“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
A deep dive into six key differences that demonstrate how the Articles were much closer to a pure system of federalism than the Constitution for the United States. We’ll cover topics like representation, the executive branch, the taxing power – and more. Path to...
Signed on Sept 3, 1783 – the Treaty of Paris was intended to end the war for independence. But the war didn’t officially end on that date with the signatures of Franklin, John Adams and John Jay. The treaty, made with 13 free, sovereign, and independent...
Most people seem to believe that the constitutional convention of 1787 was called for by Congress under the Articles of Confederation. Even the Library of Congress makes this claim. But it’s totally false. It was actually the Commonwealth of Virginia that initiated...
One of the most important foundational documents in American history, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 is one that most people never learn about. Following principles outlined by Thomas Jefferson in 1784, it included a precursor to the bill of rights four years before...
In a huge change from the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution eliminated “requisitions,” what many saw as a primary reason for the new system of taxation. Rejecting Alexander Hamilton and other Federalists in this debate were Patrick Henry and the...
March 1, 1781 – the Second Continental Congress put into effect the Articles of Confederation as the law of the land, making it the first Constitution for the United States. The Articles have been mostly thrown in the dustbin of history, but doing so skips over...