Highly important first draft as brought in by the committee, July 12, 1776

Philadelphia, eight pages of printed text on D & C Blauw watermarked paper, “Confederation” inked marginalia in the hand of Joseph Hewes, with “J. Hewes, Esq.” in ink at edge [filing docket not in Hewes hand], original full twenty proposed Articles, two folios 8-3/4 x 13-1/2 in., Evans #15148.

Provenance: A Historic Edenton Family Collection

Forming a Nascent American Government

“The said colonies… hereby enter into a firm League of Friendship with each other, for their common Defense, the Security of their Liberties, and their mutual and general welfare…”

The Journals of the Continental Congress, immediately after reviewing the text of the proposed Articles (printed in full in the present document), then passed a resolution (not printed here) ordering the printing of this very document.  

“Resolved, That eighty copies, and no more, of the confederation, as brought in by the committee, be immediately printed, and deposited with the secretary, who shall deliver one copy to each member:

That a committee be appointed to superintend the press, who shall take care that the foregoing resolution [unfinished]

That the printer be under oath to deliver all the copies, which he shall print, together with the copy sheet, to the secretary, and not to disclose either directly or indirectly, the contents of the said confederation.”

Preparing for independence, in 1775 Benjamin Franklin drafted a plan of government. That sat for nearly a year, until June 11, 1776, after Richard Henry Lee offered his motion for independence. A Congressional committee was then appointed to formulate an official draft. Penned by John Dickinson, it drew much from Franklin’s work. The proposal created a loose confederation among the thirteen states, each retaining its own sovereignty, joined by a very weak central government with strictly limited powers.

The main difference between Franklin’s draft and the final text was in representation. Franklin proposed a democratic approach, with each colony sending a number of delegates to Congress in proportion to its population, and each member having a vote. Instead, the Articles favored the smaller states, allowing each state to appoint between two to seven delegates, but together they would have only one vote per state. After much revision, the Continental Congress adopted the Articles in November 1777, but it had to be ratified unanimously by the states to go into effect. Virginia was the first, in December 1777. North Carolina ratified in April 1778. Others delayed due to disputes over claimed Western lands, or fear of central authority and of each other.

Finally ratified by all of the states by March 1781, the Confederation was inherently flawed in several ways. There was no chief executive and no separation of powers. Acts required the approval of nine states, but changes to the Articles had to be unanimous. Perhaps most importantly, Congress could not levy taxes, instead having to resort to requesting requisitions from the states and loans from abroad. The Continental Congress also lacked the authority to establish uniform regulations for foreign and domestic commerce. States went their own way in setting import duties and in paying down revolutionary debt. The inconsistent policies increased tension between the states and deteriorating financial prospects for the Congress.

When the Annapolis Convention of 1786 convened to work toward new commercial agreements between states, nationalists Alexander Hamilton and James Madison called for a broader convention, to be held in Philadelphia in 1787 to discuss improving the Articles. Congress concurred, calling on the states to send delegates. Once the Convention met, the delegates quickly agreed on the need to discard the Articles of Confederation and to draft an entirely new frame of government.

This printing of the Articles of Confederation, the closest draft of a new American government necessitated by the Declaration of Independence proclaimed little over two weeks prior, is exceedingly rare. We have found no record of any copy appearing on the market.

It is worth mentioning that a copy of the next printed iteration of the Articles of Confederation, from 1777, with the word “States” replacing “Colonies” in Article II, resides with the North Carolina State Archives, generously gifted by the same family offering this present example.

This lot was viewed by representatives of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and the Department does not at this time have reason to believe that the Lot contains any out-of-custody public records.