Virginia Governor Patrick Henry Calls for the Annapolis Convention

Congress tried to establish a basic governmental framework with the Articles of Confederation, ratified by the states in 1781. But the central government remained little more than a loose alliance of independent states, and Congress experienced difficulty in restoring a war-torn economy, guaranteeing an effective defense, and in regulating both domestic and foreign trade. These problems had at their source a deficiency in the national government’s capacity to raise and collect money.

In November 1785 the Virginia House of Delegates began debates to consider the commercial state of the union.  Resolutions were offered supporting a permanent grant of power to Congress to regulate foreign and domestic commerce.  On January 13, 1786, the legislature passed this bill: “Resolved: That the damages on foreign bills of Exchange protested ought to be the same in this State and the State of Maryland and that foreign protested bills of exchange should be considered in all cases and to all purposes as of equal rank with debts upon Contract in writing signed by the party;  Resolved: That it is essential to the commerce and revenue of the State of Maryland and of this State that Duties on imports or exports if laid should be the same in both States and that it is proper for the Legislatures of the said States at their annual meeting in the autumn to appoint Commissioners to meet and communicate the regulations of Commerce and duties proposed by each State and to confer on such subjects as may concern the Commercial Interests of both States and within the power of the respective States and that the number of the said Commissioners be equal not less than three nor more than five from each State and that they annually meet in the third week of September if required by the Legislature of either State or the Commissioners thereof at such place as they shall appoint; Resolved: That the said Resolutions shall be Communicated to the Legislatures of all the States in the Union and that they be requested to nominate Commissioners for the purposes expressed in the last resolution and that His Excellency the Governor be requested to transmit immediately copies of the said Resolutions to those States.”

On January 21, 1786, on the last day of that session, both houses of the Virginia legislature passed a bill: “Resolved, That Edmund Randolph, James Madison, jun. Walter Jones, Saint George Tucker and Meriwether Smith, Esquires, be appointed commissioners, who… shall meet such commissioners as may be appointed by the other States in the Union… to examine the relative situations and trade of the said States; to consider how far a uniform system in their commercial regulations may be necessary to their common interest and their permanent harmony; and to report to the several States, such an act relative to this great object, as, when unanimously ratified by them, will enable the United States in Congress, effectually to provide for the same.”

Patrick Henry was Governor of Virginia from 1776 to 1779 and then again from 1784 to 1786, and while in office he was charged with communicating acts of the legislature to other states, when these acts had inter-state implications and might require the other states to act. Virginia’s government operated with several layers of checks and balances at the time.  In addition to receiving instructions to forward acts from the legislature, a Council of States, composed of other leading officials, had to grant their consent that it be done.  Minutes of the Council of State from January 26, 1786, show that Henry was given authority to communicate acts of the legislature to the Continental Congress or to governors of neighboring states, as was appropriate.

Letter Signed as Governor of Virginia, Virginia Council Chamber, January 30, 1786, to Richard Caswell, Governor of North Carolina, sending him the above acts, the famed call for the Annapolis Convention. “I am desired by the Assembly to communicate the enclosed Resolutions to you, & with Regard am Your Excellency’s most obedient humble servant, P. Henry.”  The State Records of North Carolina note that along with this letter from Henry, published from a letterbook copy, were the Resolutions passed on January 13 and nothing else, meaning the sole purpose of this letter was to notify the neighboring governor of the call for a convention.

The Virginia commissioners fixed the first Monday in September 1786 as the time, and the city of Annapolis as the place for the meeting. The formal title of the convention was a Meeting of Commissioners to Remedy Defects of the Federal Government.  James Madison, the architect of the proposal, had little expectation for the Annapolis Convention but thought it “better than nothing.”  George Washington himself saw the country in jeopardy and felt “something must be done or the fabrick must fall, for it is certainly tottering.”

In the end, only four other States were represented: Delaware, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; the commissioners appointed by Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Rhode Island failed to attend. Unable to act for lack of numbers, they nonetheless produced a report that was sent to the Congress and the states. The report asked support for a broader meeting to be held the next May in Philadelphia and expressed the hope that more states would be represented and that their delegates would be authorized to examine areas broader than simply commercial trade. The direct result of the report was the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

Formerly on display at The National Constitution Center.