11. The Articles of Confederation and the Iroquois Confederation
In November 1777, with the Revolutionary War well underway, the Continental Congress enacted the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union and sent it to the states for ratification. It then proceeded to use the document to guide its conduct while awaiting the states’ responses. From that time on Congress called itself the Confederation Congress, though most of the people continued to refer to it as the Continental Congress, often with expletives deemed suitable. In some ways, the new government resembled the Iroquois Confederation. There was but one governing body, the Congress itself. There was no executive, no federal departments, and no judiciary. Most of the issues internal to each state remained the business of that state. Congress needed near consensus to pass most legislation, could not enact taxes, and had no dominant leader. Its members were appointed by the states, not elected by the people.
Benjamin Franklin departed for France in December, 1776, otherwise, the similarities between the Articles and the Iroquois Confederation would possibly have been greater. By 1777 most of the Iroquois supported the British in their war against the Americans. In 1778 and 1779 devastating punitive raids led by John Sullivan and ordered by George Washington broke the power of the Iroquois across New York and Pennsylvania. Many of the six tribes fled their lands to the British-held territories around the Great Lakes, in Ontario, and west of the Ohio River. Following the Treaty of Paris in 1783, many were displaced still further. The Articles of Confederation remained in effect for a few years after the war, though its limitations as a national instrument were quickly revealed. Those areas most resembling the Iroquois law made it least effective as the basis for a national government. In 1787, delegates gathered to address the deficiencies.