the following April the terms were ratified by Congress; but it was not until the 3d of November, 1783, that a final treaty was effected between all the nations that had been at war. On that day the ambassadors of Holland, Spain, England, France and the United States, in a solemn conference at Paris, agreed to and signed the articles of a permanent peace.

The terms of THE TREATY OF 1783 were briefly these: A full and complete recognition of the independence of the United States; the recession by Great Britain of Florida to Spain; the surrender of all the remaining territory east of the Mississippi and south of the great lakes to the United States; the free navigation of the Mississippi and the lakes by American vessels; the concession of mutual rights in the Newfoundland fisheries; and the retention by Great Britain of Canada and Nova Scotia, with the exclusive control of the St. Lawrence.

Early in August Sir Guy Carleton received instructions to evacuate New York city. Three months were spent in making arrangements for this important event. Finally, on the 25th of November, everything was in readiness; the British army was embarked on board the fleet; the sails were spread; the ships stood out to sea; dwindled to white specks on the horizon; disappeared. The Briton was gone. After the struggles and sacrifices of an eight years' war the patriots had achieved the independence of their country. The United States of America took an equal station among the nations of the earth.

Nine days after Carleton's departure there was a most affecting scene in the city. Washington assembled his officers and bade them a final adieu. When they were met, the chieftain spoke a few affectionate words to his comrades, who came forward in turn and with tears and sobs which the veterans no longer cared to conceal bade him farewell. Washington then walked to Whitehall, followed by a vast concourse of citizens and soldiers, and thence departed to Annapolis, where Congress was in session. On his way he paused at Philadelphia and made to the proper officers a report of his expenses during the war. The account was in his own handwriting, and covered a total expenditure of seventy-four thousand four hundred and eighty-five dollars-all correct to a cent. The route of the chief from Paulus's Hook to Annapolis was a continuous triumph. The people by hundreds and thousands flocked to the villages and roadsides to see him pass; gray-headed statesmen to speak words of praise; young men to shout with enthusiasm; maidens to strew his way with flowers.

On the 23d of December Washington was introduced to Congress. To that body of patriotic sages he delivered an address full of feeling,

wisdom and modesty. Then with that dignity which always marked his conduct he surrendered his commission as commander-in-chief of the American army. General Mifflin, the president of Congress, responded in an eloquent manner, and then the hero retired to his home at Mount Vernon. The man whom, the year before, some disaffected soldiers were going to make king of America, now, by his own act, became a citizen of the Republic.

DU

CHAPTER XLV.

CONFEDERATION AND UNION.

URING the progress of the Revolution the civil government of the URING United States was in a deplorable condition. Nothing but the imminent peril of the country had, in the first place, led to the calling of a Continental Congress. And when that body assembled, it had no method of proceeding, no constitution, no power of efficient action. The two great wants of the country were money to carry on the war and α central authority to direct the war: the former of these was never met; and Washington was made to supply the latter. Whenever Congress would move in the direction of a firmer government, division would spring up, and action would be checked by the remonstrance of jealous colonies. Nevertheless, the more far-seeing statesmen of the times labored constantly to create substantial political institutions.

Foremost of all those who worked for better government was Benjamin Franklin. As early as the times of the French and Indian War he began to agitate the question of a permanent union of the colonies. During the troubled years just preceding the Revolution he brooded over his cherished project, and in 1775 laid before Congress the plan of a perpetual confederation of the States. But the attention of that body was wholly occupied with the stirring events of the day, and Franklin's measure received but little notice. Congress, without any real authority, began to conduct the government, and its legislation was generally accepted by the States. Still, the central authority was only an authority by sufferance, and was liable at any time to be annulled by the caprice of State legislatures.

Under such a system thinking men grew restless. On the 11th of June, 1776, a committee was appointed by Congress to prepare a plan

of confederation. After a month the work was completed and laid before the house. Another month was spent in fruitless debates, and then the question was laid over till the following spring. In April of 1777 the discussion was resumed, and continued through the summer. Meanwhile, the power of Great Britain being overthrown, the States had all adopted republican governments, and the sentiment of national union had made considerable headway. Finally, on the 15th of November, a vote was taken in Congress, and the articles of confederation reported by the committee were adopted. The next step was to transmit the articles to the several State legislatures for ratification. The time thus occupied extended to the following June, and then the new frame of government was returned to Congress with many amendments. These having been considered and the most serious objections removed, the articles were signed by the delegates of eight States on the 9th of July, 1778. Later in the same month the representatives of Georgia and North Carolina affixed their signatures. In November the delegates of New Jersey, and in the following February those of Delaware, signed the compact. Maryland held aloof; and it was not until March of 1781 that the consent of that commonwealth could be obtained. Thus the Revolution was nearly ended before the new system was finally ratified.

