We Have Not a Government : The Articles of Confederation and the Road to the Constitution

In 1783, as the Revolutionary War came to a close, Alexander Hamilton resigned in disgust from the Continental Congress after it refused to consider a fundamental reform of the Articles of Confederation. Just four years later, that same government collapsed, and Congress grudgingly agreed to support the 1787 Philadelphia Constitutional Convention, which altered the Articles beyond recognition. What occurred during this remarkably brief interval to cause the Confederation to lose public confidence and inspire Americans to replace it with a dramatically more flexible and powerful government? We Have Not a Government is the history of this contentious moment in American history. In George William Van Cleves compelling book, we encounter a sharply divided America. The Confederation faced massive war debts with virtually no authority to compel its members to pay them. It experienced punishing trade restrictions and strong resistance to American territorial expansion from powerful European governments. Bitter sectional divisions that deadlocked the Continental Congress arose from exploding western settlement. And a deep, long-lasting recession led to sharp controversies and social unrest across the country amid roiling debates over greatly increased taxes, debt relief, and paper money. Van Cleve shows how these remarkable stresses transformed the Confederation into a stalemate government and eventually led previously conflicting states, sections, and interest groups to advocate for a union powerful enough to govern a continental empire. Touching on the stories of a wide-ranging cast of charactersincluding John Adams, Patrick Henry, Daniel Shays, George Washington, and ThayendanegeaVan Cleve makes clear that it was the Confederations failures that created a political crisis and led to the 1787 Constitution. Clearly argued and superbly written, We Have Not a Government is a must-read history of this crucial period in our nations early life. In 1783, as the Revolutionary War came to a close, Alexander Hamilton resigned in disgust from the Continental Congress after it refused to consider a fundamental reform of the Articles of Confederation. Just four years later, that same government collapsed, and Congress grudgingly agreed to support the 1787 Philadelphia Constitutional Convention, which altered the Articles beyond recognition. What occurred during this remarkably brief interval to cause the Confederation to lose public confidence and inspire Americans to replace it with a dramatically more flexible and powerful government? We Have Not a Government is the history of this contentious moment in American history. In George William Van Cleve's compelling book, we encounter a sharply divided America. The Confederation faced massive war debts with virtually no authority to compel its members to pay them. It experienced punishing trade restrictions and strong resistance to American territorial expansion from powerful European governments. Bitter sectional divisions that deadlocked the Continental Congress arose from exploding western settlement. And a deep, long-lasting recession led to sharp controversies and social unrest across the country amid roiling debates over greatly increased taxes, debt relief, and paper money.0Van Cleve shows how these remarkable stresses transformed the Confederation into a stalemate government and eventually led previously conflicting states, sections, and interest groups to advocate for a union powerful enough to govern a continental empire. Touching on the stories of a wide-ranging cast of characters--including John Adams, Patrick Henry, Daniel Shays, George Washington, and Thayendanegea--Van Cleve makes clear that it was the Confederation's failures that created a political crisis and led to the 1787 Constitution. Clearly argued and superbly written, We Have Not a Government is a must-read history of this crucial period in our nation's early life In 1783, as the Revolutionary War came to a close, Alexander Hamilton resigned in disgust from the Continental Congressafterit refused to considera fundamental reform of the Articles of Confederation. Just four years later,that same government collapsed, and Congressgrudginglyagreed to supportthe 1787 Philadelphia Constitutional Convention, which altered the Articles beyond recognition.What occurred during this remarkably brief interval to cause the Confederation to lose public confidence and inspire Americans to replaceit withadramatically moreflexible andpowerful government? __We Have Not a Government__ is the story of this contentious moment in American history. In George William Van Cleve’s book, we encounter a sharply divided America.The Confederation faced massive war debts with virtually no authority to compel its members to pay them. It experienced punishing trade restrictions and strong resistance to American territorial expansion from powerful European governments. Bitter sectional divisions that deadlocked the Continental Congress arose from exploding western settlement. And a deep, long-lasting recession led to sharp controversies and social unrest across the country amid roiling debates over greatly increased taxes, debt relief, and paper money. Van Cleve shows how these remarkable stresses transformed the Confederation into a stalemate government and eventually led previously conflicting states, sections, and interest groups to advocate for a union powerful enough to govern a continental empire. Touching on the stories of a wide-ranging cast of characters—including John Adams, Patrick Henry, Daniel Shays, George Washington, and Thayendanegea—Van Cleve makes clear that it was the Confederation’s failures that created a political crisis and led to the 1787 Constitution. Clearly argued and superbly written, __We Have Not a Government__ is a must-read history of this crucial period in our nation’s early life. "Provides a focused explanation of the reasons the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first federal constitution, went lurching toward collapse." —Jack Rakove, Pulitzer Prize winner, The Washington Post In 1783, as the Revolutionary War came to a close, Alexander Hamilton resigned in disgust from the Continental Congress after it refused to consider a fundamental reform of the Articles of Confederation. Just four years later, that same government collapsed, and Congress grudgingly agreed to support the 1787 Philadelphia Constitutional Convention, which altered the Articles beyond recognition. What occurred during this remarkably brief interval to cause the Confederation to lose public confidence and inspire Americans to replace it with a dramatically more flexible and powerful government? We Have Not a Government is the story of this contentious moment in American history. At the time, America was a sharply divided country. Amid a deep, long-lasting recession, the Confederation faced massive war debts and experienced punishing trade restrictions and strong resistance to American territorial expansion. Exploding western settlement led to bitter sectional divisions that deadlocked the Continental Congress. Van Cleve shows how these remarkable stresses transformed the Confederation into a stalemate government and eventually led previously conflicting states, sections, and interest groups to advocate for a union powerful enough to govern a continental empire. Touching on the stories of a wide-ranging cast of characters—including John Adams, Patrick Henry, Daniel Shays, George Washington, and Thayendanegea—Van Cleve makes clear that it was the Confederation's failures that created a political crisis and led to the 1787 Constitution. Clearly argued and superbly written, We Have Not a Government is a must-read history of this crucial period in our nation's early life. The confederation's final years: a chronology Introduction The search for national identity War's aftermath America's postwar debts: public faith or anarchy? Republic and empire: the struggle over confederation taxes Protecting American commerce in an imperial world Western expansion strains "Astonishing" emigrations and western settlement conflicts The Spanish-treaty impasse and the union's collapse Internal divisions : state social conflicts Economic relief, social peace, and republican justice Shays's rebellion: the final battle of the American revolution? Confederation collapse and its consequences "The truth is, we have not a government" : confederation stalemate and the road to the Philadelphia convention Conclusion: the birth of the American empire.