Part 11 (1/2)

SPECIAL HISTORIES.--G. T. Curtis _Const.i.tutional History_, chs. v.-xiv.

(_History of the Const.i.tution_ I. 214-347); George Bancroft, _United States_ (last revision), VI. 5-194, _History of the Const.i.tution_, I. 1- 266; John Fiske, _Critical Period_, 1-186; J. B. McMaster, _United States_, I. 103-416; J. F. Jameson _Essays on the Const.i.tution_; T.

Pitkin, _United States_, I. 283-422, II. 223; William B. Weeden, _New England_, II. chs. xxii., xxiii.; W. G. Sumner, _Financier and Finances_, II. chs. xvi.-xxvii.; B. A. Hinsdale, _Old Northwest_, chs. ix.-xvi.; H.

B. Adams, _Maryland's Influence_; W. Hill, _First Stages of the Tariff Policy_; S. Sato, _Public Land Question_; Theodore Roosevelt. _Winning of the West_, III.

CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTS.--_Journals of Congress_; _Secret Journals_; Madison's notes in H. D. Gilpin, _Papers of James Madison_, and in _Elliot's Debates_, V.; letters of Was.h.i.+ngton, Madison, John Jay, Hamilton, and Franklin, in their works; Thomas Paine, _Public Good_; Noah Webster, _Sketches of American Policy_; Pelatiah Webster, _Dissertation on the Political Union_; Brissot de Warville's _Examen Critique_ [1784], and _Nouveau Voyage_ [1788], (also in translation); Thomas Jefferson, _Notes on Virginia_.--Reprints in _American History told by Contemporaries_, II., _American History Leaflets_, Nos. 20, 22, 28.

49. THE UNITED STATES IN 1781.

[Sidenote: Army.]

[Sidenote: Territory.]

The task thrown upon Congress in 1781 would have tried the strongest government in existence. An army of more than ten thousand men was under arms, and must be kept up until peace was formally declared, and then must be paid off. The territorial claims of the States and of the Union were still in confusion. Virginia roused the suspicion of the small States by making the promised cession in terms which Congress could not accept, and the other States had made no motion towards yielding their claims.

Relations with the Indians were still confused. Superintendents of Indian affairs had been appointed, and in 1778 a treaty was negotiated with the Creeks; but the States, particularly Pennsylvania and Georgia, continued to make their own arrangements with Indian tribes.

[Sidenote: Finances.]

[Sidenote: Commerce.]

[Sidenote: General weakness.]

The finances of the country seemed to have reached their lowest ebb. An attempt was made to float a new issue of continental money at one dollar for forty of the old bills The new obligations speedily sank to the level of the old, and the country was practically bankrupt. The aid of the French was all that kept the government afloat (-- 43). The return of peace was expected to restore American commerce to its old prosperity; but having gone to war princ.i.p.ally because colonial commerce with other countries was restricted, the Americans found themselves deprived of their old freedom of trade with England. They were subject to discriminating duties in English ports, and were excluded from the direct trade with the English West Indies, which had been the chief resource the colonial s.h.i.+p- owners. The State governments were in debt, embarra.s.sed, and beset with the social difficulties which come in the train of war. The disbanded troops were not accustomed to regular employment or to a quiet life; taxes were heavy and odious; the far Western settlements clamored to be set free from the States to which they belonged. Above all, the national government was weak, inefficient, and little respected by the army or the people at large.

60. FORM OF THE GOVERNMENT (1781-1788.)

[Sidenote: Congress.]

The first and fundamental defect of the government was in the organization of Congress. The Continental Congress had been a head without a body; under the Articles of Confederation, Congress was a body without a head. A single a.s.sembly continued to be the source of all national legislative, executive, and judicial power (-- 37). As though to prevent the country from getting the benefit of experience, no man could remain a member of Congress for more than three years in succession. The delegates of each State continued to cast jointly one vote; if only one member were present, the vote of a State was not counted; if but two were present, they might produce a tie. On important questions the approval of nine States was necessary, and often less than that number had voting representatives on the floor. Amendment was impossible, except by consent of all the State legislatures. Although Congress had to deal with difficult questions of peace, its princ.i.p.al power was that of carrying on war. Congress might make treaties, but it could pa.s.s no act in defence of American commerce.

[Sidenote: Executive departments.]

A great effort was made to improve the executive system. By resolutions pa.s.sed early in 1781, secretaries were appointed for the three departments of Foreign Affairs, War, and Finance; the board system, championed by Samuel Adams and others, was to be abandoned. The importance of the War Department diminished after 1782. ”The Secretary of the United States for the Department of Foreign Affairs” was quartered in two little rooms, and furnished with two clerks. The post was filled first by Robert R.

Livingston, and from 1784 by John Jay. The office of Superintendent of Finance was bestowed upon Robert Morris of Pennsylvania.

[Sidenote: Courts.]

The Articles of Confederation provided for a special tribunal to settle territorial disputes between the States. The system was invoked in 1782, and a verdict was rendered in favor of Pennsylvania and against Connecticut in their rival claims to the Wyoming region. A second set of federal courts was const.i.tuted by designating certain State courts to try piracies and felonies committed on the high seas. A third and the only important federal tribunal was the Court of Appeals in prize cases, which began to sit in January, 1780, and before which were sued sixty-five cases. All the courts, like all the executive departments, were created by Congress, alterable by Congress, and subject to the control of Congress. In 1784 the Court of Appeals was allowed to lapse, by the refusal of Congress to pay the salaries of the judges.

51. DISBANDMENT OF THE ARMY (1783.)

To follow the history of the Confederation from year to year would be unprofitable. It was a confused period, with no recognized national leaders, no parties, no great crises. We shall therefore take up one after another the important questions which arose, and follow each to the end of the Confederation.

[Sidenote: Half-pay question.]

[Sidenote: Protests.]

The first duty of Congress after peace was declared was to cut off the military expenditures (-- 42). The food, clothing, and pay of the army amounted to about $400,000 a month. Provision had been made for bounty lands for the soldiers; the officers expected some more definite reward.