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| United States Congress under the Articles of Confederation | |
|---|---|
| Name | Congress of the Confederation |
| Native name | Congress of the Confederation |
| Foundation | 1781 |
| Preceded by | Second Continental Congress |
| Succeeded by | Congress of the United States |
| House type | Unicameral |
| Members | Delegates appointed by state legislatures |
| Meeting place | Philadelphia, New York City, Princeton, New Jersey, Annapolis, Maryland |
United States Congress under the Articles of Confederation The Congress under the Articles of Confederation served as the national legislature from 1781 to 1789, operating as a unicameral assembly that sought to coordinate the American Revolutionary War, manage treaties such as the Treaty of Paris (1783), and oversee western land policy exemplified by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. It convened notable figures including John Hancock, Samuel Huntington, Thomas McKean, Nathaniel Gorham, and Benjamin Franklin in various diplomatic or advisory roles while contending with interstate disputes like the New York–New Jersey border dispute and postwar crises such as Shays' Rebellion. Congress's limited powers prompted calls for reform culminating in the Philadelphia Convention (1787) and the framing of the United States Constitution.
The institution evolved from the Continental Congress which coordinated resistance to the British Empire during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), with delegates such as John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington influencing republican theory. Delegates ratified the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union at the Second Continental Congress and submitted them to the state legislatures; Maryland's ratification in 1781 ceded western claims and completed adoption, after earlier approvals by Virginia, New York, and Massachusetts. The Confederation was shaped by fears stemming from the Articles of Association (1774), the Intolerable Acts, and experiences at the Continental Army and during the Siege of Yorktown (1781), prompting a compact emphasizing sovereignty of the States of the Confederation and a weak central assembly.
Under the Articles, Congress was unicameral, composed of delegations appointed by state legislatures with one vote per state; presiding officers included Presidents of Congress such as John Hanson and Thomas Mifflin. Its enumerated powers covered diplomacy with entities like the Kingdom of France and the Dutch Republic, treaty-making evidenced by the Treaty of Alliance (1778), adjudication of disputes under the Northwest Ordinance, and oversight of the United States Military Academy predecessor matters like troop requisitions from the Continental Army. Absent were powers to levy direct taxes, regulate interstate commerce against backgrounds like the Annapolis Convention (1786), or compel state compliance—limitations underscored by clashes with Massachusetts Bay Colony-era state legislatures and enforcement difficulties against states such as Rhode Island and Connecticut over tariffs and paper currency.
Congress operated by majority or supermajority votes—nine of thirteen states were required for major decisions—constraining action on issues like admission of new states exemplified by the incorporation of Vermont and Kentucky claims. Delegates such as Roger Sherman and Elbridge Gerry participated in committee work; committees handled correspondence with diplomats like John Jay and administered the Post Office Department precursor under Postmaster General Benjamin Franklin's legacy. Sessions moved among cities—Philadelphia, Baltimore, Princeton—and produced statutes including the Land Ordinance of 1785; however, inconsistent attendance, state recall of delegates, and travel hazards limited continuity and institutional memory, provoking reforms later addressed at the Constitutional Convention.
Congress relied on state legislatures for implementation of policies and enforcement of requisitions, causing recurring conflicts with governors and assemblies in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Without a separate executive, Congress appointed officials such as the Secretary of War and Comptroller of the Treasury and oversaw the Board of War and diplomatic agents including Thomas Jefferson (when ministerial roles arose), but lacked centralized command comparable to the Executive Office of the President later created by the United States Constitution. Interstate disputes—over navigation on the Mississippi River and debts arising from the Revolutionary War—required congressional mediation yet often depended on interstate commissions or ad hoc agreements negotiated with figures like James Monroe and Robert Morris.
Congress directed diplomacy and wartime strategy during and after the revolution, commissioning generals such as George Washington and negotiating with foreign ministers including Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Henry Laurens. It concluded the Treaty of Paris (1783), resolved issues with the Barbary States in early Mediterranean engagements, and managed relations with Spain over navigation rights and the Pinckney's Treaty antecedents. Congress's inability to raise permanent revenues hindered maintenance of forces and naval projects tied to figures like John Paul Jones, while the loss of leverage in enforcing treaty terms with Great Britain revealed limitations exploited in disputes such as the Northwest Indian War.
Financial administration fell to committees and officers such as Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris and Treasurer Samuel Osgood, who attempted measures like the Continental dollar stabilization and requisition systems. Congress managed western land sales via the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, facilitating settlement leading to states like Ohio and influencing policy debates involving land speculators such as Morris Land Company. Persistent war debts, inflation, unpaid pensions to Continental soldiers, and interstate tariff conflicts—notably actions by Massachusetts and Rhode Island—exposed the Confederation's inability to levy taxes, forcing reliance on voluntary state contributions and loans from financiers like Haym Salomon and foreign creditors such as France.
Critiques by contemporaries including Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and George Washington emphasized defects revealed by crises like Shays' Rebellion and the ineffective response to commercial barriers highlighted at the Annapolis Convention (1786). Delegates from Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and other states convened at the Philadelphia Convention (1787), producing compromises led by figures such as Roger Sherman (Connecticut Compromise) and advocates like Gouverneur Morris and Edmund Randolph that replaced the Articles with the United States Constitution. Ratification battles involved Federalists like John Jay and anti-Federalists such as Patrick Henry and George Mason, culminating in the establishment of the United States Congress under the new constitutional framework and the dissolution of the Confederation Congress in 1789.