The Articles of Confederation had the critical flaw of failing to collect taxes during and after the Revolutionary War. One problem was that taxation was based on the value of land, as South Carolina threatening to withdraw from the Articles of Confederation over the counting of slaves for taxation purposes. The Articles solved the problem by making land the basis of taxation, not people. John Dickinson had led a committee that presented a drafted Articles of Confederation to Congress on July 12, 1776, which was ratified in 1777. But in the ensuing debate, the already weak-federal-government proposal became even weaker, removing Congressional authority over foreign policy, the western borders, and any semblance of sovereignty, which was explicitly given to the states. Most problematic of all was that taxes were voluntary, resulting in a massive debt. In 1781, for example, Congress asked for $3 million from the states and received only $39,138.
Alexander Hamilton made the first major call for reform of the Articles in July 1783 while a delegate to the Confederation Congress, and then drafted a resolution calling for a convention to amend the Articles. He listed major defects, most prominently that there needed to be stronger executive and judicial branches, that the legislature needed to be empowered to tax (not just request money from the states), and the foreign policy and treaty-making power should be given to the national government. But he found no support at that time for his proposals. And for two more years, several proposals to amend the Articles were floated by never got any steam, including proposals by James Madison and Charles Pinckney. It wasn't until September 1786 that a breakthrough came at the Annapolis Convention which the Confederation Congress approved as a way to discuss rules regarding interstate commerce. Only five states showed up: Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey. They were without a quorum. Hamilton seized the opportunity to call for a more national government. It was obvious that there was a failure of government at this point, as they could not even gather a quorum to discuss interstate issues, and Hamilton would claim that there was unanimous support within the Annapolis delegations for a future convention with a large mandate to discuss all the most salient issues in Philadelphia in May 1787, which the Articles Congress endorsed in February 1787.
This time, a quorum would arrive, with only Rhode Island not sending a delegation. It was probably helpful to the national cause that Shays' Rebellion, fought over a lack of payment for service in the Continental Army from August 1786 to February 1787, showed the weakness of the Confederation. Meanwhile, Madison spread the word that Washington would attend the Constitutional Convention. It wasn't true, but it helped build pressure for it to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Washington had not refused to go out of any disagreement with the national cause, but only because he preferred retirement. Indeed, his presence was critical, as he was the most popular statesman in the country and was also radically nationalist/federalist.
Jay and Madison both had much stronger ideas for the power of the federal government than what actually came to pass. Both wanted the national government to have a veto over all state laws, and both favored the supremacy of national authority, rather than the mix that we ended up with. They also favored totally proportional representation, not equal representation by the states. Additionally, instead of having state legislatures elect their senators, the Virginia Plan would have allowed them to propose candidates among whom the House of Representatives would have chosen. In the process, Madison invented federalism. Writing to Washington, he said, "I have sought for some middle ground, which may at once support a due supremacy of the national authority, and not exclude the local authorities when they can be subordinately useful." This fallback position would be adopted, and then Madison would come to vigorously support it during the ratification debates of 1787-88.
Critically, the Constitutional Convention unanimously adopted the one-state-one-vote structure of the Articles Congress, which, in retrospect, all but guaranteed that the most radical national plans would fail. Another important procedural decision was that the proceedings occur in absolute secrecy, without journalists or spectators in attendance, even posting sentries at the doors and prohibiting delegates from discussing the debates in public or in correspondence. The national cause was favored, however, by an anti-federalist boycott of the process. In mid-July, the Convention hit a wall when it became clear that the small states would block the federal veto of states laws and proportional representation in the legislature. The Connecticut Compromise made representation proportional in the House and by state in the Senate. Madison was initially pessimistic, but Washington was alright with it, writing to Lafayette that "it was probably the best that could be obtained at this time."
Importantly, the Confederation Congress silently accepted Article VII of the Constitution, which declared that the new government would go into effect after nine states ratified the Constitution. This was in direct violation of the rules of the Confederation, which required unanimous approval from the states. But it would have been impossible to get Rhode Island to ratify, and there were other states like Virginia and New York that were no guarantees. But they just did it anyway, as Rhode Island boycotted the ratification process just like it boycotted the convention.
Miscellaneous Facts:
- The Constitutional Convention met in the old Pennsylvania State House, the same place the Declaration of Independence was signed, now known as Independence Hall.
- The 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention were on average 44 years old, with 29 having college degrees, 29 having law degrees, 35 having served in the Continental Army, and 42 having served in the Continental or Confederation Congress.
- By 1789, Madison was so influential that Washington asked him to draft a letter to the members of Congress, expressing his desire to work closely with them. And Congress, not knowing Madison had really been the ghostwriter, requested that Madison write the response.
- Madison didn't stay a federalist, and became much more in favor of states' rights in his continued representation of Virginia in his career.
