115 lines
6.9 KiB
Plaintext
115 lines
6.9 KiB
Plaintext
THE ANNAPOLIS CONVENTION
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Proceedings of the Commissioners to Remedy Defects of the Federal Government,
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Annapolis in the State of Maryland. September 14, 1786
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To the Honorable, The Legislatures of Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New
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Jersey, and New York.
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The Commissioners from the said States, respectively assembled at Annapolis,
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humbly beg leave to report.
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That, pursuant to their several appointments, they met, at Annapolis in the
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State of Maryland on the eleventh day of September Instant, and having proceeded
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to a Communication of their Powers; they found that the States of New York,
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Pennsylvania, and Virginia, had, in substance, and nearly in the same terms,
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authorized their respective Commissions "to meet such other Commissioners as
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were, or might be, appointed by the other States in the Union, at such time and
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place as should be agreed upon by the said Commissions to take into considera-
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tion the trade and commerce of the United States, to consider how far a uniform
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system in their commercial intercourse and regulations might be necessary to
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their common interest and permanent harmony, and to report to the several States
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such an Act, relative to this great object, as when unanimously by them would
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enable the United States in Congress assembled effectually to proved for the
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same."...
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That the State of New Jersey had enlarged the object of their appointment,
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empowering their Commissioners, "to consider how far a uniform system in their
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commercial regulations and other important matters, mighty be necessary to the
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common interest and permanent harmony of the several States," and to report such
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an Act on the subject, as when ratified by them, "would enable the United States
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in Congress assembled, effectually to provide for the exigencies of the Union."
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That appointments of Commissioners have also been made by the States of New
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Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and North Carolina, none of whom,
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however, have attended; but that no information has been received by your
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Commissioners, of any appointment having been made by the States of Connecticut,
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Maryland, South Carolina or Georgia.
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That the express terms of the powers of your Commissioners supposing a deputa-
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tion from all the States, and having for object the Trade and Commerce of the
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United States, Your Commissioners did not conceive it advisable to proceed on
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the business of their mission, under the Circumstances of so partial and
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defective a representation.
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Deeply impressed, however, with the magnitude and importance of the object
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confided to them on this occasion, your Commissioners cannot forbear to indulge
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an expression of their earnest and unanimous wish, that speedy measures be
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taken, to effect a general meeting, of the States, in a future Convention, for
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the same, and such other purposes, as the situation of public affairs may be
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found to require.
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If in expressing this wish, or in intimating any other sentiment, your Commis-
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sioners should seem to exceed the strict bounds of their appointment, they
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entertain a full confidence, that a conduct, dictated by an anxiety for the
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welfare of the United States, will not fail to receive an indulgent construc-
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tion.
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In this persuasion, your Commissioners submit an opinion, that the Idea of
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extending the powers of their Deputies, to other objects, than those of Com-
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merce, which has been adopted by the State of New Jersey, was an improvement on
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the original plan, and will deserve to be incorporated into that of a future
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Convention; they are the more naturally led to this conclusion, as in the course
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of their reflections on the subject, they have been induced to think, that the
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power of regulating trade is of such comprehensive extent, and will enter so far
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into the general System of the federal government, that to give it efficacy, and
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to obviate questions and doubts concerning its precise nature and limits, may
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require a correspondent adjustment of other parts of the Federal System.
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That there are important defects in the system of the Federal Government is
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acknowledged by the Acts of all those States, which have concurred in the
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present Meeting; That the defects, upon a closer examination, may be found
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greater and more numerous, than even these acts imply, is at least so far
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probably, from the embarrassments which characterize the present State of our
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national affairs, foreign and domestic, as may reasonably be supposed to merit a
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deliberate and candid discussion, in some mode, which will unite the Sentiments
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and Councils of all the States. In the choice of the mode, your Commissioners
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are of opinion, that a Convention of Deputies from the different States, for the
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special and sole purpose of entering into this investigation, and digesting a
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plan for supplying such defects as may be discovered to exist, will be entitled
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to a preference from considerations, which will occur without being particu-
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larized.
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Your Commissioners decline an enumeration of those national circumstances on
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which their opinion respecting the propriety of a future Convention, with more
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enlarged powers, is founded; as it would be a useless intrusion of facts and
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observations, most of which have been frequently the subject of public discus-
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sion, and none of which can have escaped the penetration of those to whom they
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would in this instance be addressed. They are, however, of a nature so serious,
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as, in the view of your Commissioners, to render the situation of the United
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States delicate and critical, calling for an exertion of the untied virtue and
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wisdom of all the members of the Confederacy.
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Under this impression, Your Commissioners, with the most respectful deference,
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beg leave to suggest their unanimous conviction that it may essentially tend to
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advance the interests of the union if the States, by whom they have been
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respectively delegated, would themselves concur, and use their endeavors to
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procure the concurrence of the other States, in the appointment of Commis-
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sioners, to meet at Philadelphia on the second Monday in May next, to take into
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consideration the situation of the United States, to devise such further
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provisions as shall appear to them necessary to render the constitution of the
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Federal Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union; and to report such
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an Act for that purpose to the United States in Congress assembled, as when
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agreed to, by them, and afterwards confirmed by the Legislatures of every State,
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will effectually provide for the same.
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Though your Commissioners could not with propriety address these observations
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and sentiments to any but the States they have the honor to represent, they have
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nevertheless concluded from motives of respect, to transmit copies of the Report
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to the United States in Congress assembled, and to the executives of the other
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States.
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Prepared by Gerald Murphy (The Cleveland Free-Net - aa300)
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