free people, and without it we may
feel constrained to bid adieu to independence, to liberty and
safety,--blessings which, from the justice of our cause and the favor of
our Almighty Creator visibly manifested in our protection, we have
reason to expect, if, in an humble dependence on his divine providence,
we strenuously exert the means which are placed in our power.
To conclude, if the legislature of any State shall not be assembled,
Congress recommend to the executive authority to convene it without
delay; and to each respective legislature it is recommended to invest
its delegates with competent powers ultimately, in the name and behalf
of the State, to subscribe Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union
of the United States; and to attend Congress for that purpose on or
before the tenth day of March next.
* * * * *
NEW JERSEY.
REPRESENTATION OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY ON THE ARTICLES OF
CONFEDERATION, READ IN CONGRESS, JUNE 25, 1778.
_To the United States in Congress assembled: The Representation of the
Legislative Council and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey
showeth_:--
That the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union between the
States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware,
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia,
proposed by the honorable the Congress of the said States, severally for
their consideration, have been by us fully and attentively considered;
on which we beg leave to remark as follows:--
1. In the fifth article, where, among other things, the qualifications
of the delegates from the several States are described, there is no
mention of any oath, test, or declaration, to be taken or made by them
previous to their admission to seats in Congress. It is, indeed, to be
presumed the respective States will be careful that the delegates they
send to assist in managing the general interest of the Union take the
oaths to the government from which they derive their authority; but as
the United States, collectively considered, have interests, as well as
each particular State, we are of opinion that some test or obligation
binding upon each delegate while he continues in the trust, to consult
and pursue the former as well as the latter, and particularly to assent
to no vote or proceeding which may violate the general confederation, is
necessary. The laws and usages of all civilized nations evince the
propriety of an oath on such occasions; and the more solemn and
important the deposit, the more strong and explicit ought the obligation
to be.
2. By the sixth and ninth articles, the regulation of trade seems to be
committed to the several States within their separate jurisdictions, in
such a degree as may involve many difficulties and embarrassments, and
be attended with injustice to some States in the Union. We are of
opinion, that the sole and exclusive power of regulating the trade of
the United States with foreign nations ought to be clearly vested in the
Congress; and that the revenue arising from all duties and customs
imposed thereon ought to be appropriated to the building, equipping, and
manning a navy for the protection of the trade and defence of the
coasts, and to such other public and general purposes as to the Congress
shall seem proper, and for the common benefit of the States. This
principle appears to us to be just, and it may be added, that a great
security will by this means be derived to the Union from the
establishment of a common and mutual interest.
3. It is wisely provided, in the sixth article, that no body of forces
shall be kept up by any State in time of peace, except such number only
as, in the judgment of the United States in Congress assembled, shall be
deemed requisite to garrison the forts necessary for the defence of such
States. We think it ought also to be provided and clearly expressed,
that no body of troops be kept up by the United States in time of peace,
except such number only as shall be allowed by the assent of the nine
States. A standing army, a military establishment, and every appendage
thereof, in time of peace, is totally abhorrent from the ideas and
principles of this State. In the memorable act of Congress declaring the
United Colonies free and independent States, it is emphatically
mentioned, as one of the causes of separation from Great Britain, that
the sovereign thereof had kept up among us, in time of peace, standing
armies without the consent of the legislatures. It is to be wished the
liberties and happiness of the people may by the Confederation be
carefully and explicitly guarded in this respect.
4. On the eighth article we observe, that, as frequent settlements of
the quotas for supplies and aids to be furnished by the several States
in support of the general treasury will be requisite, so they ought to
be secured. It cannot be thought improper, or unnecessary, to have them
struck once at least in every five years, and oftener if circumstances
will allow. The quantity or value of real property in some States may
increase much more rapidly than in others; and therefore the quota which
is at one time just will at another be disproportionate.
5. The boundaries and limits of each State ought to be fully and finally
fixed and made known. This we apprehend would be attended with very
salutary effects, by preventing jealousies, as well as controversies,
and promoting harmony and confidence among the States. If the
circumstances of the times would not admit of this, previous to the
proposal of the Confederation to the several States, the establishment
of the principles upon which and the rule and mode by which the
determination might be conducted at a time more convenient and favorable
for despatching the same at an early period, not exceeding five years
from the final ratification of the Confederation, would be
satisfactory.
6. The ninth article provides, that no State shall be deprived of
territory for the benefit of the United States. Whether we are to
understand, that by territory is intended any land, the property of
which was heretofore vested in the crown of Great Britain, or that no
mention of such land is made in the Confederation, we are constrained to
observe, that the present war, as we always apprehended, was undertaken
for the general defence and interest of the confederating Colonies, now
the United States. It was ever the confident expectation of this State,
that the benefits derived from a successful contest were to be general
and proportionate; and that the property of the common enemy, falling in
consequence of a prosperous issue of the war, would belong to the United
States, and be appropriated to their use. We are therefore greatly
disappointed in finding no provision made in the Confederation for
empowering the Congress to dispose of such property, but especially the
vacant and impatented lands, commonly called the crown lands, for
defraying the expenses of the war, and for such other public and general
purposes. The jurisdiction ought in every instance to belong to the
respective States within the charter or determined limits of which such
lands may be seated; but reason and justice must decide that the
property which existed in the crown of Great Britain, previous to the
present Revolution, ought now to belong to the Congress, in trust for
the use and benefit of the United States. They have fought and bled for
it in proportion to their respective abilities; and therefore the reward
ought not to be predilectionally distributed. Shall such States as are
shut out by situation from availing themselves of the least advantage
from this quarter be left to sink under an enormous debt, whilst others
are enabled, in a short period, to replace all their expenditures from
the hard earnings of the whole confederacy?
