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CHAPTER II

A HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION AND EVENTS LEADING UP TO IT

The history of the making of the union begins in 1754 and continues until there was a real United States in 1898, when North and South stood shoulder to shoulder under one flag fighting a common foe. It took this country more than a century and a half to attain national self consciousness, to establish imperishable republic.

Benjamin Franklin, editor of the Pennsylvania Gazette, began early to make vigorous appeals to the colonies to unite, but not until 1754, when France threatened the safety of the country, was there any effort made to form a union. Delegates from seven colonies met at Albany, N. Y., and adopted a plan of union which was proposed by Franklin. It was rejected both by colonial assemblies and by the king, each thinking that it gave too much power to the other. Yet Franklin did not despair. He knew that in the union of the colonies lay the power to compel England to respect our rights, while men of England were dreading "American union as the keystone of independence.

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In 1765 a congress composed of delegates from nine states met in New York and asserted the right of self government in these words: "That the people of these

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colonies. . . . from their local circumstances cannot be represented in the house of commons . . . . and no taxes can be constitutionally imposed on them except by their representative legislatures."

In 1774 the first continental congress met in Philadelphia. Fifty-five delegates were present from twelve colonies, Georgia not being represented. They adopted a" Declaration of Colonial Rights" that stated pointedly the differences between the colonies and the mother country. But this congress went one step further.. They entered into an agreement not to import British goods nor to export any of the products of the colonies: to Great Britain until their wrongs should be redressed.. This was the first definite step towards union. It was in session from September 5 to October 26. John Adams called it "The memorable league of the continent in 1774 which first expressed the sovereign will of a free nation in America."

The second continental congress, which met May 10, 1775, was composed of representatives from all the colonies. "The second congress remained, in name at least, in perpetual session until it was succeeded by the congress of the confederation, nearly six years later (March, 1781)." This was a revolutionary body, exercising powers that had never been delegated to it but were demanded by public exigency. Dr. Von Holtz has said: "Until the adoption of the Articles of Confederation by all the states, congress continued a revolutionary body, which was recognized by all the colonies de jure and de facto (by law and in fact) the national government, and as such came into contact. with foreign powers, and entered into engagements,

the binding force of which on the whole people has never been called in question."

In June, 1776, two committees were appointed-one to draft a declaration of independence, and the other to outline a scheme of government. The last committee reported in four days, and the first constitution for the whole country was adopted by congress and submitted to the states for ratification. But not until 1781 was it ratified by the thirteenth state, Maryland being the last, she having refused to ratify until the states owning the large territory in the north-west. should cede it to the national government, an act for which the state of Maryland deserves much credit.

This constitution has been called the Articles of Confederation because it founded a confederacy and not a national government. This attempt at constitutional government is noted more for what it failed in doing than in what it succeeded. Congress was the only governmental body; it was really limited to advisory power, it had some judicial power affecting matters in which states were involved, and in some cases it could execute its laws; for instance, it could buy provisions for the army if it had money or credit. It could levy but could not collect taxes. but could not enlist men. It but could not enforce them. the individual, but must beg the state to meet its humble petitions for men and money.

It could vote an army could negotiate treaties It could not deal with

This being the state of affairs, when peace was declared in 1783, the country lost respect for the government its glory was departed, and its days of labor done." Fourth and fifth rate men were elected mem

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bers of congress; sometimes states actually neglected to elect their delegates and many of those who were elected failed to attend. It took three months to get a quorum to ratify the treaty of peace, and it was "with the greatest difficulty that delegates enough could be brought together in 1788 to set the government created by the constitution in motion." There were not enough present to formally adjourn when the end came, and the old government fell to pieces and the country had no central government from October, 1788, to April, 1789.

Being more than a century from this early period, it seems to us that all must have been harmony and good will among the states. But the opposite is too plainly true. The states were on the point of civil war many times during the years 1783 to 1787. The condition was such that King George believed that the people would get into such a snarl that the states, one by one, would beg on their knees to be taken back into the empire. Congress had no control over commerce, the state was absolute in its own domain.

New York, not content with levying a tariff upon foreign goods, laid a heavy duty on Connecticut fire wood and New Jersey butter, cheese, and eggs. "Great and just was the wrath of the farmers and the lumbermen." New Jersey retaliated by levying an $1,800 tax on a few square feet of ground leased to New York for a light-house. In Connecticut, the merchants agreed, under a penalty of $250 for the first offense, not to send any goods into the hated state for twelve months. "But for the good work of the federal convention another five years would scarcely have elapsed

before shots would have been fired and seeds of perennial hatred have been sown on the shores that look toward Manhattan Island.”

People from Connecticut had settled in the beautiful Wyoming Valley. Pennsylvania claimed this region and its claim had been allowed by a federal court as provided for by the Articles of Confederation. Connecticut accepted the award as gracefully as possible. In the spring of 1784 a sudden thaw brought disaster to the Yankee settlers, their houses and barns were swept away, their stock drowned and their fruit trees destroyed. Greater suffering had not been known in this fair state of the Quakers. President Dickenson urged the legislature which was in session to send prompt relief to the stricken valley. "But the hearts of the members were as of flint, and their talk was incredibly wicked. Not a penny would they give to help the accursed Yankees. It served them right. If they had stayed in Connecticut they would have kept out of harm's way." The legislature sent a force of militia to the valley, who stole everything they could, treated men with violence and the women with insults, until the inhabitants were forced to strike back. The militia's leader, Patterson, attacked the settlement, turned five hundred people out of doors and burned. their homes; the old, the infirm, the weak and the tender women were driven into forest at the point of the bayonet and told to leave for Connecticut as quickly as possible. Many became food for wolves; their suffering is indescribable. Actual warfare existed. Pennsylvania and all New England were saved from civil war by a peculiar arrangement in the Penn

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