person shall, on that account, suffer any future loss or damage, either in his person, liberty or property; and that those who may be in confinement on such charges, at the time of the ratification of the treaty in America, shall be immediately set at liberty, and the prosecutions so commenced be discontinued.

ARTICLE VII.

There shall be a firm and perpetual peace between his Britannic Majesty and the said States, and between the subjects of the one and the citizens of the other, wherefore all hostilities, both by sea and land, shall from henceforth cease: all prisoners on both sides shall be set at liberty, and his Britannic Majesty shall, with all convenient speed, and without causing any destruction, or carrying away any negroes or other property of the American inhabitants, withdraw all his armies, garrisons and fleets from the said United States, and from every post, place and harbour within the same; leaving in all fortifications the American artillery that may be therein; and shall also order and cause all archives, records, deeds and papers, belonging to any of the said states, or their citizens, which in the course of the war may have fallen into the hands of his officers, to be forthwith restored and delivered to the proper states and persons to whom they belong.

ARTICLE VIII.

The navigation of the river Mississippi, from its source to the ocean, shall for ever remain free and open to the subjects of Great-Britain, and the citizens of the United States.

ARTICLE IX.

In case it should so happen that any place or territory belonging to Great-Britain or to the United States, should have been conquered by the arms of either from the other, before the arrival of the said provisional articles in America, it is agreed, that the same shall be restored without difficulty, and without requiring any compensation.

Done at Paris, this third day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three.

60. THE CALL OF THE PHILADELPHIA CONVENTION

The process by which the convention that framed the Constitution of the United States developed from the so-called Annapolis Convention of 1786 is illustrated in the following selection.

Jonathan Elliot, The Debates in the Several State Conventions, Vol. 1, pp. 117-120. Philadelphia, 1866.

"To the Honorable the Legislatures of Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, the commissioners from the said states respectively, assembled at Annapolis, humbly beg leave to report;

"That, pursuant to their several appointments, they met at Annapolis in the state of Maryland, on the 11th day of September instant; and having proceeded to a communication of their powers, they found that the states of New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, had, in substance, and nearly in the same terms, authorized their respective commissioners' to meet such commissioners as were or might be appointed by the other states in the Union, at such time and place as should be agreed upon by the said commissioners, to take into consideration the trade and commerce of the United States; to consider how far a uniform system in their commercial intercourse and regulations might be necessary to their common interest and permanent harmony; and to report to the several states such an act relative to this great object as, when unanimously ratified by them, would enable the United States in Congress assembled effectually to provide for the same.'

"That the state of Delaware had given similar powers to their commissioners, with this difference only, that the act to be framed in virtue of these powers is required to be reported to the United States in Congress assembled, to be agreed to by them, and confirmed by the legislatures of every state.'

"That the state of New Jersey had enlarged the object of their appointment, empowering their commissioners to consider how far a uniform system in their commercial regulations and other important matters might be necessary to the common interest and permanent harmony of the several states; ' and to report such an act on the subject as, when ratified by them, would enable the United States in Congress assembled effectually to provide for the exigencies of the Union.'

"That appointments of commissioners have also been made by the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and North Carolina, none of whom, however, have attended; but that no information has been received, by your commissioners, of any appoint

ment having been made by the states of Connecticut, Maryland, South Carolina, or Georgia.

"That the express terms of the powers to your commissioners supposing a deputation from all the states, and having for object the trade and commerce of the United States, your commissioners did not conceive it advisable to proceed on the business of their mission under the circumstance of so partial and defective a representation...

"That there are important defects in the system of the federal government, is acknowledged by the acts of all those states which have concurred in the present meeting; that the defects, upon a closer examination, may be found greater and more numerous than even these acts imply, is at least so far probable, from the embarrassments which characterize the present state of our national affairs, foreign and domestic, as may reasonably be supposed to merit a deliberate and candid discussion, in some mode which will unite the sentiments and councils of all the states...

"Your commissioners decline an enumeration of those national circumstances on which their opinion respecting the propriety of a future convention, with more enlarged powers, is founded... They are, however, of a nature so serious, as, in the view of your commissioners, to render the situation of the United States delicate and critical, calling for an exertion of the united virtue and wisdom of all the members of the confederacy.