7. The ninth article also provides, that requisitions for the land
forces to be furnished by the several States shall be proportioned to
the number of _white_ inhabitants in each. In the act of Independence we
find the following declaration: "We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endued by
their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among which are life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Of this doctrine it is not a
very remote consequence, that all the inhabitants of every society, be
the color of their complexion what it may, are bound to promote the
interest thereof, according to their respective abilities. They ought,
therefore, to be brought into the account on this occasion. But
admitting necessity or expediency to justify the refusal of liberty in
certain circumstances to persons of a peculiar color, we think it
unequal to reckon upon such in this case. Should it be improper, for
special local reasons, to admit them in arms for the defence of the
nation, yet we conceive the proportion of forces to be embodied ought to
be fixed according to the whole number of inhabitants in the State, from
whatever class they may be raised. If the whole number of inhabitants in
a State, whose inhabitants are all whites, both those who are called
into the field, and those who remain to till the ground and labor in the
mechanical arts and otherwise, are reckoned in the estimate for striking
the proportion of forces to be furnished by that State, ought even a
part of the latter description to be left out in another? As it is of
indispensable necessity in every war, that a part of the inhabitants be
employed for the uses of husbandry and otherwise at home, while others
are called into the field, there must be the same propriety that the
owners of a different color who are employed for this purpose in one
State, while whites are employed for the same purpose in another, be
reckoned in the account of the inhabitants in the present instance.
8. In order that the quota of troops to be furnished in each State on
occasion of a war may be equitably ascertained, we are of opinion that
the inhabitants of the several States ought to be numbered as frequently
as the nature of the case will admit, once at least every five years.
The disproportioned increase in the population of different States may
render such provisions absolutely necessary.
9. It is provided in the ninth article, that the assent of nine States
out of the thirteen shall be necessary to determine in sundry cases of
the highest concern. If this proportion be proper and just, it ought to
be kept up, should the States increase in number, and a declaration
thereof be made for the satisfaction of the Union.
That we think it our indispensable duty to solicit the attention of
Congress to these considerations and remarks, and to request that the
purport and meaning of them be adopted as part of the general
confederation; by which means we apprehend the mutual interest of all
the States will be better secured and promoted, and that the legislature
of this State will then be justified in ratifying the same.
ACT OF NEW JERSEY ACCEPTING THE CONFEDERATION, PASSED NOVEMBER 19, 1778.
_An Act to authorize and empower the Delegates of the State
of New Jersey in Congress to subscribe and ratify the
Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union between the
several States._
Whereas, Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union between the
States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware,
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, signed
in the Congress of the said States by the Honorable Henry Laurens,
Esquire, their President, have been laid before the legislature of this
State, to be ratified by the same, if approved: And whereas,
notwithstanding the terms of the said Articles of Confederation and
Perpetual Union are considered as in divers respects unequal and
disadvantageous to this State, and the objections to several of the said
articles, lately stated and sent to the general Congress aforesaid on
the part of this State, are still viewed as just and reasonable, and
sundry of them as of the most essential moment to the welfare and
happiness of the good people thereof: Yet, under the full conviction of
the present necessity of acceding to the confederacy proposed, and that
every separate and detached State interest ought to be postponed to the
general good of the Union: And moreover, in firm reliance that the
candor and justice of the several States will, in due time, remove as
far as possible the inequality which now subsists:--
SECT. 1. Be it enacted by the Council and General Assembly of this
State, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the
Honorable John Witherspoon, Abraham Clark, Nathaniel Scudder, and Elias
Boudinot, Esquires, delegates representing this State in the Congress of
the United States, or any one or more of them, be and they are hereby
authorized, empowered, and directed, on behalf of this State, to
subscribe and ratify the said Articles of Confederation and Perpetual
Union between the States aforesaid.
SECT. 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the
said Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, so as aforesaid
subscribed and ratified, shall thenceforth become conclusive as to this
State, and obligatory thereon.
* * * * *
DELAWARE.
RESOLUTIONS PASSED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE,
JANUARY 23, 1779, RESPECTING THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
AND PERPETUAL UNION, AND CONCURRED IN BY THE HOUSE OF
ASSEMBLY, JANUARY 28, 1779, PREVIOUS TO THEIR PASSING A LAW
TO EMPOWER THEIR DELEGATES TO SIGN AND RATIFY THE SAID
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION AND PERPETUAL UNION.
_Resolved_, That the paper laid before Congress by the delegate from
Delaware, and read, be filed; provided, that it shall never be
considered as admitting any claim by the same set up or intended to be
set up.
The paper is as follows, viz.:--
IN THE COUNCIL, Saturday, January 23, 1779, P. M.
The Council, having resumed the consideration of the committee's report
on the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, &c., came to the
following resolutions therein:--
_Resolved_, That this State think it necessary for the peace and safety
of the States to be included in the Union, that a moderate extent of
limits should be assigned for such of those States as claim to the
Mississippi or South Sea; and that the United States in Congress
assembled should and ought to have the power of fixing their western
limits.
_Resolved also_, That this State consider themselves justly entitled to
a right, in common with the members of the Union, to that extensive
tract of country which lies to the westward of the frontiers of the
United States, the property of which was not vested in, or granted to,
individuals at the commencement of the present war: That the same hath
been, or may be, gained from the king of Great Britain, or the native
Indians, by the blood and treasure of all, and ought therefore to be a
common estate, to be granted out on terms beneficial to the United
States.
_Resolved also_, That the courts of law established within this State
are competent for the purpose of determining all controversies
concerning the private right of soil claimed within the same; and they
now, and at all times hereafter, ought to have cognizance of all such
controversies: That the indeterminate provision, in the ninth article of
the Confederation, for deciding upon controversies that may arise about
some of those private rights of soil, tends to take away such
cognizance, and is contrary to the declaration of rights of this State;
and therefore ought to receive an alteration.
