Editing Continental Congress (section)

==Confederation Congress==
{{Main|Congress of the Confederation}}
{{Further|Constitution of the United States|Annapolis Convention (1786)|Philadelphia Convention of 1787|Treaty of Paris (1783)}}
The Articles of Confederation [[Coming into force|came into force]] on March 1, 1781, after being ratified by all [[Thirteen Colonies]], and the [[Second Continental Congress]] became the [[Congress of the Confederation]], which was officially styled as the "United States in Congress Assembled", a [[Unicameralism|unicameral]] body composed of delegates from the several states.<ref name=CCOHC>{{cite web| title=Confederation Congress| work=Ohio History Central| url=http://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Confederation_Congress?rec=2327| publisher=Ohio History Connection| location=Columbus, Ohio| access-date=April 27, 2019}}</ref> A guiding principle of the Articles was to preserve the [[independence]] and [[sovereignty]] of the states. The weak [[central government]] established by the Articles received only those powers which the former colonies had recognized as belonging to king and parliament.<ref>{{Harvnb|Morison|1965}}, p. 279</ref> Congress had the power to declare war, sign treaties, and settle disputes between the states. It could also borrow or print money, but did not have the power to tax.<ref name=CCOHC/> It helped guide the United States through the final stages of the Revolutionary War, but steeply declined in authority afterward.{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}}

During peacetime, there were two important, long-lasting acts of the Confederation Congress:<ref>Rakove, ''Beginnings'', pp. 133–330</ref>

# The passage of the [[Northwest Ordinance]] in 1787. This ordinance accepted the abolition of all claims to the land west of [[Pennsylvania]] and north of the [[Ohio River]] by the states of [[Pennsylvania]], [[Virginia]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[Connecticut]], and [[Massachusetts]], and the ordinance established [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. federal governmental]] control over all of this land in the [[Northwest Territory]] with the goal of inspiring the creation of several new states there. In the course of time, this land was divided over the course of many decades into the states of present-day [[Ohio]], [[Michigan]], [[Indiana]], [[Illinois]], [[Wisconsin]], and part of [[Minnesota]].
# After years of frustration, an agreement was reached in 1786 at the [[Annapolis Convention (1786)|Annapolis Convention]] to call another convention in May 1787 in [[Philadelphia]] with the mission of writing and proposing several amendments to the Articles of Confederation to improve the form of government. The report was sent to the Confederation Congress and the States. The result was the [[Philadelphia Convention of 1787]], which was authorized by all the States thus fulfilling the unanimous requirement of the Articles of Confederation to allow changes to the Articles.

Under the Articles of Confederation, the Confederation Congress had little power to compel the individual states to comply with its decisions. More and more prospective delegates elected to the Confederation Congress declined to serve in it. The leading men in each State preferred to serve in the state governments, and thus the Continental Congress had frequent difficulties in establishing a [[quorum]]. When the Articles of Confederation were superseded by the [[Constitution of the United States]], the Confederation Congress was superseded by the [[United States Congress]].

The Confederation Congress ultimately established a suitable administrative structure for the Federal government, which placed into operation a federal government comprising three departments (finance, war, and foreign affairs), led by three ministers for each respective department. [[Robert Morris (financier)|Robert Morris]] was selected as the new Superintendent of Finance, and then Morris secured a loan from the [[Government of France|French government]] to deal with his empty treasury and also runaway inflation, for a number of years, in the supply of paper money.

As the ambassador to France, [[Benjamin Franklin]] secured the loan for a common budget, and also persuaded France to send an army of about 6,000 soldiers to the United States  and to dispatch a large squadron of French warships under [[Comte de Grasse]] to the coasts of [[Virginia]] and [[North Carolina]]. These French warships were decisive at the [[Siege of Yorktown|Battle of Yorktown]] along the coast of Virginia by preventing [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Lord Cornwallis]]'s British troops from receiving supplies, reinforcements, or evacuation via the [[James River]] and [[Hampton Roads]].<ref>Joseph J. Ellis, ''His Excellency: George Washington'' (2004) p. 131</ref>

Robert Morris, the Minister of Finance, persuaded Congress to charter the [[Bank of North America]] on December 31, 1781. Although a private bank, the Federal Government acquired partial ownership with money lent by France. The Bank of North America played a major role in financing the war against [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]]. The combined armies of [[George Washington]] and [[Nathanael Greene]], with the help of the French Army and Navy, defeated the British in the Battle of Yorktown during October 1781. Lord Cornwallis was forced to sue for peace and to surrender his entire army to General Washington.

During 1783, the Americans secured the official recognition of the independence of the United States from [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] following negotiations with British diplomats in [[Paris]], which culminated with the signing of the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]] on September 3, 1783. The Treaty of Paris was later ratified by the British Parliament.<ref name=CCOHC/>