Confederation Vs Congress

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Virginia, drafted the final report of the Annapolis Proceedings of Commissioners to Remedy Defects of the Federal Government Acts of the commissioners to remedy failures in the federal government. These acts saw the legislative bodies of the participating states as well as the Congress of the Confederation and the executive powers of the other states. In them it was recommended to convene a new convention - specifying date and place: "in Philadelphia, the second Monday of May" - to discuss specifically what changes were required in the Articles to improve the functioning of the Confederation. In fact, the suggestion to hold a convention to "prepare a plan to solve the failures" of the Confederation was not new. Hamilton had suggested it in a private letter to James Duane …show more content…
Pelatiah Webster published in May of 1781 a pamphlet with the proposal of Madison. At Hamilton's suggestion, the New York legislature passed a resolution in 1782 recommending the conclusion of such a convention. In April, 1783, Hamilton himself expressed in Congress his desire for a general convention. In 1785, Noah Webster suggested "a new system of government ... to invade Congress with full authority to enforce laws," and that same year the Massachusetts legislature also proposed that a convention be convened. Even in 1786, prior to the Annapolis Convention, the same subject was discussed in the Congress itself. The modification of the Articles was, as can be deduced from the text of Article XIII, extremely difficult due to the unanimity required. It was argued in the Congress that neither the legislative powers could adopt projects proposed by conventions nor the Articles contemplated the possibility of popular

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