The Boston Tea Party, winter of 1773-74, set off a chain of reaction in England, causing Parliament to pass a number of Coercive Acts, including the Boston Port Act, which virtually closed Boston Harbor. Nothing could have better prepared a path to independence. The colonies were united in their support of the Bostonians and sent both food and money to relieve them from the blockade. All of the colonials felt threatened by the Coercive Acts and, consequently, it was clear that individual colonial governments would not provide a suitable forum for discussion, especially since colonial governors owed direct allegiance to the crown. Members of the Virginia Assembly met in Williamsburg and determined to test the prospects for a larger forum. As a result, the First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in September 1774. Fifty five members came from twelve colonies, chosen as representatives by revolutionary congresses or committees. In this extraordinary movement toward unity and self-government lay the seed of a truly federal government.
While members of the Continental Congress understood that the majority of colonials did not desire independence and wished for reconciliation with England, the Congress effectively set the groundwork on which reconciliation could occur. They passed a Declaration of Rights and adopted an agreement on imports and exports with England, contingent upon repeal of the Coercive Acts. All imports from England were to cease after December 1, 1774; all exports to England were to cease after September 10, 1775. Congress would meet again in May 1775 to examine whether there was any real progress toward reconciliation. Meanwhile the Declaration of Rights stated that all colonials were entitled to full English liberties; England could not continue to treat colonials as different, indeed, lesser subjects. The Declaration cited a history of acts, over ten years, that violated colonial liberties on this principle; in that, it stood as a basis for the ultimate Declaration of Independence.
By the time that the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, May 10, 1775, England had not repealed the Coercive Acts and had, indeed, made matters substantially worse. Various acts of war had already occured; and Congress moved to consolidate colonial forces by issuing the Declaration on the Causes of Taking Up Arms and appointed George Washington commander in chief of the "Army of the United Colonies." Oddly enough, the mood remained aimed at reconcilation with England and the war was seen in terms of asserting rights rather than independence. The first truly American flag, raised in December 1775, still suggested union with England by carrying the Union Jack even though it also displayed thirteen stripes for the united colonies. Men in England, like Edmund Burke, continued to argue in Parliament for reconciliation and repeal of sanctions against the colonials.
Nevertheless, by the time the Continental Congress met again, in spring 1776, little hope of reconciliation remained. England had brought down a complete blockade of all thirteen colonies and war was proceeding. Various pamphlets and letters had been circulated, including Thomas Paine's Common Sense; the American mind was slowly turning toward independence as the only resolution of these problems. Congress appointed a committee, on June 12, 1776, to draft a declaration of independence, and Thomas Jefferson created the first draft, under the inspiration of John Locke's Second Treatise of Government which had provided the basis for the Glorious Revolution of 1689 in England. The Declaration of Independence was finished on July 4th and signed by Congress on July 19th. Through that document, the colonies had become states within an independent alliance of states.
It is important to observe that the colonies had existed as separate units for more than a century and that their reason for unification, so far as it went, was wholly one of countering English abuses. That is, there were no well defined independent or spontaneous grounds for unification. The Declaration of Independence and the successful war against England created an unanticipated and unwanted problem of deciding how to proceed into the future. It was by no means obvious that this future should be guided by a strong unity; for without the English threat and looking back upon the original colonies, it was clear that each colony was created for its own purposes and in its own distinctive way. Each colony had been ruled by a governor, working with a colonial congress; thus, it was foremost in need to rebuild independent state (colonial) governments. This was achieved from 1776 through 1780 and was typically seen as a problem of rebuilding appropriate concepts of liberty through law, almost universally preceded by creation of some declaration of rights. In this sense, the first foundation of American government was clearly establishment of solid state governments that would guarantee liberty to the people of each new state.
A unity of sorts did exist, of course, in the form of the Continental Congress; yet its existence was out of necessity rather than out of any legal constitution. Furthermore, there were some historical traces of interest in federation prior to the Revolution because of the existence of common problems that had some impact on more than one colony. Creation and implementation of suitable policies regarding Indians was a serious problem of this kind. Thus, in adopting the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress also assumed sovereign power in the name of a federation of states and began to draft a confederation agreement. Confederation, however, was by no means urgent to anyone and the drafting process lasted until November 1777. Even when the Articles of Confederation were submitted to the state legislatures for ratification, it took until February 1779 before twelve states had ratified it, and Maryland (the outlier) did not ratify it until March 1781. It is important to remember, here, that the Articles simply formalized some federal powers that had existed de facto since the First Continental Congress. More importantly, American citizens saw their personal liberty being secured within individual state constitutions; the state governments were what mostly mattered to Americans. Indeed, the guiding principle of the Articles . . was to preserve and protect the independent sovereignty of the states.
