be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them, unless such alteration be agreed to in a Congress of the United States, and be afterward confirmed by the legislatures of every state. AND WHEREAS, It hath pleased the Great Governor of the world to incline the hearts of the legislatures, we respectively represent in Congress, to approve of, and to authorize us to ratify the said Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union. Know ye, that we, the undersigned delegates, by virtue of the power and authority to us given for that purpose, do by these presents, in the name and in behalf of our respective constituents, fully and entirely ratify and confirm each and every of the said Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union, and all and singular the matters and things therein contained. And we do further solemnly plight and engage the faith of our respective constituents, that they shall abide by the determinations of the United States in Congress assembled, on all questions which by the said confederation are submitted to them; and that the articles thereof shall be inviolably observed by the states we respectively represent; and that the Union shall be perpetual. In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in Congress. Done at Philadelphia, in the state of Pennsylvania, the 9th day of July, in the year of our Lord, 1778, and in the third year of the Independence of America. EXPLANATIONS. NOTE. Read Note in Explanations to Plate 1. Plate IV shows the thirteen original States as thirteen sovereignties operating with a Common Congress, which has no coercive power over State Legislation. The central authority is the Articles of Confederation. With these the legislation of Congress accords. The drawing gives an idea of the weakness of Congress and the power of the States, and shows a nearer approach to union than that presented by Plate III. The workings of the government alone are shown, the people not being represented. The machine is supposed to operate through a motor that moves the articles of Confederation, but not with sufficient strength to overcome the inherent force of the States. The officers of a department and their duties are represented by a round surface. CONN O. Laws by which the States Operate with Congress. CHAPTER V. WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATIONS. 1789-1797. FEDERAL PARTY IN POWER. March 4th, 1789, was the time fixed upon for the formal inauguration of the new government, but it First Congress, Extra Session. was not until April 6th that a sufficient number of Congressmen arrived in New York to constitute a quorum and count the electoral votes. Washington took the oath of office April 29th, the Vice-President having taken his place as president of the Senate a few days before. Thus, at the dissolution of the confederation, the Federal party passed into power and assumed control of the national legislature. The first duty of the party was that of organizing a government based upon the constitution-a task requiring time, patience, and deliberation. Washington, wishing to be a mediator between the political parties, and to show that the administration had only the best wishes of the country at heart, formed his cabinet of men holding opposite political views. In a democratic state like ours the executive can not long hold the position of a mediator if he is not sustained by a compromise party among the people. Washington himself, so well fitted to play this part, was forced more and more to surrender his position in relation to parties. His first administration was devoted to the establishment of an internal policy. The anti-federalists became the determined opponents of this policy, as well as of his external policy developed during his second administration. ANTI-FEDERALS ORGANIZE. At the beginning of Washington's administration the antifederals did not constitute an organized opposition to the party in power; but as new measures of the government were advanced, they were taken as issues for drawing party lines, and for perfecting and strengthening the ranks of the minority. The antagonistic views held by Hamilton and Jefferson, members of Washington's cabinet, on the subject of government, aided greatly in establishing party lines. Their ideas made their way into Congress, thence among the people, and formed, principally, the issues on which the political parties were divided for a number of succeeding administrations. Hamilton was the leader of the federal party, and Jefferson of the opposition. TARIFF AND THE REGULATION OF COMMERCE. During the first session of Congress a law was passed, in which the principle of a protective tariff was recognized by declaring it to be "necessary for the support of government, for the discharge of the debts of the United States, and the encouragement of manufactures, that duties be laid on goods, wares, and merchandise imported." In the passage of this measure the government recognized the principle of a protective tariff, and the discussion which it called forth mainly shaped the issues on this question for all subsequent controversies. Hamilton's report on the subject, made after the law was passed, is regarded by free-traders as most cunningly devised, and by protectionists as containing arguments never yet answered. The policy of coercing foreign states by means of commercial restrictions had its beginning also in this measure, which, carried out by Mr. Jefferson in the embargo and non-intercourse acts, resulted ultimately in war with Great Britain. |