UNITED STATES (HISTORY). 



731 



during the five first years of the war, and no provi- 

 sions were made for redeeming them, the states 

 neglecting, or partially complying with, the requisi- 

 tions of congress. In 1780, these bills had depre- 

 ciated to such a degree as to cease to circulate ; the 

 treasury was empty, the army unpaid, without 



I clothing, and often without food. At this time, 

 the French government made a grant of six million 

 livres, by way of subsidy, and a further sum by way 

 of loan ; and finally a loan of ten million of livres 

 was raised in Holland. These supplies, with a new 

 organization of the finance department, and the 

 establishment of a national bank, contributed to 

 relieve the pressure. At the peace, the public debt 

 was found to amount to forty-two million dollars, 

 on which congress was unable to pay even the inte- 

 rest. The requisitions and regulations of that body 

 were little regarded by the states, and the country 

 was already becoming a prey to anarchy, when a 

 convention, composed of delegates from the several 

 states, met at Philadelphia (May, 1787), for the 

 purpose of revising the articles of Confederation, 

 and, under the presidency of Washington, agreed 

 on a federal constitution (September 17), to be 

 proposed to the people in state conventions. 



2. From the Establishment of the Federal Govern- 

 ment in 1789.* At an early period of the war 

 (1776), congress had recommended to the assem- 

 blies and conventions of the several colonies, to 

 establish governments suited to the new exigencies 

 of the country. This was not a difficult task, to a 

 people who had always been accustomed, with a 

 few exceptions, to manage their own affairs, and 

 whose legislative and judicial institutions in some 

 cases needed only a slight reform. The constitu- 

 tions of the states were, in general, modelled on 

 the same plan, having, in imitation of the British 

 constitution, a legislative authority vested in two 

 houses, one or both of which were chosen directly 

 by the people ; and an executive, with definite 

 power, chosen by the people or by their representa- 

 tives. These documents are the first written con- 

 stitutions of government with which history makes 

 us acquainted. (For a full account of them, see 

 Constitutions.) These governments were all highly 

 popular in their principles, simple in their machinery, 

 and well calculated for the management of home 

 affairs. But the general regulation of commerce on 

 uniform principles, the management of the inter- 

 course with foreign states, the support of a military 

 peace establishment, the settlement of disputed 

 questions between thirteen sovereign powers, re- 

 quired a general authority competent to decide 

 these and similar questions. The convention of 

 Philadelphia, after a session of about four months, 

 finally adopted the present federal constitution of 



* Introduction of Stntti into the Confederacy. The thirteen 

 United Colonies, which issued the declaration of independence, 

 entered into the confederation of 1778, and formed the consti- 

 tution of 1789, were, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode 

 I*l;tnd, Coimwticut. NVw York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 

 Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, 

 and Georgia. The states subsequently admitted into the union 

 are, 



Vermont, separated from New York. 1791 

 TtnoMMB, from North Carolina, 1796; 

 Kentucky, from Virginia, 1799 ; 

 Ohio, formed from lauds north-west of the Ohio, which had 



been ceded to the general government by the states to which 



it belonged, 1802; 



Louisiana, from Louisiana purchase, 1812; 

 Indiana, from North-west Territory, 1816; 

 Mississippi, from Georgia cession, 1817; 

 Illinois, from North-west Territory, 1818 ; 

 Alabama, from Georgia cession, 1819; 

 Maine, separated from Massachusetts, 1820 ; 

 Missouri, set off from Louisiana purchase, 1820. 



the United States (September 17, 1787), with the 

 provision that the ratification of it by nine states 

 should be sufficient for the final establishment of 

 the new system. The plan thus submitted to the 

 states was warmly debated in the several conven- 

 tions, but was finally adopted by all, seven of them 

 recommending certain amendments, and six ratify- 

 ing it absolutely. (The Journal of the Philadel- 

 phia convention was published in 1819, by order of 

 congress, and the debates of some of the state con- 

 ventions have also been published. The whole 

 subject is fully argued in the celebrated essays writ- 

 ten by Jay, Hamilton and Madison, and collected 

 under the title of the Federalist.) July 14, 1788, 

 ten statesf having acceded to it, it was ratified by 

 congress, and the first president was elected Febru- 

 ary 1, 1789. The first president was Washington, 

 who was chosen by a unanimous vote of his fellow 

 citizens. The first congress assembled at New 

 York, March 4, 1789, and immediately proceeded 

 to raise a revenue, by imposing duties; to establish 

 a federal judiciary, consisting of a supreme court, 

 with circuit and district courts; to organize the 

 executive administration, by creating the depart- 

 ments of war, of foreign affairs, and the treasury ; 

 to fund the debt of the United States, and assume 

 the state debts ; and to create a national bank. 

 The jealousy of state rights, which had made the 

 adoption of a federal constitution a matter of great 

 delicacy and difficulty, began already to manifest it- 

 self in opposition to the federal government, and 

 the two parties of federalists and anti-federalists 

 began to be more distinctly marked. Indian hosti- 

 lities had also required an increase of the military 

 establishment ; and the duty on domestic spirits 

 met with such open resistance from the people, that 

 the president issued a proclamation against unlaw- 

 ful combinations and proceedings tending to obstruct 

 the execution of the laws. The period for which 

 the president was chosen having expired, Washing- 

 ton was re-elected by a unanimous vote of the elec- 

 tors, and entered upon the second term of his ad- 

 ministration in 1793. An insurrection in the 

 western counties of Pennsylvania, on account of 

 the duties on domestic spirits, was quelled (1794) 

 without bloodshed, by the prudence and vigour of 

 the executive ; and the hostilities with the Indians 

 on the western frontier were terminated by the 

 entire defeat of the savages, by general Wayne. 

 Meanwhile, the progress of the French revolution, 

 which had stirred up all the nations of Europe, 

 had excited a lively interest in America. The 

 sympathy aroused by the sight of a nation 

 struggling for liberty, and particularly of a nation 

 which had borne arms in their cause, naturally pro- 

 duced a degree of enthusiasm among the Americans 

 in its favour. The president was determined to 

 maintain a strict neutrality in the contest between 

 the new republic and the European cabinets, in 

 conformity with his settled principle of avoiding 

 entangling alliances with foreigners. The minister 

 of the convention in this country, offended with 

 this neutral policy, actually undertook to raise 

 troops against the Spanish possessions, to fit out 

 naval expeditions in the ports of the United States, 

 and to take other similar measures in direct defiance 

 of the orders of the executive. He was supported 

 in this conduct by a strong party, which formed 

 democratic societies in different parts of the coun- 



t New York gave in her adhesion July 26 of that year; North 

 Carolina in November, 1789; Hhode Island, May, I7!XX 