The Council, then, taking into consideration the strong and earnest
recommendations of Congress forthwith to accede to the present plan of
confederacy, and the probable disadvantages that may attend the further
delaying a ratification thereof,--
_Resolved_, That, notwithstanding the terms of the Articles of
Confederation aforesaid are considered as in divers respects unequal and
disadvantageous to this State, and the objections in the report of the
committee of this house, and the resolves made thereon, are viewed as
just and reasonable, and of great moment to the welfare and happiness of
the good people thereof; yet, under the full conviction of the present
necessity of acceding to the confederacy proposed, and in firm reliance
that the candor and justice of the several States will in due time
remove as far as possible the objectionable parts thereof, the delegates
appointed to represent this State in Congress, or any one or more of
them, be authorized, empowered, and directed, on behalf of this State,
to subscribe and ratify the said Articles of Confederation and Perpetual
Union between the several States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay,
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina,
South Carolina, and Georgia; and that the said articles, when so
subscribed and ratified, shall be obligatory on this State.
Extract from the Minutes.
BENJAMIN VINING, _Clerk of the Council_.
Sent for concurrence.
IN HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, Thursday, January 28, 1779.
The foregoing resolutions being read three times, and considered, are
concurred in.
NICHOLAS VAN DYKE, _Speaker_.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1779.
Mr. M'Kean, a delegate for Delaware, laid before Congress the following
instrument, empowering the delegates of that State, or any of them, to
ratify and sign the Articles of Confederation.
His Excellency Cesar Rodney, Esquire, President,
Captain-General, and Commander-in-Chief of the Delaware
State, to all to whom these Presents shall come,--Greeting.
Know ye, That, among the records remaining in the rolls office in the
Delaware State, there is a certain instrument of writing, purporting to
be an act of the General Assembly of the said State, which said act is
contained in the words and tenor here following, to wit:
IN THE YEAR 1779.
_An Act to authorize and empower the Delegates of the
Delaware State to subscribe and ratify the Articles of
Confederation and Perpetual Union between the several
States._
Whereas Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union between the States
of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware,
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, signed
in the general Congress of the said States by the Honorable Henry
Laurens, Esquire, their then President, have been laid before the
legislature of this State, to be ratified by the same, if approved: And
whereas, notwithstanding the terms of the Articles of Confederation and
Perpetual Union are considered as in divers respects unequal and
disadvantageous to this State; and the objections stated on the part of
this State are viewed as just and reasonable, and of great moment to the
welfare and happiness of the good people thereof; yet, under the full
conviction of the present necessity of acceding to the present
confederacy proposed, and that the interest of particular States ought
to be postponed to the general good of the Union; and moreover, in firm
reliance that the candor and justice of the several States will in due
time remove as far as possible the objectionable parts thereof:
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Delaware, and it is hereby
enacted by the authority of the same, That the Honorable John Dickinson,
Nicholas Van Dyke, and Thomas M'Kean, Esquires, delegates appointed to
represent this State in Congress, or any one or more of them, be, and
they hereby are, authorized, empowered, and directed, on behalf of this
State, to subscribe and ratify the said Articles of Confederation and
Perpetual Union between the several States aforesaid.
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said
Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, so as aforesaid
subscribed and ratified, shall thenceforth become obligatory on this
State.
Signed by order of the House of Assembly.
NICHOLAS VAN DYKE, _Speaker_.
Signed by order of the Council.
THOMAS COLLINS, _Speaker_.
Passed at Dover, February 1, 1779.
All which, by the tenor of these presents, I have caused to be
exemplified.
In testimony whereof, the great seal of the Delaware State is hereunto
affixed, at Dover, the sixth day of February, in the year of our Lord
one thousand seven hundred and seventy-nine, and in the third year of
the Independence of the United States of America.
CESAR RODNEY.
By his Excellency's command.
JAMES BOOTH, _Secretary_.
* * * * *
MARYLAND.
FRIDAY, MAY 21, 1779.
The delegates of Maryland informed Congress that they have received
instructions respecting the Articles of Confederation, which they are
directed to lay before Congress, and have entered on their Journals. The
instructions, being read, are as follows:--
_Instructions of the General Assembly of Maryland, to George
Plater, William Paca, William Carmichael, John Henry, James
Forbes, and Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Esquires._
GENTLEMEN,--
Having conferred upon you a trust of the highest nature, it is evident
we place great confidence in your integrity, abilities, and zeal to
promote the general welfare of the United States, and the particular
interest of this State, where the latter is not incompatible with the
former; but to add greater weight to your proceedings in Congress, and
take away all suspicion that the opinions you there deliver and the
votes you give may be the mere opinions of individuals, and not
resulting from your knowledge of the sense and deliberate judgment of
the State you represent, we think it our duty to instruct as followeth
on the subject of the Confederation,--a subject in which, unfortunately,
a supposed difference of interest has produced an almost equal division
of sentiments among the several States composing the Union. We say a
supposed difference of interests; for if local attachments and
prejudices, and the avarice and ambition of individuals, would give way
to the dictates of a sound policy, founded on the principles of justice,
(and no other policy but what is founded on those immutable principles
deserves to be called sound,) we flatter ourselves this apparent
diversity of interests would soon vanish, and all the States would
confederate on terms mutually advantageous to all; for they would then
perceive that no other confederation than one so formed can be lasting.
Although the pressure of immediate calamities, the dread of their
continuance from the appearance of disunion, and some other peculiar
circumstances, may have induced some States to accede to the present
Confederation, contrary to their own interests and judgments, it
requires no great share of foresight to predict, that, when those causes
cease to operate, the States which have thus acceded to the
Confederation will consider it as no longer binding, and will eagerly
embrace the first occasion of asserting their just rights, and securing
their independence. Is it possible that those States who are ambitiously
grasping at territories to which, in our judgment, they have not the
least shadow of exclusive right, will use with greater moderation the
increase of wealth and power derived from those territories, when
acquired, than what they have displayed in their endeavors to acquire
them? We think not. We are convinced the same spirit which hath prompted
them to insist on a claim so extravagant, so repugnant to every
principle of justice, so incompatible with the general welfare of all
the States, will urge them on to add oppression to injustice. If they
should not be incited by a superiority of wealth and strength to oppress
by open force their less wealthy and less powerful neighbors, yet
depopulation, and consequently the impoverishment, of those States will
necessarily follow, which, by an unfair construction of the
Confederation, may be stripped of a common interest, and the common
benefits derivable from the Western country. Suppose, for instance,
Virginia indisputably possessed of the extensive and fertile country to
which she has set up a claim, what would be the probable consequences to
Maryland of such an undisturbed and undisputed possession? They cannot
escape the least discerning.
