In 1756 Georgia and South
Carolina actually came to blows over the navigation of the Savannah
river. The idea that the thirteen colonies could ever overcome their
mutual jealousies so far as to unite in a single political body, was
received at that time in England with a derision like that which a
proposal for a permanent federation of European States would excite in
many minds to-day. It was confidently predicted that if the common
allegiance to the British crown were once withdrawn, the colonies would
forthwith proceed to destroy themselves with internecine war. In fact,
however, it was the shaking off of allegiance to the British crown, and
the common trials and sufferings of the war of independence, that at
last welded the colonies together and made a federal union possible. As
it was, the union was consummated only by degrees. By the Articles of
Confederation, agreed on by Congress in 1777 but not adopted by all the
States until 1781, the federal government acted only upon the several
state governments and not directly upon individuals; there was no
federal judiciary for the decision of constitutional questions arising
out of the relations between the states; and the Congress was not
provided with any efficient means of raising a revenue or of enforcing
its legislative decrees. Under such a government the difficulty of
insuring concerted action was so great that, but for the transcendent
personal qualities of Washington, the bungling mismanagement of the
British ministry, and the timely aid of the French fleet, the war of
independence would most likely have ended in failure.
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