Articles of Confederation Timeline

In 1779, George Washington wrote to John Jay, then serving as president of the Continental Congress, that 'a wagon load of money will scarcely purchase a wagon load of provisions,' illustrating the devastating depreciation of Continental currency under the weak financial system.

The 1783 Treaty of Paris, which ended hostilities with Great Britain, languished in Congress for several months because too few delegates were present at any one time to constitute a quorum so it could be ratified. By 1783, however, the new nation was regaining prosperity due to the end of armed conflict.

Image source: Treaty of Paris (1783)

In 1783, George Washington defused the Newburgh conspiracy among restless army officers, but riots by unpaid Pennsylvania veterans forced Congress to leave Philadelphia temporarily. Former generals and lesser officers strongly supported a more muscular union and later fought hard for ratification of the Constitution in 1787.

Image source: Newburgh Conspiracy

When John Adams went to London in 1785 as the first representative of the United States, he found it impossible to secure a treaty for unrestricted commerce, demonstrating the weakness of the national government in conducting foreign affairs.

Image source: John Adams

The 1786 Jay–Gardoqui Treaty with Spain showed weakness in American foreign policy. The dispute it created would later be resolved by the implementation of Jay's Treaty in 1795, after the federal Constitution came into force.

In 1786, Thomas Jefferson, concerned over the failure of Congress to fund an American naval force to confront the Barbary pirates, wrote in diplomatic correspondence to James Monroe that 'It will be said there is no money in the treasury,' highlighting the government's fiscal impotence.

Image source: First Barbary War

In 1786–87, Shays's Rebellion, an uprising of dissidents in western Massachusetts against the state court system, threatened the stability of state government and underscored the inability of the weak central government to maintain order, energizing calls for constitutional reform.

Image source: Shays's Rebellion

The Land Ordinance of 1785 established both the general practices of land surveying in the west and northwest and the land ownership provisions used throughout the later westward expansion beyond the Mississippi River. It set up protocols for the division of land into useful units and set aside land in each township for public use.

Image source: Land Ordinance of 1785

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 noted the agreement of the original states to give up northwestern land claims, organized the Northwest Territory, and laid the groundwork for the eventual creation of new states. It also made great advances toward the abolition of slavery in the territory.

Image source: Northwest Ordinance

In May 1786, Charles Pinckney of South Carolina proposed that Congress revise the Articles of Confederation, reflecting growing concern over the weaknesses of the national government under the existing framework.

Image source: Charles Pinckney (governor)

In September 1786, delegates from five states met at what became known as the Annapolis Convention to discuss the need for reversing the protectionist interstate trade barriers each state had erected. At its conclusion, delegates voted to invite all states to a larger convention in Philadelphia in 1787. Hamilton led like-minded nationalists, won Washington's endorsement, and convened the convention to petition Congress to call a constitutional convention.

Shortly after the Annapolis Convention, as more states became interested in meeting to revise the Articles, a gathering was set in Philadelphia on May 25, 1787. Rather than merely amending the Articles, the Convention drafted an entirely new Constitution to remedy the long-term crisis facing the nation.

Image source: Constitutional Convention (United States)

After significant ratification debates in each state and across the nation, on July 3, 1788, Congress received New Hampshire's all-important ninth ratification of the proposed Constitution, establishing it according to its terms as the new framework of governance for the ratifying states. By the end of July 1788, 11 of the 13 states had ratified.

Image source: Constitution of the United States

On Saturday, September 13, 1788, the Confederation Congress voted to implement the new Constitution, and on September 15 published an announcement that it had been ratified by the necessary nine states. It set dates for appointing electors, for electors to vote for a president, and for commencing proceedings in March 1789.

Image source: Congress of the Confederation

On March 4, 1789, after significant ratification debates across the nation, the government under the Articles of Confederation was replaced with the federal government under the Constitution, ending the era of the Confederation and launching the United States government as it exists today.