{"id":5100,"date":"2026-01-08T20:11:54","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T20:11:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-117pinsker\/?page_id=5100"},"modified":"2026-02-19T13:59:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T13:59:38","slug":"critical-period","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-117pinsker\/course-syllabus\/critical-period\/","title":{"rendered":"Critical Period"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 class=\"entry-title\"><\/h1>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<blockquote><p>The said states hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defence, the security of their Liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretence whatever. \u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/milestone-documents\/articles-of-confederation\">Articles of Confederation, November 15, 1777<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div id=\"attachment_701\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/files\/2025\/09\/Dickinson.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-701\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/files\/2025\/09\/Dickinson-209x300.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 209px) 100vw, 209px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/files\/2025\/09\/Dickinson-209x300.jpg 209w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/files\/2025\/09\/Dickinson-712x1024.jpg 712w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/files\/2025\/09\/Dickinson-768x1104.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/files\/2025\/09\/Dickinson-1069x1536.jpg 1069w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/files\/2025\/09\/Dickinson.jpg 1200w\" alt=\"Dickinson\" width=\"209\" height=\"300\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-701\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-701\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Dickinson (<a href=\"https:\/\/archives.dickinson.edu\/encyclopedia\/john-dickinson-1732-1808\">College Archives<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Background<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/18th_century\/contcong_07-12-76.asp\">First draft<\/a>\u00a0of this national frame of government came from John Dickinson\u2019s committee at the Second Continental Congress in June 1776<\/li>\n<li>Debated and revised into\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/milestone-documents\/articles-of-confederation\">13 articles by November 1777<\/a>\u00a0but not ratified by all thirteen states and fully brought into force until March 1781 (just several months before the end of the Revolutionary War).<\/li>\n<li>Remained in force from 1781 to 1789 until the ratified US constitution (drafted in Philadelphia in summer of 1787) took effect with the organization of the First Congress and the inauguration of the first president (George Washington).<\/li>\n<li>The most important accomplishment of the Confederation Congress was arguably passage of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/milestone-documents\/northwest-ordinance\">Northwest Ordinance in July 1787<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Articles<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Preamble:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Lists the states that agree to a perpetual union<\/li>\n<li><strong>Article I:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0The name of the new confederation is United States of America<\/li>\n<li><strong>Article II:<\/strong>\u00a0The states retain sovereignty<\/li>\n<li><strong>Article III:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0The confederation represents a firm league of friendship for mutual defense, liberty and welfare<\/li>\n<li><strong>Article IV:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Privileges and immunities extended for citizens in various states, rendition for fugitives from justice across state lines, and full faith and credit for state laws<\/li>\n<li><strong>Article V:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Annual meeting of Congress; states may have multiple delegates but only one vote; and freedom of speech and debate for delegates<\/li>\n<li><strong>Article VI:<\/strong>\u00a0 No state shall engage in foreign diplomacy or war without consent from Congress; also banned foreign gifts or emoluments to government officials<\/li>\n<li><strong>Article VII:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0States determine all officers at the rank of colonel or below (from company to regimental level) sent for the common defense<\/li>\n<li><strong>Article VIII:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0States are responsible for providing taxes assessed by Congress for the common defense<\/li>\n<li><strong>Article IX:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Outlines various judicial and dispute proceedings involving international law, diplomacy, armed conflict, or disputes among states; includes further details about the powers of Congress as well as provisions for establishing a Committee of the States to act on behalf of Congress during times of recess and to appoint within their own ranks of this committee a president who could help manage affairs<\/li>\n<li><strong>Article X:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Authorizes Committee of States (composed of at least nine members) to act on behalf of Congress but not to exceed congressional authority<\/li>\n<li><strong>Article XI:<\/strong>\u00a0Canada will be admitted to Confederation upon request but other colonies require approval of at least nine states to be admitted<\/li>\n<li><strong>Article XII:<\/strong>\u00a0Previous debts undertaken by the continental congress will be honored<\/li>\n<li><strong>Article XIII:<\/strong>\u00a0 This confederation or union shall be perpetual and its articles can only be revised with the consent of all thirteen states<\/li>\n<li><strong>Resolution:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Invokes \u201cGreat Governor of the World\u201d and submits for state ratification<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Gordon Wood on republicanism and American society in the 1780s (chaps 5-6)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Need for virtue (classical, country, whiggish)<\/li>\n<li>Rising glory of America (&#8220;republic of letters&#8221;)<\/li>\n<li>Equality (dependence and meritocracy)<\/li>\n<li>New world order (free trade)<\/li>\n<li>Effects of war (demographics and economics)<\/li>\n<li>Effects of revolution (expansion and egalitarianism)<\/li>\n<li>Republican reforms (Rush and Dickinson)<\/li>\n<li>Antislavery (gradual abolition and manumission)<\/li>\n<li>Religion (Methodists and Baptists)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The said states hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defence, the security of their Liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all force offered &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-117pinsker\/course-syllabus\/critical-period\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":373,"featured_media":0,"parent":11,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-5100","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-117pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-117pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-117pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-117pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/373"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-117pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5100"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-117pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5100\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5203,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-117pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5100\/revisions\/5203"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-117pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-117pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}