This summary of the period from 1774 to 1781 should make it clear why federalism was, and has continued to be, a hotly debated issue. While most people saw obvious reasons why confederation was needed in order to secure the states from foreign invasion, the creation of a union held sinister possibilities of leading toward a single nation-state instead of a federation of independent states. Ironically, those we call "antifederalists" were often arguing for a strong "federalism" or confederation of states. The "federalists" were feared to favor a nation-state, instead, and one obvious reason for this fear was the fact that the Constitution would be a binding of people rather than a binding of states.
In fact, while the Articles of Confederation may have protected the states from external threats, they did not adequately protect the states from themselves. Issues between the states were already coming to the surface in the revolutionary period. One of the main issues was land speculation. It was already clear that no one was going to be satisfied remaining in tact within the original thirteen states. The Ohio Valley was already an area of serious speculation; indeed, Maryland's reason for stalling on ratification was entirely bound up in a dispute with Virginia over lands to the west. Clearly, the common defense, regulation of interstate commerce, creation of a satisfactory Indian policy, and mediation of land claims, expansion, etc., were all emerging as reasons for maintaining some permanent form of federal authority.
One might ask in what sense there was, in anybody's mind, at this time, a single country. The Declaration of Independence begins as a "Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America." But notice that "united" is not part of the capitalized name; they are, in fact, the "States of America." The final paragraph of the document supports this point of view. While it uses the expression "United States of America," it makes it clear that it establishes, before the Supreme Judge, "Free and Independent States." The Articles of Confederation makes reference to a "perpetual Union between the States . . ." and then announces that "the style of this Confederacy will be "the United States of America"." (My emphasis) In all of this, there is notably no reference to "one nation, conceived in liberty," etc.
The Articles created the Congress of the Confederation which was really just a continuation of the Continental Congress and most people continued to refer to it by that name. Each state was represented by a delegation of from two to seven people; but only one vote could be cast. A committee consisting of one delegate from each state carried on the affairs of the Confederation when Congress was not in session. Serious issues required an agreement of nine states and could not be resolved by this committee acting alone. More importantly, amendment of the Articles required unanimous agreement, something that would lead directly to its undoing. On the positive side, the Articles allowed the Congress to appoint several executive departments that could administer important day-to-day activities. Congress created executive departments of foreign affairs, finance, war, admiralty, and post office.
The question on which the fate of the Articles would hang was whether or not the Confederation could act effectively with the powers and resources given to it. Conduct of the war itself had already proven the need for united action. Issues between the states themselves now called for the ability to reach compromises in a united way. Unfortunately, the Articles fell very short of providing either power or resources. In particular, Congress was not given the power of taxation. The states were left to raise taxes and contribute to federal expenses in proportion to their populations. Congress was not given power to regulate commerce, domestic or foreign. Nor could it establish a federal judiciary. Worst of all, Congress could not enforce any of its agreements. Everything hinged on the continuing good will of the individual states. "The Great Seal of the United States of America" (the same one we have today, seen here as representing the president) was adopted by Congress on June 20, 1782; but one could scarcely say, with any realism, that "the nation" had been founded.
By 1786 the Confederation of States was in such serious trouble that Virginia's Assembly invited the other states to send delegates to a convention in Annapolis for the purpose of discussing the critical situation. Only five states sent delegates but, under the influence of Hamilton and Madison, the Annapolis Convention returned a thorough report on the situation of the Confederation and suggested that a full blown convention should be called together by Congress. The Congress did call a convention, in February 1787, "for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation." Meeting in Philadelphia, from May 25, 1787, until September 17th, with George Washington its president, the Federal Convention was swiftly challenged by the "national-minded" Virginia delegation to put aside the Articles of Confederation and to consider an entirely new constitution.
In all, twelve states were represented by fifty-five delegates. Five of these were under 30; only four were over 60. The majority were in their 30s and 40s. Almost all brought exceptional talents drawn from reading law, serving in legislatures including Congress itself, being college professors, or (2) college presidents. It was, in other words, a group well situated for a second, and final, revolution. At last, the "style" of the federal government was to be thoroughly challenged. When the new Constitution was finally brought forward for ratification, it sparked an exceptional debate, reaching farther into traditions of political philosophy than Americans had ever been and setting a standard of political discussion to which we have probably never returned.
On September 28, 1787, the Congress of the Confederation called for state ratification of the newly drafted Constitution of the United States; it would take nine states to ratify. By the year's end, four states (Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Georgia) had already ratified the Constitution. New Hampshire was the nineth state to ratify, on June 21, 1788, but, along with Massachusetts, their ratification included amendments. On September 13, 1788, Congress began preparations for a new government. A total of eleven states had ratified by that time. The first Congress was seated by March 4, 1789; and the President was inaugurated on April 30th. By December 15, 1791, the first ten amendments, called the Bill of Rights, had been confirmed.
Sources:
Morison, Samuel Eliot. The Oxford History of the American People, vol. 1, Prehistory to
1789 (Oxford University Press, 1965).
Earle, Edward Mead. "Introduction" in The Federalist (Random House, Modern Library
Edition)
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