Virginia, by selling on the most moderate terms a small proportion of
the lands in question, would draw into her treasury vast sums of money;
and in proportion to the sums arising from such sales would be enabled
to lessen her taxes. Lands comparatively cheap, and taxes comparatively
low, with the lands and taxes of an adjacent State, would quickly drain
the State thus disadvantageously circumstanced of its most useful
inhabitants; its wealth and its consequence in the scale of the
confederated States would sink of course. A claim so injurious to more
than one half, if not to the whole, of the United States, ought to be
supported by the clearest evidence of the right. Yet what evidences of
that right have been produced? What arguments alleged in support either
of the evidences or the right? None that we have heard of deserving a
serious refutation.
It has been said, that some of the delegates of a neighboring State have
declared their opinion of the practicability of governing the extensive
dominion claimed by that State. Hence also the necessity was admitted of
dividing its territory, and erecting a new State under the auspices and
direction of the elder, from whom no doubt it would receive its form of
government, to whom it would be bound by some alliance or confederacy,
and by whose councils it would be influenced. Such a measure, if ever
attempted, would certainly be opposed by the other States as
inconsistent with the letter and spirit of the proposed Confederation.
Should it take place by establishing a sub-confederacy, _imperium in
imperio_, the State possessed of this extensive dominion must then
either submit to all the inconveniences of an overgrown and unwieldy
government, or suffer the authority of Congress to interpose at a future
time, and to lop off a part of its territory, to be erected into a new
and free State, and admitted into a confederation on such conditions as
shall be settled by nine States. If it is necessary for the happiness
and tranquillity of a State thus overgrown, that Congress should
hereafter interfere and divide its territory, why is the claim to that
territory now made, and so pertinaciously insisted on? We can suggest to
ourselves but two motives; either the declaration of relinquishing at
some future period a proportion of the country now contended for was
made to lull suspicion asleep, and to cover the designs of a secret
ambition, or, if the thought was seriously entertained, the lands are
now claimed to reap an immediate profit from the sale. We are convinced,
policy and justice require, that a country unsettled at the commencement
of this war, claimed by the British crown, and ceded to it by the treaty
of Paris, if wrested from the common enemy by the blood and treasure of
the thirteen States, should be considered as a common property, subject
to be parcelled out by Congress into free, convenient, and independent
governments, in such manner and at such times as the wisdom of that
assembly shall hereafter direct.
Thus convinced, we should betray the trust reposed in us by our
constituents, were we to authorize you to ratify, on their behalf, the
Confederation, unless it be further explained. We have coolly and
dispassionately considered the subject; we have weighed probable
inconveniences and hardships against the sacrifice of just and essential
rights; and do instruct you not to agree to the Confederation, unless an
article or articles be added thereto in conformity with our declaration.
Should we succeed in obtaining such article or articles, then you are
hereby fully empowered to accede to the Confederation.
That these our sentiments respecting our Confederation may be more
publicly known, and more explicitly and concisely declared, we have
drawn up the annexed declaration, which we instruct you to lay before
Congress, to have it printed, and to deliver to each of the delegates of
the other States in Congress assembled copies thereof, signed by
yourselves, or by such of you as may be present at the time of delivery;
to the intent and purpose that the copies aforesaid may be communicated
to our brethren of the United States, and the contents of the said
declaration taken into their serious and candid consideration.
Also we desire and instruct you to move, at a proper time, that these
instructions be read to Congress by their Secretary, and entered on the
Journals of Congress.
We have spoken with freedom, as became freemen; and we sincerely wish
that these our representations may make such an impression on that
assembly as to induce them to make such addition to the Articles of
Confederation as may bring about a permanent union.
A true copy from the proceeding of December 15, 1778.
Test,
T. DUCKETT, _C. H. D._
* * * * *
IN CONGRESS.
SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 1780.
The committee to whom was referred the act of the legislature of the
State of New York, entitled, "An Act to facilitate the completion of the
Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union among the United States of
America," report,--
That, having met on the business, but not being able to agree to any
resolution thereon, desire to be discharged; which act is in the words
following, viz.:--
_An Act to facilitate the Completion of the Articles of
Confederation and Perpetual Union among the United States of
America._
Whereas nothing under Divine Providence can more effectually contribute
to the tranquillity and safety of the United States of America than a
federal alliance, on such liberal principles as will give satisfaction
to its respective members: And whereas the Articles of Confederation and
Perpetual Union recommended by the honorable the Congress of the United
States of America have not proved acceptable to all the States, it
having been conceived that a portion of the waste and uncultivated
territory, within the limits or claim of certain States, ought to be
appropriated as a common fund for the expenses of the war: And the
people of the State of New York being on all occasions disposed to
manifest their regard for their sister States, and their earnest desire
to promote the general interest and security; and more especially to
accelerate the federal alliance, by removing, as far as it depends upon
them, the before-mentioned impediment to its final accomplishment:
Be it therefore enacted, by the people of the State of New York,
represented in Senate and Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the
authority of the same, That it shall and may be lawful to and for the
delegates of this State, in the honorable Congress of the United States
of America, or the major part of such of them as shall be assembled in
Congress, and they the said delegates, or a major part of them, so
assembled, are hereby fully authorized and empowered, for and on behalf
of this State, and by proper and authentic acts or instruments, to limit
and restrict the boundaries of this State, in the western parts thereof,
by such line or lines, and in such manner and form, as they shall judge
to be expedient, either with respect to the jurisdiction as well as the
right or preëmption of soil, or reserving the jurisdiction in part, or
in the whole, over the lands which may be ceded, or relinquished, with
respect only to the right or preëmption of the soil.
