Cord Byrd: “Mr. President, what impact did the Articles of Confederation have upon the Constitution of the United States? On June 7…”

“Mr. President, what impact did the Articles of Confederation have upon the Constitution of the United States? On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced a resolution in the Continental Congress resolving: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. That is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign alliances. That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the respective colonies for their consideration and approbation. In accordance with this resolution, Congress appointed a committee of 12 on June 12--which happens to be my lovely wife's birthday, June 12, although she does not go that far back--1776, to prepare a form of confederation. A month later, on July 12, a draft plan was reported by the committee, written by John Dickinson of Delaware. The document, although reported to Congress on August 20, was delayed in its final consideration, and after having undergone modifications, was finally approved by the last holdout State of Maryland in February 1781, and the Congress, then, first met under the Articles of Confederation on March 1, 1781. It had been a long time aborning.…”