lves, had
refused to present the resolution. In any case Congress could hardly be
expected to take the initiative.

For many years Virginia and Maryland had been at loggerheads over the
navigation of the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay. In 1784
commissioners from both States met at Alexandria, and subsequently at
Washington's country-seat, at Mount Vernon, to make a last effort to
adjudicate their differences. It speedily appeared that the question of
commercial regulations was one that concerned also their neighbors to
the north. Maryland proposed that Pennsylvania and Delaware should be
invited to a further conference. The assembly of Virginia went still
further and appointed delegates to meet with delegates from other States
"to take into consideration the trade of the United States" and "to
consider how far a uniform system in their commercial regulations may be
necessary to their common interest and their permanent harmony."
Annapolis was selected as the place of meeting.

The response of the States to this call was disappointing. Only five
States sent delegates. Positive action on trade relations was, of
course, out of the question. But Alexander Hamilton, who attended as a
delegate from New York, drafted a report which went far to redeem the
situation. Addressed to the legislatures of the States represented at
Annapolis, it called attention to the critical state of the Union and
the need of a convention of delegates with wider powers from all the
States; and in conclusion, it named Philadelphia and the second Monday
in May, 1787, as a suitable place and time for such a convention. "From
motives of respect" a copy of this report was sent to Congress.

With its wonted indecision, Congress dallied with this bold proposal
until late in the following February. Meantime, Virginia and other
States appointed delegates to the convention which Congress had not yet
sanctioned. When Congress finally issued the summons, it made no
reference to the Annapolis Convention, though it took over bodily the
recommendations of that body. The sole and express purpose of the
convention was declared to be the revision of the Articles of
Confederation.

The delegates to the Philadelphia Convention were to be "appointed by
the States." As a matter of course, the choice devolved upon the
legislature in every instance. To what extent the active economic
interests directed and controlled the selection is a mere matter of
speculation. Ce