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the territory
which may be ceded or relinquished by virtue of this act, either with
respect to the jurisdiction as well as the right or preëmption of soil,
or the right or preëmption of soil only, shall be and enure for the use
and benefit of such of the United States as shall become members of the
federal alliance of the said States, and for no other use or purpose
whatever.
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all the lands
to be ceded and relinquished by virtue of this act, for the benefit of
the United States, with respect to property, but which shall
nevertheless remain under the jurisdiction of this State, shall be
disposed of and appropriated in such manner only as the Congress of the
said States shall direct; and that a warrant under the authority of
Congress for surveying and laying out any part thereof shall entitle the
party in whose favor it shall issue to cause the same to be surveyed and
laid out and returned according to the directions of such warrant; and
thereupon letters patent under the great seal of this State shall pass
to the grantee for the estate specified in the said warrant; for which
no other fee or reward shall be demanded or received than such as shall
be allowed by Congress.
Provided always, and be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid,
That the trust reposed by virtue of this act shall not be executed by
the delegates of this State, unless at least three of the said delegates
shall be present in Congress.
_State of New York, ss._
I do hereby certify that the aforegoing is a true copy of the original
act, passed the 19th of February, 1780, and lodged in the Secretary's
office.
ROBERT HARPUR, _D'y Sec'y State_.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1780.
Congress took into consideration the report of the committee to whom
were referred the instructions of the General Assembly of Maryland to
their delegates in Congress respecting the Articles of Confederation,
and the declaration therein referred to; the act of the legislature of
New York on the same subject; and the remonstrance of the General
Assembly of Virginia, which report was agreed to, and is in the words
following:--
That, having duly considered the several matters to them submitted, they
conceive it unnecessary to examine into the merits or policy of the
instructions or declaration of the General Assembly of Maryland, or of
the remonstrances of the General Assembly of Virginia, as they involve
questions a discussion of which was declined, on mature consideration,
when the Articles of Confederation were debated; nor, in the opinion of
the committee, can such questions be now revived with any prospect of
conciliation: That it appears more advisable to press upon these States
which can remove the embarrassments respecting the Western country a
liberal surrender of a portion of their territorial claims, since they
cannot be preserved entire without endangering the stability of the
general confederacy; to remind them how indispensably necessary it is to
establish the Federal Union on a fixed and permanent basis, and on
principles acceptable to all its respective members; how essential to
public credit and confidence, to the support of our army, to the vigor
of our councils, and success of our measures, to our tranquillity at
home, our reputation abroad, to our very existence as a free, sovereign,
and independent people; that we are fully persuaded the wisdom of the
respective legislatures will lead them to a full and impartial
consideration of a subject so interesting to the United States, and so
necessary to the happy establishment of the Federal Union; that they are
confirmed in these expectations by a view of the before-mentioned act of
the legislature of New York, submitted to their consideration; that this
act is expressly calculated to accelerate the federal alliance, by
removing, as far as depends on that State, the impediment arising from
the Western country, and for that purpose to yield up a portion of
territorial claim for the general benefit.
Whereupon,
_Resolved_, That copies of the several papers referred to the committee
be transmitted, with a copy of the report, to the legislatures of the
several States; and that it be earnestly recommended to these States who
have claims to the Western country to pass such laws, and give their
delegates in Congress such powers, as may effectually remove the only
obstacle to a final ratification of the Articles of Confederation: and
that the legislature of Maryland be earnestly requested to authorize
their delegates in Congress to subscribe the said articles.
* * * * *
MARYLAND.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1781.
The delegates of Maryland laid before Congress a certified copy of an
act of the legislature of that State, which was read as follows:--
_An Act to empower the Delegates of this State in Congress to subscribe
and ratify the Articles of Confederation._
Whereas it hath been said that the common enemy is encouraged, by this
State not acceding to the Confederation, to hope that the union of the
sister States may be dissolved; and therefore prosecute the war in
expectation of an event so disgraceful to America; and our friends and
illustrious ally are impressed with an idea, that the common cause would
be promoted by our formally acceding to the Confederation: This General
Assembly, conscious that this State hath from the commencement of the
war strenuously exerted herself in the common cause, and fully satisfied
that, if no formal confederation was to take place, it is the fixed
determination of this State to continue her exertions to the utmost,
agreeable to the faith pledged in the union,--from an earnest desire to
conciliate the affections of the sister States, to convince all the
world of our unalterable resolution to support the independence of the
United States, and the alliance with his most Christian Majesty; and to
destroy for ever any apprehension of our friends, or hope in our
enemies, of this State being again united to Great Britain:
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland, That the delegates of
this State in Congress, or any two or three of them, shall be, and are
hereby, empowered and required, on behalf of this State, to subscribe
the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union between the States of
New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware,
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, signed
in the general Congress of the said States by the Honorable Henry
Laurens, Esquire, their then President, and laid before the legislature
of this State to be ratified, if approved; and that the said Articles of
Confederation and Perpetual Union, so as aforesaid subscribed, shall
thenceforth be ratified and become conclusive as to this State, and
obligatory thereon.
And it is hereby declared, that, by acceding to the said Confederation,
this State doth not relinquish, or intend to relinquish, any right or
interest she hath with the other united or confederated States to the
back country; but claims the same as fully as was done by the
legislature of this State in their declaration which stands entered on
the journals of Congress: this State relying on the justice of the
several States hereafter, as to the said claim made by this State.
And it is further declared, That no article in the said Confederation
can or ought to bind this or any other State to guarantee any exclusive
claim of any particular State to the soil of the said back lands, or
any such claim of jurisdiction over the said lands, or the inhabitants
thereof.
By the House of Delegates, January 30, 1781.
Read and assented to.
By order,
F. GREEN, _Clerk_.
By the Senate, February 2, 1781.
Read and assented to.
By order,
JAS. MACCUBBIN, _Clerk_.
THOMAS LEE. [L. S.]
