missioners, though empowered to grant virtually everything for which the colonists had originally taken up arms, were unable to secure a favorable reception without a prior recognition of the independence of the United States.
In the summer of 1778 the Americans were strengthened by the presence of a French fleet and of a considerable land force, and after the abandonment of Philadelphia by Sir Henry Clinton, who had replaced Howe in May, 1778, their opponents in the north were confined to Newport and to the region around New York City. As Clinton withdrew from Philadelphia and marched across New Jersey toward New York, he was followed by Washington, who gained a qualified success at Monmouth on June 28, 1778. (See Monmouth, Battle of.) Thereafter the greater energy on both sides was devoted to the campaign in the South, though in 1778-79 George Rogers Clark (q.v.) achieved a virtual conquest of the Northwest. Savannah was taken (December 29, 1778) by the British, who in the following two years, under Clinton and Cornwallis, secured control of Georgia and South Carolina, taking Charleston May 12, 1780. In June, 1780, General Gates was placed in command of the Southern Department, and on August 16th was badly defeated by Cornwallis at Camden (q.v.). Soon afterwards, on September 23, 1780, General Benedict Arnold's treasonable plot to surrender West Point was frustrated through the capture of Major André. The first real reverse of the British forces in the South was that experienced at the hands of the hurriedly gathered backwoodsmen at King's Mountain (q.v.), October 7, 1780. In the following December General Gates was superseded by General Greene as commander of the American army in the South, and a more active campaign was thereafter undertaken. At the Cowpens, January 17, 1781, the force of Tarleton, the British cavalry leader, was overwhelmed by the Americans under Morgan, while Cornwallis, after a dearly bought victory over Greene at Guilford Court House, March 15, 1781, was compelled to retire to Wilmington. Two more important battles, at Hobkirk's Hill (April 25, 1781) and Eutaw Springs (September 8, 1781), marked the contest for the control of the Southern territory. Finally the army of Cornwallis was confined between the York and James rivers, where, with the French controlling the sea, the British commander was unable to hold out long against the Americans and French under Washington and Rochambeau. His surrender at Yorktown (q.v.) on October 19, 1781, assured the triumph of the American cause. The provisional treaty of peace was signed at Paris in November, 1782, a cessation of hostilities was declared by Washington in January, 1783, and on September 3, 1783, the definitive Treaty of Paris was signed. (See Paris, Treaties of.) This treaty, besides recognizing the independence of the United States, secured to the country the territory between the Alleghanies and the Mississippi. On November 25, 1783, New York was evacuated by the British.
The Confederation. The need of more unity of action having been felt, Articles of Confederation, first reported to Congress in July, 1776, had been adopted by that body in November, 1777, and by May, 1779, all the States had formally ratified them except Maryland, which refused its assent so long as the various States continued to hold their Western lands. Finally New York offered to cede to the General Government her claims to such lands, and, it being evident that other States would follow her example, Maryland gave her assent to the Articles in 1781, and the necessary unanimous adoption having thus been secured, the Articles of Confederation went into effect. The result was the formation of a ‘league of friendship’ only, the General Government having no power of coercion, and the various States being virtually independent. The Articles provided, among other things, that each State was to have only one vote in Congress, that Congress was to be vested with the power of declaring war and peace and of negotiating treaties, that both the General Government and the States were to have the power of coining and issuing money, that the various States were to be intrusted with the regulation of commerce and the raising of revenue, that Congress on appeal was to decide all controversies between States, and that when Congress was not in session a ‘Committee of the States,’ appointed by that body, was to manage the general affairs of the Confederation.
When the long war had ended, the States had become free, but the inefficacy of their form of federal government became more and more apparent, and the condition of the young Confederacy seemed most discouraging. Its treasury was empty; it was burdened with a foreign debt of $8,000,000, domestic obligations of $30,000,000, and a paper currency of nearly $90,000,000 which no one would receive. Moreover, the Congress whose predecessor had incurred these various obligations had now no power to provide for discharging them. It could only make recommendations to the States and urge them to provide their share toward the expenses of the Government, and was wholly without power to enforce either upon individuals or upon the States a compliance with its requirements, while, furthermore, the States were themselves in debt, and unable as well as unwilling to respond to the demands of the Congress. An amendment to the Articles of Confederation empowering Congress to levy a five per cent. duty on imported goods was proposed in 1782, but was defeated by Rhode Island, which alone of the States withheld its assent. The resistance offered to constituted authority in Massachusetts in 1786-87, when a portion of the people actually organized to resist the collection of debts and to close the local courts (see Shays's Rebellion), emphasized the need of a stronger central government.
After the close of the Revolutionary struggle, weakness of the General Government was even more keenly realized than before. Congress had no power of maintaining an army or navy, no control over commerce, no means of actually raising public funds, and no effectual mode of enforcing its will even in matters over which it nominally had jurisdiction. In the words of Washington, it was “little more than the shadow without the substance.” Moreover, from its want of power, it soon became despised and neglected by those who should have been its chief supporters, and the ablest men preferred to devote themselves to the polities of their own States. Congress consisted of scarcely more
