Sovereign States.

On 15 November 1777 Congress ratified the Articles of Confederation, and by March 1779 all of the states except Maryland had approved them. Maryland, which lacked claims to western lands, refused to ratify until states with extensive land claims ceded their claims to the federal government "for the good of the whole," not to mention the good of Maryland land speculators. The Articles did not legally go into effect until 1 March 1781, so during most of the Revolutionary War congressional authority rested only on the states' acceptance of that authority. The Articles of Confederation contained lessons that Americans had learned from their clash with the British government in the 1760s and 1770s. Most Americans believed their liberties were best protected by elected representatives in the state legislatures. Nevertheless, they agreed on the need to set up a confederation of sovereign states which...