Congress of the Confederation

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Congress of the Confederation
Type
Type	Unicameral
Timeline
United States
Established	1781
Preceded by	Second Continental Congress
Succeeded by	United States Congress
Disbanded	1789
Leadership and Structure
Members	Variable; ~50
Election
Meeting place
Variable
Footnotes
Though there were about 50 members of the Congress at a given time, it was the states that had votes, so there were effectively only 13 seats.

The Congress of the Confederation or the United States in Congress Assembled was the governing body of the United States of America from March 1, 1781, to March 4, 1789. It comprised delegates appointed by the legislatures of the states. It was the immediate successor to the Second Continental Congress. The membership of the Second Continental Congress automatically carried over to the Congress of the Confederation when the latter was created by the ratification of the Articles of Confederation. The Congress of the Confederation was succeeded by the United States Congress.

Events

The Congress of the Confederation opened in the last stages of the American Revolution. Combat ended in October with the surrender of the British at the Battle of Yorktown. However, the British continued to occupy New York City as the American delegates in Paris, named by the Congress, negotiated a peace treaty. In 1783 the Treaty of Paris was signed, which ended the war. The Congress had little power and without the external threat of a war against the British, it became more difficult to get enough delegates to meet to form a quorum. Nonetheless the Congress still managed to pass important laws, most notably the Northwest Ordinance.

The Annapolis Convention was the first attempt to seriously look into improving the Articles of Confederation. There were enough problems that the Congress called a convention in 1787 to recommend changes. The Philadelphia Convention instead issued a Constitution to replace the Articles. The Congress submitted the Constitution to the states, and the Constitution was ratified by enough states to become operative in September 1788. On September 12, 1788, the Congress set the date for choosing the electors for President as January 7, 1789, the date for the electors to vote for President as February 4, 1789, and the date for the Constitution to become operative as March 4, 1789.

Continental Congress First Continental Congress Declaration and Resolves Continental Association First Petition to the King Second Continental Congress Olive Branch Petition Declaration of the Causes... Declaration of Independence Articles of Confederation Confederation Congress Northwest Ordinance Members List of delegates Presidents

The Congress of the Confederation continued to conduct business for another month after setting the various dates. On October 10, 1788, the Congress formed a quorum for the last time; afterwards, although delegates would occasionally appear, there were never enough to conduct business, and so the Congress of Confederation passed into history.

Sessions

First Confederation Congress

• March 1, 1781 – November 3, 1781, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Second Confederation Congress

• November 5, 1781 – November 2, 1782, Philadelphia

Third Confederation Congress

• November 4, 1782 – June 21, 1783, Philadelphia
• June 30, 1783 – November 1, 1783, Princeton, New Jersey

Fourth Confederation Congress

• November 3, 1783 – November 4, 1783, Princeton

Fifth Confederation Congress

• November 26, 1783 – June 3, 1784, Annapolis, Maryland

Sixth Confederation Congress

• November 1, 1784 – December 24, 1784, Trenton, New Jersey
• January 11, 1785 – November 4, 1785, New York, New York

Seventh Confederation Congress

• November 7, 1785 – November 3, 1786, New York

Eighth Confederation Congress

• November 6, 1786 – October 30, 1787, New York

Ninth Confederation Congress

• November 5, 1787 – October 21, 1788, New York

Tenth Confederation Congress

• November 3, 1788 – March 2, 1789, New York

See also

• History of the United States (1776–1789)
• List of Continental Congress Delegates
• President of the Continental Congress
• Committee of the States

Bibliography

• Burnett, Edmund C.. The Continental Congress. Greenwood Publishing. ISBN 0837183863. 
• Henderson, H. James. Party Politics in the Continental Congress. Boston: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0819165255. 
• Jensen, Merrill (1950). New Nation: A History of the United States During the Confederation, 1781–1789. New York: Knopf. 
• McLaughlin, Andrew C. (1935). A Constitutional History of the United States. http://www.constitution.org/cmt/mclaughlin/chus.htm. 
• Montross, Lynn. The Reluctant Rebels; the Story of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789. New York: Barnes & Noble. ISBN 038903973X. 
• Morris, Richard B. (1987). The Forging of the Union, 1781–1789. New York: Harper & Row. ISBN 0060914246. 
• Morris, Richard B. (1956). "The Confederation Period and the American Historian". William and Mary Quarterly 13 (2): 139–156. doi:10.2307/1920529. 
• Rakove, Jack N. (1979). The Beginnings of National Politics: An Interpretive History of the Continental Congress. New York: Knopf. ISBN 0394423704. 

External links

• Major documents from the Congress, including journals, letters, debates, via Library of Congress
• The Continental Congress - History, Declaration and Resolves, Resolutions and Recommendations, via AmericanRevolution.com

v • d • e Pennsylvania during the American Revolutionary War 1774 First Continental Congress · Articles of Association 1775 Independence Hall · Second Continental Congress 1776 United States Declaration of Independence · Pennsylvania Constitution · Washington Crosses the Delaware 1777 Articles of Confederation · Philadelphia campaign · Battle of Brandywine · Battle of the Clouds · Liberty Bell moved to Allentown · Battle of Paoli · Battle of Germantown · Siege of Fort Mifflin · Battle of White Marsh · Battle of Matson's Ford · Valley Forge 1778 Battle of Crooked Billet · Battle of Barren Hill · British occupation of Philadelphia ends · Wyoming Valley battle and massacre 1781 Congress of the Confederation · Mutiny of the Pennsylvania Line