Page 174 - American Stories, A History of the United States

persons and property, which every member in the State hath a right to expect from the
supreme power.” 6.1
Eight state constitutions contained specific declarations of rights. The length and Quick Check
character of these lists varied, but, in general, they affirmed three fundamental free- Following independence, why did
doms: religion, speech, and press. They protected citizens from unlawful searches and the states insist on drafting written 6.2
seizures and upheld trial by jury. constitutions?

6.3
Stumbling Toward A New
National Government 6.4

6.2 Why did many Americans regard the Articles of Confederation as inadequate?
W hen the Second Continental Congress convened in 1775, the delegates found

themselves waging war in the name of a country that did not yet exist. As the
military crisis deepened, Congress gradually—often reluctantly—assumed
greater authority over national affairs. But everyone agreed such narrow
measures were a poor substitute for a legally constituted government. The separate states
could not deal with the range of issues that the American people now confronted. Indeed,
if independence meant anything in a world of sovereign nations, it implied the creation of a
central authority able to conduct war, borrow money, regulate trade, and negotiate treaties.

Articles of Confederation
Creating a viable central government proved more difficult than anyone anticipated.
Congress appointed a committee to draw up a plan for confederation. John Dickinson,
the lawyer who had written an important revolutionary pamphlet titled Letters from a
Farmer in Pennsylvania, headed the committee. Dickinson envisioned a strong central
government. The report his committee presented on July 12, 1776, shocked delegates who
assumed that the constitution would authorize a loose confederation of states. Dickinson’s
plan placed the western territories, land the separate states claimed for themselves, under
congressional control. His committee also called for equal state representation in Congress.
Since some states, such as Virginia and Massachusetts, were more populous
than others, this fueled tensions between large and small states. Also unsettling was
Dickinson’s recommendation that taxes be paid to Congress on the basis of a state’s
total population, black as well as white, a formula that angered southerners who did
not think slaves should be counted for purposes of taxation.
The Articles of Confederation that Congress finally approved in November 1777 articles of confederation
bore little resemblance to Dickinson’s original plan. The Articles jealously guarded the Ratified in 1781, this document
sovereignty of the states. The delegates who drafted the framework shared a republi- was the United States' first
can conviction that power—especially power so far removed from the people—was constitution, providing a
framework for national
dangerous. The only way to preserve liberty was to place as many constraints as pos- government. The articles limited
sible on federal authority. central authority by denying
The result was a government that many people regarded as powerless. The Articles the national government any
provided for a single legislative body consisting of representatives selected annually taxation or coercive power.
by the state legislatures. Each state had one vote in Congress. It could send as many as
seven delegates, or as few as two, but if they divided evenly on an issue, the state lost
its vote. There was no independent executive and no veto over legislative decisions.
natural rights Fundamental The Articles also denied Congress the power of taxation, a serious oversight in time
rights over which the government of war. To obtain funds, the national government had to ask the states for contri-
should exercise no control.
butions, called requisitions. If a state failed to cooperate—and many did—Congress
limped along without financial support. All 13 states had to assent to amendments
to this constitution. The authors expected the weak national government to handle
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