The government of the United States under the articles of confederation was a democratic republic. It presented itself under the form of A LOOSE UNION OF INDEPENDENT COMMONWEALTHS-a confederacy of sovereign States. The executive and legislative powers of the general government were vested in Congress-a body composed of not less than two nor more than seven representatives from each State. But Congress could exercise no other than delegated powers; the sovereignty was reserved to the States. The most important of the exclusive privileges of Congress were the right of making war and peace, the regulation of foreign intercourse, the power to receive and send ambassadors, the control of the coinage of money, the settlement of disputed boundaries and the care of the public domain. There was no chief magistrate of the Republic; and no general judiciary was provided for. The consent of nine States was necessary to complete an act of legislation. In voting each State cast a single ballot. The union of the States was declared to be perpetual.

On the day of the ratification of the articles by Maryland the old Congress adjourned, and on the following morning reassembled under the new form of government. From the very first the inadequacy of that government was manifest. To begin with, it contradicted the doctrines of the Declaration of Independence. Congress had but a shadow of

authority, and that shadow, instead of proceeding from the people, emanated from States which were declared to be sovereign and independent. The first great duty of the new government was to provide for the payment of the war debt, which had now reached the sum of thirty-eight million dollars. Congress could only recommend to the several States the levying of a sufficient tax to meet the indebtedness. Some of the States made the required levy; others were dilatory; others refused. At the very outset the government was balked and thwarted. The serious troubles that attended the disbanding of the army were traceable rather to the inability than to the indisposition of Congress to pay the soldiers. The princely fortune of Robert Morris was exhausted and himself brought to poverty in a vain effort to sustain the credit of the government. For three years after the treaty of peace public affairs were in a condition bordering on chaos. The imperiled state of the Republic was viewed with alarm by the sagacious patriots who had carried the Revolution to a successful issue. It was seen that unless the articles of confederation could be replaced with a better system the nation would go to ruin.

The project of remodeling the government originated at Mount Vernon. In 1785, Washington, in conference with a company of statesmen at his home, advised the calling of a convention to meet at Annapolis in the following year. The proposition was received with favor; and in September of 1786 the representatives of five States assembled. The question of a tariff on imports was discussed; and then the attention of the delegates was turned to a revision of the articles of confederation. Since only a minority of the States were represented in the conference, it was resolved to adjourn until May of the following year, and all the States were urgently requested to send representatives at that time. Congress also invited the several legislatures to appoint delegates to the proposed convention. All of the States except Rhode Island responded to the call; and on the second Monday in May, 1787, the representatives assembled at Philadelphia. Washington, who was a delegate from Virginia, was chosen president of the convention. A desultory discussion followed until the 29th of the month, when Edmund Randolph introduced a resolution to set aside the articles of confederation and adopt a new constitution. There was further debate; and then a committee was appointed to revise the articles. Early in September the work was done; the report of the committee was adopted; and that report was THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.* At the same time it was resolved to send copies of the new instrument to the several legislatures for ratification or rejection.

* The Constitution was written by Gouverneur Morris, of Pennsylvania.

While the constitutional convention was in session at Philadelphia the last colonial Congress was sitting in New York. The latter body was in a feeble and distracted condition. Only eight States were represented. It was evident that the old Confederation, under which the colonies had won their freedom, was tottering to its fall. Nevertheless, before the

adjournment of Congress, a measure was successfully carried through which was only second in importance to the formation of the constitution. This was the organization of THE NORTHWESTERN TERRITORY.

As a preliminary measure this vast domain was ceded to the United States by Virginia, New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. For the government of the territory an ordinance, drawn up by Mr. Jeffer

son, was adopted on the

ALEXANDER HAMILTON.

13th of July, 1787. General Arthur St. Clair, then president of Congress, received the appointment of military governor, and in the summer of the following year began his duties with headquarters at Marietta. By the terms of the ordinance it was stipulated that not less than three nor more than five States should be formed out of the great territory thus brought under the dominion of civilization; that the States when organized should be admitted on terms of equality with the original members of the confederation, and that slavery should be prohibited. Out of this noble domain the five great States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin were destined in after times to be formed and added to the Union.

On the question of adopting the Constitution the people were divided. It was the first great political agitation in the country. Those who favored the new frame of government were called FEDERALISTS; those who opposed, ANTI-FEDERALISTS or REPUBLICANS. The leaders of the former party were Washington, Jay, Madison, and