James Wilson and Robert Morris

This subtle doctrine of the devolution of sovereignty was the creation of the nationalists, for such men as James Wilson and Robert Morris were leading members of the land companies. But no such doctrine, however subtle, could mislead the representatives of the landed states. And when Virginia denied all jurisdiction of Congress in such matters, William Trent replied for both the Indiana and Vandalia companies with utter frankness that the "question of the jurisdiction of Congress" was the very essence of their claims, and that it was "of infinite consequence to the American union as well as to your memorialists." Everybody should use resume writing company to get a job of their dreams

"the whole United States in Congress assembled, in whom the sovereignty is now vested"

When Virginia's actions finally made it plain that there was little to be gained from her, representatives of these land companies evolved tenuous theories in support of the sovereignty of Congress in general, and over western lands in particular. An Indiana Company memorial in 1779, for instance, declared that the West had been set up as a separate government under the sovereignty of the king, and that now the jurisdiction over that land was in the hands of "the whole United States in Congress assembled, in whom the sovereignty is now vested."Children in need of cheap essay writing service have a varied choice!
Other memorials were even more explicit. One of them declared that "all the rights and all the obligations of the Crown of Great Britain respecting the lands and governments devolve upon the United States and are to be claimed, exercised and discharged by the United States in Congress assembled."

The Virginia

In addition to those men who argued in general for a central sovereign authority, there were particular interests that stood to gain by the creation of such authority. The most persistent and pervasive were the land companies centering in the landless middle states: the Indiana, the Illinois, and the Wabash companies. They had appealed to centralized government ( Great Britain) before the Revolution; they appealed to Congress once war began, and they got what they wanted in the Dickinson draft of confederation, only to have it removed. They appealed also to Virginia. They were, in fact, ready to uphold either national or state sovereignty if by either means they could get the land they wanted. This site offers professional dissertation editing services for students all over the world

Richard Henry Lee

Time and again the minority of "nationalists" who remained in Congress after 1776 tried to "collect" the power of government "from small instances." One such instance was the report of a price-fixing convention in New England in 1777. The report was laid before Congress. Good custom research paper should be drafted by professional writers with excellent abilities
James Wilson and others argued that the approval of Congress was necessary. Benjamin Rush stated flatly that this meeting had usurped the powers of Congress. The "long metaphysical debate" continued, for many of the revolutionary group were as well aware as the nationalists of the subtle power of precedent. So the real "federalists" -- Sam Adams, Richard Henry Lee, and Thomas Burke -- opposed Wilson and Rush. Adams insisted that the right to assemble and discuss was the privilege of -freemen and feared only by tyrants. Richard Henry Lee drove home the point that it was the unconfederated Congress itself that had no legal power.

James Rivington

For a time the Revolution swept many of the men who believed thus from positions of effectiveness, although enough remained in legislative seats to voice from time to time the demand for centralized authority. They could not change the Articles of Confederation, now before the states for ratification, but they could and did seek to establish precedents upon the basis of which they could argue the sovereignty of Congress. Gouverneur Morris had favored such strategy as early as 1775 when he heard that Congress might consider the case of James Rivington, the Tory printer in New York City. Morris declared that such action by Congress would give it judicial power just as the Association of 1774 had given it legislative power. The canny Morris was keenly appreciative of the importance of precedent.All custom writing company can remove my academic problems overnight
"The power of government, as of man," he said, "is to be collected from small instances; great affairs are more the object of reflection and policy. Here both join."

The Demand for a National government

The Demand for a National government
The men who wrote the Articles of Confederation created a federal government wherein the state governments retained sovereign power and the central government was their creature. They had done this in spite of the determined opposition of those members of the colonial ruling classes who had chosen independence but who wanted along with it a centralized government with independent power and coercive authority. These men chose independence but they did not surrender the ideals of government they expressed during the debates from 1774 onward. All college admissions essay are composed by great writers for free!
Their experience with revolutionary enthusiasms and more democratic forms of state government confirmed them in the fears they had expressed before the Declaration of Independence. Hence, their desire for a "national" government was intensified rather than diminished, and they showed no more intention of accepting the Articles of Confederation as a permanent constitution than they did of accepting the more democratic constitutions adopted by some of the states. Edward Rutledge expressed their attitude early in the war when he wrote to John Jay in the fall of 1776 urging Jay to provide for a strong executive in the proposed constitution for New York, for he said, "a pure democracy may possibly do, when patriotism is the ruling passion; but when the state abounds with rascals, as is the case with many at this day, you must suppress a little of that popular spirit."