Rethinking a Paradise Lost

Washington creating our Confederation - Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
Imagine a USA with no President, no executive agencies, no judiciary and no tax base. In this America, states can send in a suggested amount of tax dollars but there’s no requirement. The Congress must have unanimous buy-in from every state to ratify any treaty or pass any law. Every state is sovereign with regard to its commerce and trade policies… It sounds like the pipe dream of all conservative Republicans, former Dixiecrats and Libertarians everywhere. In some ways it sounds like the current European Union which has foundational cracks and fissures from one rogue member country, Greece, running up a large national debt.

In fact what I’m describing actually did exist – from 1777 until 1789. In 1777, the Articles of Confederation were drafted and sent for approval by the 2nd Continental Congress and were fully ratified by all states in 1781. They were essentially in effect for a dozen years from ratification until replacement with the U.S. Constitution in 1789. They were created at the urging of Thomas Paine, among other prominent colonists, who thought they would give legitimacy to what would otherwise be seen as a scruffy band of rebels. The Articles as written in fact gave us the Confederated States of America – 80 years ahead of the die-hard Southerners who tried to resuscitate it, like Lazarus from the dead, in 1860. The Confederated States could declare war, negotiate treaties, and resolve conflicts between states. For such a noble idea, there were problems…

There was no tax base – tax money was given voluntarily as a “suggested amount”. Not surprisingly, little money came in. Some states wouldn’t even pay off their own Revolutionary War debts. Other states failed to kick in for food and supplies or pay pensions to war veterans. States disbanded their militias as soon as eminent threat went away – laying themselves open to future attack. Sometimes the attack was internal, as with Shay’s Rebellion in 1786 – a group of farmer’s angry at the depressed market struck out at the state government. After the 1783 Treaty of Paris, various countries (primarily Great Britain) declared trade war against the fledgling United States. The United States couldn’t enact any navigation or trade laws to counter the trade threats – when Massachusetts observed a suggested tariff, Connecticut would rake in money by ignoring the same law.

The Confederation was an odd bird in several ways. There was only one house of Congress called “Congress”. The Congress had a President who was more of a figurehead, a Parliamentarian. The most powerful official in this United States was arguably the governor of the most populous, prosperous member state. The Congress itself resolved disputes between states, thereby suspending (on occasion) its legislative duty to serve as a de facto executive branch. A group of Federalists (including George Washington) were starting to see the need for some backbone and order to their bold-but-fledgling Democratic experiment.

By 1787, things were visibly falling apart. States were ripping in to one another with law suits, military veterans were rioting for back pay and Barbary pirates were threatening Americans who refused to fund a US Navy. Trade-wise, foreign governments were playing states against one another and gaining a decided advantage. This dismal state of affairs brought top aide Alexander Hamilton to prominence – he argued successfully that the Articles should be replaced by a U.S. Constitution and that a strong Federal government should be established. Even the most devoted States’ Rights supporters had to admit the Articles were not cutting it... It’s a great statement about our founders that they could admit a mistake and right the situation early on. How many other countries have such a capacity for humble self-correction and redirection? While the USA hatched out a bicameral legislature, France had a Reign of Terror followed by an Emperor.

It’s amazing that Southerners, Dixiecrats and many of the current “Tea Party” look fondly to this questionable Paradise Lost. The European Union of 2011 appears to be held together with Scotch tape and Elmer’s glue … it may suit them to read some American history. To borrow from a 1990’s cliché – we’ve been there and done that. The other very necessary shoe didn’t drop until 124 years after the 1789 Constitution was drafted. In 1913 the Federal Income Tax and Federal Reserve System was put in place to help secure the money supply, protect against panics and fund the Federal government. It may not have served all these purposes as expertly as we'd like, but it has helped immeasurably in strengthening a robust, truly United States that acts as one power when it matters.

© 2011 blogSpotter