"Das Erste Bürger Blut, zu Gründung der Americanishen Freyheit," Engraving, 1784.

The Constitution:  Counter Revolution or National Salvation? Issue 3:  National Debt and Treasury Obligations

By the union of the the several states they have rescued themselves from the tyranny of a powerful nation and established constitutions on the free consent of the people...but these constitutions cannot long outlive the fate of the general union; and this union cannot exist without adequate funds to defray the expenses of the government, and to discharge those engagements which have been entered into with the concurrence of the citizens of all of these states, for their common benefit.

An Address from the United States in Congress Assembled to the Legislatures of the Several States: Congress, Oct. 6, 1786.
Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774-1789

Review the following primary source documents.

• What were the issues regarding funding for the national government and paying of foreign debt that affected the United States under the Articles of Confederation?
• Were the Articles adequate to address the growing needs of the United States?

The Grand Committee's Report on the Subject of Supplies, 1785
"Resolved that for the services of the present year, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-five, for the payment of one year's interest on the foreign and domestic debt . . ."

Several Reports and Documents Concerning the System of General Revenue
"The committee, consisting of Mr. King, Mr. Pinckney, Mr. Kean, Mr. Monroe, and Mr. Pettit, to whom were referred several Reports and Documents concerning the system of General revenue, recommended by Congress on the 18th of April, 1783 . . ."

Journals of the Continental Congress. Reported in Congress Oct. 17, 1786.
"Impressed with a sense of the sacred trust committed to them, and with an anxious and affectionate concern for the interest, honor and safety of their constituents, the United States in Congress assembled, have on various occasions, pointed out the dangerous situation of this nation ...Under this heavy accumulation of the foreign debt . . ."

An Address from the United States in Congress Assembled to the Legislatures of the Several States: Congress, Oct. 6, 1786.
"When the interests of a people are endangered, either through the defect of the government they have established, or the want of timely and vigorous, exertions to give efficacy to its operations . . ."