* * * * *
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION AND PERPETUAL UNION
BETWEEN THE STATES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, MASSACHUSETTS BAY, RHODE
ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS, CONNECTICUT, NEW YORK, NEW
JERSEY, PENNSYLVANIA, DELAWARE, MARYLAND, VIRGINIA, NORTH
CAROLINA, SOUTH CAROLINA, AND GEORGIA.
ART. 1. The style of this Confederacy shall be "The United States of
America."
ART. 2. 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.
ART. 3. The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league of
friendship with each other for their common defence, the security of
their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare; binding
themselves to assist each other against all force offered to or attacks
made upon them on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other
pretence whatever.
ART. 4. The better to secure and perpetuate mutual friendship and
intercourse among the people of the different States in this union, the
free inhabitants of each of these States (paupers, vagabonds, and
fugitives from justice excepted) shall be entitled to all privileges and
immunities of free citizens in the several States; and the people of
each State shall have free ingress and regress to and from any other
State, and shall enjoy therein all the privileges of trade and commerce,
subject to the same duties, impositions, and restrictions as the
inhabitants thereof respectively, provided that such restriction shall
not extend so far as to prevent the removal of property imported into
any State to any other State, of which the owner is an inhabitant;
provided also, that no imposition, duties, or restriction shall be laid
by any State on the property of the United States, or either of them.
If any person guilty of or charged with treason, felony, or other high
misdemeanor in any State, shall flee from justice and be found in any of
the United States, he shall, upon demand of the Governor or executive
power of the State from which he fled, be delivered up and removed to
the State having jurisdiction of his offence.
Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these States to the
records, acts, and judicial proceedings of the courts and magistrates of
every other State.
ART. 5. For the more convenient management of the general interests of
the United States, delegates shall be annually appointed, in such manner
as the legislature of each State shall direct, to meet in Congress on
the first Monday in November, in every year, with a power reserved to
each State to recall its delegates, or any of them, at any time within
the year, and to send others in their stead, for the remainder of the
year.
No State shall be represented in Congress by less than two nor by more
than seven members; and no person shall be capable of being a delegate
for more than three years in any term of six years; nor shall any
person, being a delegate, be capable of holding any office under the
United States, for which he, or any other for his benefit, receives any
salary, fees, or emolument of any kind.
Each State shall maintain its own delegates in any meeting of the
States, and while they act as members of the committee of the States.
In determining questions in the United States in Congress assembled,
each State shall have one vote.
Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be impeached or
questioned in any court or place out of Congress; and the members of
Congress shall be protected in their persons from arrests and
imprisonments, during the time of their going to and from and attendance
on Congress, except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace.
ART. 6. No State, without the consent of the United States in Congress
assembled, shall send any embassy to, or receive any embassy from, or
enter into any conference, agreement, alliance, or treaty with any
king, prince, or state; nor shall any person holding any office of
profit or trust under the United States, or any of them, accept of any
present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever from any king,
prince, or foreign state; nor shall the United States in Congress
assembled, or any of them, grant any title of nobility.
No two or more States shall enter into any treaty, confederation, or
alliance whatever between them, without the consent of the United States
in Congress assembled, specifying accurately the purposes for which the
same is to be entered into, and how long it shall continue.
No State shall lay any imposts or duties, which may interfere with any
stipulations in treaties entered into by the United States in Congress
assembled, with any king, prince, or state, in pursuance of any treaties
already proposed by Congress to the courts of France and Spain.
No vessels of war shall be kept up in time of peace by any State, except
such number only as shall be deemed necessary by the United States in
Congress assembled for the defence of such State or its trade; nor shall
any body of forces be kept up by any State, in time of peace, except
such number only as, in the judgment of the United States in Congress
assembled, shall be deemed requisite to garrison the forts necessary for
the defence of such State; but every State shall always keep up a
well-regulated and disciplined militia, sufficiently armed and
accoutred, and shall provide and have constantly ready for use, in
public stores, a due number of field-pieces and tents, and a proper
quantity of arms, ammunition, and camp equipage.
No State shall engage in any war without the consent of the United
States in Congress assembled, unless such State be actually invaded by
enemies or shall have certain advice of a resolution being formed by
some nation of Indians to invade such State, and the danger is so
imminent as not to admit of a delay till the United States in Congress
assembled can be consulted; nor shall any State grant commission to any
ships or vessels of war, nor letters of marque or reprisal, except it be
after a declaration of war by the United States in Congress assembled,
and then only against the kingdom or state and the subjects thereof
against which war has been so declared, and under such regulations as
shall be established by the United States in Congress assembled, unless
such State be infested by pirates, in which case vessels of war may be
fitted out for that occasion and kept so long as the danger shall
continue, or until the United States in Congress assembled shall
determine otherwise.
ART. 7. When land forces are raised by any State for the common defence,
all officers of or under the rank of colonel shall be appointed by the
legislatures of each State respectively by whom such forces shall be
raised, or in such manner as such State shall direct; and all vacancies
shall be filled up by the State which first made the appointment.
ART. 8. All charges of war and all other expenses that shall be incurred
for the common defence or general welfare, and allowed by the United
States in Congress assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common
treasury, which shall be supplied by the several States in proportion to
the value of all land within each State granted to or surveyed for any
person, as such land and the buildings and improvements thereon shall be
estimated, according to such mode as the United States in Congress
assembled shall from time to time direct and appoint.
The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and levied by the
authority and direction of the legislatures of the several States,
within the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled.
ART. 9. The United States in Congress assembled shall have the sole and
exclusive right and power of determining on peace and war, except in the
cases mentioned in the sixth article; of sending and receiving
ambassadors; entering into treaties and alliances, provided that no
treaty of commerce shall be made, whereby the legislative power of the
respective States shall be restrained from imposing such imposts and
duties on foreigners as their own people are subjected to, or from
prohibiting the exportation or importation of any species of goods or
commodities whatsoever; of establishing rules for deciding in all cases
what captures on land or water shall be legal, and in what manner prizes
taken by land or naval forces in the service of the United States shall
be divided or appropriated; of granting letters of marque and reprisal
in time of peace; appointing courts for the trial of piracies and
felonies committed on the high seas, and establishing courts for
receiving and determining finally appeals in all cases of captures,
provided that no member of Congress shall be appointed judge of any of
the said courts.
