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In Search of a National Government

© Meg Greene Malvasi

When Richard Henry Lee (1732-1794) offered a resolution for independence on June 7, 1776, he also proposed that the Continental Congress appoint a committee to draft a plan of union. The delegates complied, and on June 12 they selected a committee headed by John Dickinson (1732-1808). Exactly one month later, on July 12, 1776, Dickinson's committee presented its report, entitled "The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union," to Congress. After much debate and many revisions, Congress at last adopted the committee's proposals on November 15, 1777, and, on November 17, sent thirteen articles to the states for prompt ratification.

The Articles of Confederation provided a national political structure that was similar to the one already in operation. The Continental Congress remained the central institution of national authority, but its powers under the Articles were somewhat expanded. Congress now had the authority to declare war; conduct foreign relations; appropriate, borrow, or issue money; regulate Indian affairs; and resolve disputes between the states. It could not, however, regulate trade, draft troops, or levy taxes. To raise troops and impose taxes, Congress had to make formal requests of each state legislature, which could and often did refuse to comply.

Given Americans' concerns about the abuses of executive power, it is curious that there was under the Articles no separation of the executive and legislative branches of government. Perhaps this was so because the executive had little independent power. The so-called President of the United States was merely the presiding officer at congressional sessions. Each state delegation had but a single vote in Congress. A simple majority of seven states was needed to decide minor issues, while at least nine states were required to approve any important measures such as declaring war, ratifying treaties, and borrowing or coining money. All thirteen state legislatures had to approve the Articles before they could be ratified or amended.

The process of ratification revealed the deep divisions and disagreements that existed in American society. The small states insisted on equal state representation. The large states wanted representation based on population. More important, the states that possessed western territories wished to keep them; the rest of the states demanded that all such land be placed under the control of the Continental Congress as part of the public domain. When the legislatures of New York and Virginia at last agreed to give up their western territories, the Maryland legislature, which had heretofore refused to adopt the Articles, relented. The Articles went into effect as the governing document of the United States of America on March 1, 1781.

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