Articles of Confederation

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Happy Birthday United States
in Congress Assembled
by: Stanley L. Klos

After Independence from Great Britain was declared on July 2, 1776 the United Colonies needed to form a new Confederation to govern and conduct the war against England. The Continental Congress, after painstaking debate, passed the Articles of Confederation of the United States of America on November 15, 1777. Unlike the Constitution of 1787 this confederation charter required the ratification of all 13 states before it would become the first "Constitution" of the United States of America.

It was Maryland who held out ratifying the Articles of Confederation until 1781 due to border disputes with neighboring states. On March 1, 1781 with this 13^th state ratification the Continental Congress ceased to exist and "The United States in Congress Assembled" was placed at the head of each page of the Official Journal of Congress. The New United States in Congress Assembled Journal reported on March 2, 1781:

The ratification of the Articles of Confederation being yesterday completed by the accession of the State of Maryland: The United States met in Congress, when the following members appeared: His excellency Samuel Huntington, delegate for Connecticut, President ...

Mr. Samuel Huntington served as President of the Continental Congress from 1779 to 1781, which was well beyond the one-year term limitation now mandated by the ratified Articles of Confederation . Despite this Huntington was recognized as President of the United States in Congress Assembled during the ratification celebration of March 1781 and presided over the new Government until the election of President Thomas McKean. Contrary to popular belief, Samuel Huntington actually became the first President of the United States on that fateful day. There were nine more US Presidents who served under the Articles before George Washington’s inauguration in 1789 making him the eleventh (see http://www.uspresidency.com).

There were many interesting and noteworthy provisions in this new Constitution. Article XI, however, astonishes most Americans because of the automatic admission provision of a 14th state with a simple letter to the United States in Congress Assembled:

XI. Canada acceding to this confederation, and adjoining in the measures of the United States, shall be admitted into, and entitled to all the advantages of this Union; but no other colony shall be admitted into the same, unless such admission be agreed to by nine States.

Canada, of course, never sought admission and the carte blanche invitation expired in 1788.

The United States Congress passed numerous laws and resolutions under the new Constitution of 1781. Clearly, it was President Arthur St. Clair's 1787 administration that passed the most significant piece of legislation under the Articles of Confederation.

An Ordinance for the government of the Territory of the United States northwest of the River Ohio.

The Northwest Ordinance had lingered in Congress since 1784 until President St. Clair championed the measure before Congress. Daniel Webster described the Northwest Ordinance as follows:

"We are accustomed to praise lawgivers of antiquity ... but I doubt whether one single law of any lawgiver, ancient or modern, has produced the effects of more distinct, marked, and lasting character than the Ordinance of 1787"

This ordinance was an exceptional piece of legislation because Article 5 permitted the people North and West of the Ohio River to settle their land, form their own territorial government, and take their place as a full fledge state equal to the original 13. The Northwest Ordinance's Article 5 became the principal that enabled the United States rapid westward expansion, which ended with the inclusion of Alaska and Hawaii as our 49th and 50th states.

In Article 6 slavery and involuntary servitude were prohibited in the Northwest Territory which finally gave some merit to the United States 1776 Declaration of Independence's "... all men are created equal...". Other Ordinance provisions provided for free College and educational land grants.

Clearly the importance of the Articles of Confederation and its government has been rendered obtuse, as it is virtually ignored in our educational and public rhetoric. The fact that Samuel Huntington is not recognized as the first President of the United States is primarily due to the popular view that the United States formally began with the United States Constitution. This, coupled with oath of secrecy of all 1774-1788 Congressional debates and the current national fixation with the importance of the 1787 Constitutional Presidency, has doomed the legacy of the Articles of Confederation to obscurity.

There is no doubt, however, that a future US generation will re-discover the early patriots and the genius entwined within the Articles of Confederation. Perhaps that generation will someday deem March 1, 1781 - A National Holiday - set aside to honor the US Presidents, patriots and leaders of the War for Independence.

For The Record -- Delaware Was not the First State!

The Perpetual Union of The United States
was formed under
The Articles of Confederation

The Correct US Statehood Order
Articles of Confederation - 1 to 13 States
US Constitution - 37 to 50 States

Sources: The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution: Vol. 1: Constitutional Documents and Records, 1776-1787, ed. Merrill Jensen, Madison, Wis.: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1976; Encyclopedia of American History: Bicentennial Edition, ed. Richard Morris, New York; Harper & Row, 1976; Documents of American History, ed. Henry Steele Commanger, Englewood Cliffs, NJ; Prentice-Hall, 1973

Electoral College explained: click here

Who Was the First President of the United States?

The obvious answer is George Washington but this is technically incorrect.

The United States of America was actually formed on March 1, 1781 with the adoption of The Articles of Confederation by Maryland whose delegates delayed its ratification over a western border dispute with Virginia and New York. Upon the March 1 ratification the President of the Continental Congress officially became President of the United States in Congress Assembled.

To make matters even more perplexing some historians claim that John Hanson was the first President of the United States as he was the first person to serve the full one-year term (1781–82), under the ratified Articles of Confederation. This again is incorrect.

The ratification occurred during the term of Samuel Huntington who served as President from September 28, 1779 to July 6, 1781. Consequently, Samuel Huntington was the first President of the United States in Congress Assembled.

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Keynote Address on the 2003 Re-Internment of Samuel and Martha Huntington Part II

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