The United States in Congress assembled shall also be the last resort on
appeal in all disputes and differences now subsisting or that hereafter
may arise between two or more States concerning boundary, jurisdiction,
or any other cause whatever, which authority shall always be exercised
in the manner following: whenever the legislative or executive authority
or lawful agent of any State in controversy with another shall present a
petition to Congress, stating the matter in question and praying for a
hearing, notice thereof shall be given by order of Congress to the
legislative or executive authority of the other State in controversy,
and a day assigned for the appearance of the parties by their lawful
agents, who shall then be directed to appoint by joint consent
commissioners or judges to constitute a court for hearing and
determining the matter in question; but if they cannot agree, Congress
shall name three persons out of each of the United States, and from the
list of such persons each party shall alternately strike out one, the
petitioners beginning, until the number shall be reduced to thirteen;
and from that number not less than seven nor more than nine names, as
Congress shall direct, shall, in the presence of Congress, be drawn out
by lot; and the persons whose names shall be so drawn, or any five of
them, shall be commissioners or judges to hear and finally determine the
controversy, so always as a major part of the judges who shall hear the
cause shall agree in the determination: and if either party shall
neglect to attend at the day appointed, without showing reasons which
Congress shall judge sufficient, or, being present, shall refuse to
strike, the Congress shall proceed to nominate three persons out of each
State, and the Secretary of Congress shall strike in behalf of such
party absent or refusing; and the judgment and sentence of the court to
be appointed, in the manner before prescribed, shall be final and
conclusive; and if any of the parties shall refuse to submit to the
authority of such court, or to appear or defend their claim or cause,
the court shall nevertheless proceed to pronounce sentence or judgment,
which shall in like manner be final and decisive, the judgment or
sentence and other proceedings being in either case transmitted to
Congress, and lodged among the acts of Congress, for the security of the
parties concerned: provided, that every commissioner, before he sits in
judgment, shall take an oath, to be administered by one of the judges of
the Supreme or Superior Court of the State where the cause shall be
tried, "well and truly to hear and determine the matter in question,
according to the best of his judgment, without favor, affection, or hope
of reward"; provided, also, that no State shall be deprived of territory
for the benefit of the United States.
All controversies concerning the private right of soil, claimed under
different grants of two or more States, whose jurisdictions as they may
respect such lands and the States which passed such grants are adjusted,
the said grants or either of them being at the same time claimed to have
originated antecedent to such settlement of jurisdiction, shall, on the
petition of either party to the Congress of the United States, be
finally determined, as near as may be in the same manner as is before
prescribed for deciding disputes respecting territorial jurisdiction
between different States.
The United States in Congress assembled shall also have the sole and
exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and value of coin
struck by their own authority, or by that of the respective States;
fixing the standard of weights and measures throughout the United
States; regulating the trade and managing all affairs with the Indians
not members of any of the States, provided that the legislative right
of any State within its own limits be not infringed or violated;
establishing and regulating post-offices from one State to another
throughout all the United States, and exacting such postage on the
papers passing through the same as may be requisite to defray the
expenses of the said office; appointing all officers of the naval
forces, and commissioning all officers whatever in the service of the
United States; making rules for the government and regulation of the
said land and naval forces, and directing their operations.
The United States in Congress assembled shall have authority to appoint
a committee to sit in the recess of Congress, to be denominated "a
Committee of the States," and to consist of one delegate from each
State, and to appoint such other committees and civil officers as may be
necessary for managing the general affairs of the United States, under
their direction; to appoint one of their number to preside, provided
that no person be allowed to serve in the office of President more than
one year in any term of three years; to ascertain the necessary sums of
money to be raised for the service of the United States, and to
appropriate and apply the same for defraying the public expenses; to
borrow money or emit bills on the credit of the United States,
transmitting every half-year to the respective States an account of the
sums of money so borrowed or emitted; to build and equip a navy; to
agree upon the number of land forces, and to make requisitions from each
State for its quota, in proportion to the number of white inhabitants in
such State; which requisition shall be binding, and thereupon the
legislature of each State shall appoint the regimental officers, raise
the men, and clothe, arm, and equip them in a soldierlike manner, at the
expense of the United States; and the officers and men to be clothed,
armed, and equipped shall march to the place appointed, and within the
time agreed on, by the United States in Congress assembled: but if the
United States in Congress assembled shall, on consideration of
circumstances, judge proper that any State should not raise men or
should raise a smaller number than its quota, and that any other State
should raise a greater number of men than the quota thereof, such extra
number shall be raised, officered, clothed, armed, and equipped in the
same manner as the quota of such State, unless the legislature of such
State shall judge that such extra number cannot be safely spared out of
the same, in which case they shall raise, officer, clothe, arm, and
equip as many of such extra number as they judge can be safely spared.
And the officers and men so clothed, armed, and equipped shall march to
the place appointed, and within the time agreed on, by the United States
in Congress assembled.
The United States in Congress assembled shall never engage in a war nor
grant letters of marque and reprisal in time of peace, nor enter into
any treaties or alliances, nor coin money nor regulate the value
thereof, nor ascertain the sums and expenses necessary for the defence
and welfare of the United States, or any of them; nor emit bills, nor
borrow money on the credit of the United States, nor appropriate money,
nor agree upon the number of vessels of war to be built or purchased, or
the number of land or sea forces to be raised, nor appoint a
commander-in-chief of the army or navy, unless nine States assent to the
same; nor shall a question on any other point, except for adjourning
from day to day, be determined, unless by the votes of a majority of the
United States in Congress assembled.