"Under this impression, your commissioners, with the most respectful deference, beg leave to suggest their unanimous conviction, that it may essentially tend to advance the interests of the Union, if the states, by whom they have been respectively delegated, would themselves concur, and use their endeavors to procure the concurrence of the other states, in the appointment of commissioners, to meet at Philadelphia on the second Monday in May next, to take into consideration the situation of the United States, to devise such further provisions as shall appear to them necessary to render the constitution of the federal government adequate to the exigencies of the Union; and to report such an act for that purpose to the United States in Congress assembled, as, when agreed to by them, and afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of every state, will effectually provide for the same.

"Though your commissioners could not with propriety address these observations and sentiments to any but the states they have the honor to represent, they have nevertheless concluded, from motives of respect, to transmit copies of this report to the United States in Congress assembled, and to the executive of the other states.

"By order of the Commissioners.

"Dated at ANNAPOLIS, September 14, 1786."..

IN CONGRESS, WEDNESDAY, February 21, 1787.-The report of a grand committee... to whom was referred a letter of 14th September, 1786, from J. Dickinson, written at the request of commissioners... assembled at the city of Annapolis, together with a copy of the report of the said commissioners to the legislatures of the states by whom they were appointed, being an order of the day, was called up, and which is contained in the following resolution, viz.:

Congress having had under consideration the letter of John Dickinson, Esq., chairman of the commissioners who assembled at Annapolis during the last year; also the proceedings of the said commissioners; and entirely coinciding with them as to the inefficiency of the federal government, and the necessity of devising such further provisions as shall render the same adequate to the exigencies of the Union, do strongly recommend to the different legislatures to send forward dele⚫ gates, to meet the proposed convention, on the second Monday in May next, at the city of Philadelphia."

The delegates for the state of New York... moved to postpone the further consideration of the report in order to take up the following proposition, viz.:

at

on

"That it be recommended to the states composing the Union, that a convention of representatives, from the said states respectively, be held -, for the purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union between the United States of America, and reporting to the United States in Congress assembled, and to the states respectively, such alterations and amendments of the said Articles of Confederation as the representatives met in such convention shall judge proper and necessary to render them adequate to the preservation and support of the Union."

On the question to postpone, for the purpose above mentioned,.. the question was lost.

A motion was then made, by the delegates for Massachusetts, to postpone the further consideration of the report, in order to take into consideration a motion which they read in their place. This being agreed to, the motion of the delegates for Massachusetts was taken up, and, being amended, was agreed to, as follows:

"Whereas there is provision, in the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, for making alterations therein, by the assent of a Congress of the United States, and of the legislatures of the several states; and whereas experience hath evinced that there are defects in the present Confederation; as a mean to remedy which, several of the states, and particularly the state of New York, by express instructions to their delegates in Congress, have suggested a convention for the purpose ex

pressed in the following resolution; and such convention appearing to be the most probable mean of establishing in these states a firm national government,

"Resolved, That, in the opinion of Congress, it is expedient that, on the second Monday in May next, a convention of delegates, who shall have been appointed in the several states, be held at Philadelphia, for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation, and reporting to Congress and the several legislatures such alterations and provisions therein as shall, when agreed to in Congress, and confirmed by the states, render the federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of government and the preservation of the Union."

61. SHAY'S REBELLION

The following letter from a Virginian delegate in Congress to the Governor of Virginia December 8, 1786, is the reflection of an observer of conservative tendencies on Shay's Rebellion and its meaning. Carrington saw, although he did not sympathize with, the social and economic conditions of unrest that found expression in the uprising in Massachusetts. Notice how the occurrence impressed him with the need of a stronger Federal Government to act as a bulwark of public order. Note, also, his sense of the danger of British intrigue in the disunited confederation.

Calendar of Virginia State Papers, Vol. 4, pp. 195–199. Richmond, 1884.

ED. CARRINGTON (DELEGATE TO CONGRESS) TO
GOVERNOR EDMUND RANDOLPH

1786
December

D'r Sir:

8th

New York

... How far the contagion of the Eastern1 disorders will spread, it may not be proper to conjecture from the present quiet state of the other parts of the Empire, as from the experience of human nature

1 Shays' rebellion in Massachusetts, the troubles in Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and lately in New Hampshire, growing out of the resistance of the people to State levies to meet the payment of interest on their public debts and that of the United States. The great impoverishment of the County consequent upon the war of the revolution, the real cause.