Posted by
Glenn Flowers on Monday, April 06, 2009 7:52:18 PM
I write this article to refute the claims by the John Birch Society and other groups, and several federal and state elected officials who have publicly claimed that the Annapolis meeting was a runaway con-con (constitutional convention) where a small group exceeded their authority by discarding the Articles of Confederation and creating a brand new, unauthorized Constitution. The make this claim in an effort to prevent the call by Congress for an Article Five convention. In 200+ years, 600+ applications for an article five convention have been sent to Congress. Congress has ignored them ALL. NO Article Five convention has ever been held.
Before the Constitution, in 1775, the colonies adopted a pact written by Benjamin Franklin titled the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. It was only four pages and its thirteen articles established very basic rules by which the colonies would interact with each other. The confederation was to be named, "The United Colonies of North America". The Art. of Conf. allowed for the common defense of the colonies, set up rules for annual meetings of delegates, settling disputes, waging war, treaties with Indians, collecting funds, etc.
In 1777 the Articles of Confederation were revised to nine pages with thirteen articles. The major changes included a new name, "The United States of America", and the addition of five pages of new powers of authority such as deployment of ambassadors, appointing courts of trial, regulating trade, post offices, establihing a navy, borrowing money, weights and measures, and methods for dividing expenses among the colonies.
The Congress, operating per the Art. of Conf., discovered over the next seven years, that even though they had complied with all of the mandates of the Art. of Conf. and several additional requests of the colonies, all of which had been costly, billing the colonies for those expenditures had failed to collect payment from them. The Art. of Conf. allowed billing but provided no compulsory payment by the colonies. Congress also agreed that the articles did not specifically address the problems they had encountered in almost every area of action permitted by them and demanded by the colonies.
Congress decided that each colony would send special delegates to a Meeting of Commissioners to be held in Annapolis in Sept. 1786, to determine if the defects in the Art. of Conf. could be remedied to the satisfaction of all. On Sept 13, twelve delegates from five colonies met and related to each other the extent of the authority granted by their colonies. It was agreed that there was not sufficient representation of the colonies to allow anything other than general decisions to be made. They did agree to exchange ideas and to report on them with a strong suggestion that speedy measures be taken to effect a general meeting of the colonies by delegate for the same purpose as this.
Their report also suggested that, in consideration of New Jersey's desire to extend the scope of work to all aspects of a union, and the unanimous agreement that the need for comprehensive revision and new construction of of the federal system, a council of greater number of commissioners from each colony were needed. They decided to adjourn and return to Congress without detailing the extent of work needed in their report.
After receiving the report, Congress voted to gather in special session of "The Constitutional Congress" beginning March, 1787. We know the history of that congress. It took two years to forge the Constitution and Bill of Rights and another two years for it all to be ratified.
Glenn Flowers