The Congress of the United States shall have power to adjourn to any
time within the year, and to any place within the United States, so that
no period of adjournment be for a longer duration than the space of six
months, and shall publish the journal of their proceedings monthly,
except such parts thereof relating to treaties, alliances, or military
operations, as in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays
of the delegates of each State on any question shall be entered on the
journal, when it is desired by any delegate; and the delegates of a
State, or any of them, at his or their request, shall be furnished with
a transcript of the said journal, except such parts as are above
excepted, to lay before the legislatures of the several States.
ART. 10. The Committee of the States, or any nine of them, shall be
authorized to execute, in the recess of Congress, such of the powers of
Congress as the United States in Congress assembled, by the consent of
nine States, shall, from time to time, think expedient to vest them
with; provided that no power be delegated to the said Committee, for the
exercise of which, by the Articles of Confederation, the voice of nine
States in the Congress of the United States assembled is requisite.
ART. 11. Canada, acceding to this Confederation, and joining in the
measures of the United States, shall be admitted into and entitled to
all the advantages of this Union; but no other Colony shall be admitted
into the same unless such admission be agreed to by nine States.
ART. 12. All bills of credit emitted, moneys borrowed, and debts
contracted by or under the authority of Congress, before the assembling
of the United States, in pursuance of the present Confederation, shall
be deemed and considered as a charge against the United States, for
payment and satisfaction whereof the said United States and the public
faith are hereby solemnly pledged.
ART. 13. Every State shall abide by the determinations of the United
States in Congress assembled on all questions which by this
Confederation are submitted to them. And the Articles of this
Confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and the Union
shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be
made in any of them; unless such alteration be agreed to in a Congress
of the United States, and be afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of
every State.
These Articles shall be proposed to the legislatures of all the United
States, to be considered, and if approved of by them, they are advised
to authorize their delegates to ratify the same in the Congress of the
United States; which being done, the same shall become conclusive.
* * * * *
MEMBERS OF THE CONVENTION WHICH FORMED THE CONSTITUTION.[457]
Those with numbers before their names signed the Constitution. Those
without numbers attended, but did not sign. The dates denote the first
day of their attendance. Those in italics never attended.
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
1. John Langdon, 23 July.
_John Pickering._
2. Nicholas Gilman, 23 July.
_Benjamin West._
MASSACHUSETTS.
_Francis Dana._
Elbridge Gerry, 29 May.
3. Nathaniel Gorham, 28 May.
4. Rufus King, 25 May.
Caleb Strong, 28 May.
RHODE ISLAND. [No appointment.]
CONNECTICUT.
5. William S. Johnson, 2 June.
6. Roger Sherman, 30 May.
Oliver Ellsworth, 29 May.
NEW YORK.
Robert Yates, 25 May.
7. Alexander Hamilton, 25 May.
John Lansing, 2 June.
NEW JERSEY.
8. William Livingston, 5 June.
9. David Brearley, 25 May.
William C. Houston, 25 May.
10. William Patterson, 25 May.
_John Neilson._
_Abraham Clark._
11. Jonathan Dayton, 21 June.
PENNSYLVANIA.
12. Benjamin Franklin, 28 May.
13. Thomas Mifflin, 28 May.
14. Robert Morris, 25 May.
15. George Clymer, 28 May.
16. Thomas Fitzsimons, 25 May.
17. Jared Ingersoll, 28 May.
18. James Wilson, 25 May.
19. Gouverneur Morris, 25 May.
DELAWARE.
20. George Read, 25 May.
21. Gunning Bedford, Jr. 28 May.
22. John Dickinson, 28 May.
23. Richard Bassett, 25 May.
24. Jacob Broom, 25 May.
MARYLAND.
25. James McHenry, 29 May.
26. Daniel of St. Thomas
Jenifer, 2 June.
27. Daniel Carroll, 9 July.
John Francis Mercer, 6 Aug.
Luther Martin, 9 June.
VIRGINIA.
28. George Washington, 25 May.
_Patrick Henry_ (declined).
Edmund Randolph, 25 May.
29. John Blair, 25 May.
30. James Madison, Jr. 25 May.
George Mason, 25 May.
George Wythe, 25 May.
James McClurg (in the
room of P. Henry) 25 May.
NORTH CAROLINA.
_Richard Caswell_ (resigned).
Alexander Martin, 25 May.
William R. Davie, 25 May.
31. William Blount (in the
room of R. Caswell) 20 June.
_Willie Jones_ (declined).
32. Richard D. Spaight, 25 May.
33. Hugh Williamson (in the
room of W. Jones), 25 May.
SOUTH CAROLINA.
34. John Rutledge, 25 May.
35. Charles C. Pinckney, 25 May.
36. Charles Pinckney, 25 May.
37. Pierce Butler, 25 May.
GEORGIA.
38. William Few, 25 May.
39. Abraham Baldwin, 11 June.
William Pierce, 31 May.
_George Walton._
William Houstoun, 1 June.
_Nathaniel Pendleton._
FOOTNOTE:
[457] This Table is taken from the 12th volume of Mr. Sparks's edition
of Washington's Writings, p. 426.
END OF VOL. I.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Obvious typos and punctuation errors repaired. Period spellings and
grammatical uses retained.
On rejoining "co-" and "pre-" with "o" and "e" roots at the ends of
lines, a diaresis was added to the second "o" or "e" per author practice
(for example: coöperation, preëminent).
Semicolons were consistently placed outside closing quotes in the
original; retained.
P. 78, Footnote #97: The form included blank spaces, represented here as
underlines.
P. 175, Footnote #179: Amount in the original was shown as $1,545,818
followed by 30/90 in fraction form; represented here as "$1,545,818 and
30/90."
P. 218, Marker for footnote #200 beginning on this page was missing. I
have placed it at the end of the paragraph: "disciplining the militia."
P. 431, Marker for footnote #417 beginning on this page was missing. I
have placed it at the end of the paragraph: "be for ever directed."
P. 489, Dupicate "APPENDIX" heading removed.