  |
| |
        
| ||
| You are in: Virtual Public Library >> Hall of the Historic Archives >> Articles of Confederation | |
| |
|
| |
|
| ||
| You are in: Virtual Public Library >> Hall of the Historic Archives >> Articles of Confederation | |
| |
Happy Birthday United
States
in Congress Assembled
Copyright 2002 by:
Stanley L. Klos
After Independence
from Great Britain was declared on July 2, 1776 the United Colonies needed to
form a new Confederation to govern and conduct the war against England.
The Continental Congress, after painstaking debate, passed the Articles
of Confederation of the United States of America on November 15, 1777.
Unlike the Constitution of 1787 this confederation
charter required the ratification of all 13 states before it would become
the first "Constitution" of the United States of America.
It was Maryland who held out ratifying the Articles
of Confederation until
1781 due to border disputes with neighboring states. On March 1, 1781 with this 13th state ratification
the Continental Congress ceased to exist and "The United States in
Congress Assembled" was placed at the head of each page of the Official
Journal of Congress. The New United States in Congress Assembled Journal
reported on March 2, 1781:
The ratification of the
Articles of Confederation being yesterday completed by the accession of the
State of Maryland: The United States met in Congress, when the following members
appeared: His excellency Samuel Huntington, delegate for Connecticut, President
...
Mr.
Samuel Huntington served as President of the Continental Congress from
1779 to 1781, which was well beyond the one-year term limitation now mandated by
the ratified Articles of Confederation . Despite
this Huntington was recognized as President of the United States in
Congress Assembled during the ratification celebration of March 1781 and
presided of the new Government until the election of President Thomas
McKean. Contrary to popular belief, Samuel Huntington actually became
the first President of the United States on that fateful day. There were nine
more US Presidents who served under the Articles before George
Washington’s inauguration in 1789 making him the eleventh (see http://www.uspresidency.com).
There
were many interesting and noteworthy provisions in this new Constitution.
Article XI, however, astonishes most Americans because of the automatic
admission provision of a 14th state with a simple letter to the United
States in Congress Assembled:
XI. Canada acceding to this
confederation, and adjoining 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.
Canada, of course, never sought admission and
the carte blanche invitation expired in 1788.
The United States Congress passed
numerous laws and resolutions under the new Constitution of 1781. Clearly, it
was President Arthur St. Clair's 1787
administration that passed the most significant piece of legislation under the
Articles of Confederation.
An Ordinance for the government of the
Territory of the United States northwest of the River Ohio.
The Northwest
Ordinance had lingered in Congress since 1784 until President St. Clair
championed the measure before Congress. Daniel
Webster described the Northwest Ordinance as follows:
"We are accustomed to praise lawgivers of antiquity ... but I doubt
whether one single law of any lawgiver, ancient or modern, has produced the
effects of more distinct, marked, and lasting character than the Ordinance of
1787"
This ordinance was an exceptional
piece of legislation because Article 5 permitted the people North and West of
the Ohio River to settle their land, form their own territorial government, and
take their place as a full fledge state equal to the original 13. The
Northwest Ordinance's Article 5 became the principal that enabled the United
States rapid westward expansion, which ended with the inclusion of Alaska and
Hawaii as our 49th and 50th states.
In Article 6 slavery and
involuntary servitude were prohibited in the Northwest Territory which finally
gave some merit to the United States 1776 Declaration of Independence's "...
all men are created equal...". Other Ordinance provisions provided for
free College and educational land grants.
Clearly the importance of the
Articles of Confederation and its government has been rendered obtuse, as it is
virtually ignored in our educational and public rhetoric.
The fact that Samuel
Huntington is not recognized
as the first President of the United States is primarily due to the popular view
that the United States formally began with the United States Constitution. This,
coupled with oath of secrecy of all 1774-1788 Congressional debates and the
current national fixation with the importance of the 1787 Constitutional
Presidency, has doomed the legacy of the Articles of Confederation to obscurity.
There is no doubt, however, that a
future US generation will re-discover the early patriots and the genius entwined
within the Articles of Confederation. Perhaps that generation will someday deem
March 1, 1781 - A National Holiday - set aside to honor the US
Presidents, patriots and leaders of the War for
Independence.