Congress of The Confederation - Events

Events

The Congress of the Confederation opened in the last stages of the American Revolution. Combat ended in October 1781 with the surrender of the British at the Battle of Yorktown. The British, however, continued to occupy New York City, while the American delegates in Paris, named by the Congress, negotiated the terms of peace with Great Britain. Based on preliminary articles made on November 30, 1782, and approved by the Congress of the Confederation on April 15, 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783, and ratified by Congress on January 14, 1784, formally ending the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the thirteen former colonies which on July 4, 1776, had declared independence.

On March 1, 1781, the Articles of Confederation were signed by delegates of Maryland at a meeting of the Second Continental Congress, which then declared the Articles ratified. As historian Edmund Burnett wrote, "There was no new organization of any kind, not even the election of a new President." The congress still called itself the Continental Congress. Nevertheless, despite it being the same exact governing body, some historians would later refer to the Continental Congress after the ratification of the Articles as the "Congress of the Confederation" or the "Confederation Congress." (The Congress itself continued to refer to itself as the "Continental Congress.")

The Congress had little power and without the external threat of a war against the British, it became more difficult to get enough delegates to meet to form a quorum. Nonetheless the Congress still managed to pass important laws, most notably the Northwest Ordinance.

The War of Independence saddled the country with an enormous debt. In 1784, the total federal debt was nearly $40 million. Of that sum, $8 million was owed to the French and Dutch. Of the domestic debt, government bonds, known as loan-office certificates, composed $11.5 million, certificates on interest indebtedness $3.1 million, and continental certificates $16.7 million.

The certificates were non-interest bearing notes issued for supplies purchased or impressed, and to pay soldiers and officers. To pay the interest and principal of the debt, Congress had twice proposed an amendment to the Articles granting them the power to lay a 5% duty on imports, but amendments required the consent of all thirteen states. Rhode Island and Virginia rejected the 1781 impost plan while New York rejected the 1783 revised plan.

Without revenue, except for meager voluntary state requisitions, Congress could not even pay the interest on its outstanding debt. Meanwhile, the states regularly failed, or refused, to meet the requisitions requested of them by Congress.

To that end, in September 1786, the Annapolis Convention first attempted to look into improving the Articles of Confederation. There were enough problems that the Congress called a convention in 1787 to recommend changes. The Philadelphia Convention instead issued a Constitution to replace the Articles. The Congress submitted the Constitution to the states, and the Constitution was ratified by enough states to become operative in September 1788. On September 12, 1788, the Congress set the date for choosing the electors for President as January 7, 1789, the date for the electors to vote for President as February 4, 1789, and the date for the Constitution to become operative as March 4, 1789.

The Congress of the Confederation continued to conduct business for another month after setting the various dates. On October 10, 1788, the Congress formed a quorum for the last time; afterwards, although delegates would occasionally appear, there were never enough to conduct business, and so the Congress of Confederation passed into history. The last "meeting" of the Continental Congress was held March 2, 1789, two days before the Constitutional government took over; only one member was present at said meeting, Philip Pell, an ardent Anti-Federalist and opponent of the Constitution, who was accompanied by the Congressional secretary. Pell oversaw the meeting and adjourned the Congress sine die.