The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States, First Congress, First Session, Volume 1 Page: 2
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INTRODUCTION.
Very soon after the Treaty of Peace, by which the Independence of the
United States was recognised by the Government from which they had
effected their separation, the want of a general superintending power over
commerce, with the correlative power of taxation, was almost universally
felt, and very generally deplored by the inhabitants of all the States,
though not to the same extent in all.
It was easier to see the defect, and to feel the evils which flowed from it,
than to provide the remedy. Intelligent citizens, however, soon busied
themselves in devising the means of forming a Union, which should pos-
sess the requisite authority, and become the foundation of certain and
durable prosperity.
Of the manner in which this desirable object was consummated, the
following brief account is condensed from Marshall's Life of Washington,
the most authentic history of that period:
While the advocates for Union were exerting themselves to impress its
necessity on the public mind, measures were taken in Virginia, which,
though originating in different views, terminated in a proposition for a
general Convention to revise the state of the Union.
To form a compact relative to the navigation of the rivers Potomac
and Pocomokc, and of part of the bay of Chesapeake, commissioners were
appointed by the Legislatures of Virginia and Maryland, who assembled
in Alexandria, in March, 1785. While at Mount Vernon on a visit, they
agreed to propose to their respective Governments the appointment of
other commissioners, with power to make conjoint arrangements, to
which the assent of Congress was to be solicited, for maintaining a naval
force in the Chesapeake; and to ^tablish a Tariff of duties on imports,
to which the laws of both States should conform. When these proposi-
tions received the assent of the Legislature of Virginia, an additional
resolution was passed, directing that which respected the duties on im-
ports to be communicated to all the States in the Union, who were invited
to send deputies to the meeting.
On the 21st of January, 1786, a few days after the passage of these
resolutions, another was adopted by the same Legislature, appointing cer-
tain commissioners, " who were to meet such as might be appointed by
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Gales, Joseph, 1761-1841. The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States, First Congress, First Session, Volume 1, book, 1834; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc29465/m1/2/: accessed April 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.