On June 12, 1776, the Second Continental Congress turned to the third and perhaps the most difficult element of independence: drafting a plan of government for their brand new nation.
The man Congress chose to write the first draft was John Dickinson of Pennsylvania. Although he would not vote for independence, Dickinson was the most respected constitutional thinker in Congress.
What Dickinson wrote was strong and bold. What Congress did to his draft was something else entirely.
Historians Jane Calvert, founding director and chief editor of the John Dickinson Writings Project, and Jonathan Gienapp, professor of history and law at Stanford University, guide us through the drafting, debates, and compromises behind the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States.
This episode was made possible with support from Massachusetts Historical Society, the first historical society in the United States.
About the Show
Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.
It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.
Episode Summary
Jane Calvert is the founding director and chief editor of the John Dickinson Writings Project and the foremost expert on John Dickinson. She is the author of Penman of the Founding: A Biography of John Dickinson and Quaker Constitutionalism and the Political Thought of John Dickinson.
Jonathan Gienapp is a professor of history and law at Stanford University and one of the leading experts on the origins and development of the United States Constitution. He is the author of The Second Creation: Fixing the American Constitution in the Founding Era and Against Constitutional Originalism: A Historical Critique.
In this episode, Jane and Jonathan reveal:
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- Why thirteen fiercely independent colonies agreed they needed to pool their sovereignty into a formal national union
- How John Dickinson’s draft Articles of Confederation envisioned a strong central government
- What the dispute over western lands had to do with why it took five years for the Articles of Confederation to take effect
What You’ll Discover
- Why a plan of confederation was essential from the earliest days of the independence movement
- How Benjamin Franklin drafted an early Articles of Confederation in July 1775
- How John Dickinson’s Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania helped plant the seed of American identity
- What the founders meant by “confederation” vs. “federation”—and why the choice of words mattered
- Why Congress created a committee of 13 to draft the Articles
- How John Dickinson became the principal drafter of the Articles of Confederation
- What Dickinson’s draft Articles looked like
- How Dickinson included the first gender-inclusive language (“his or her”) for a fundamental right in any Anglo-American constitution
- Why Congress stripped out most of Dickinson’s articles during debate
- How Thomas Burke’s Article II dramatically shifted the balance of power from the central government to the states
- Why the western lands dispute delayed ratification until March 1781
- How the Articles of Confederation functioned as a working government during the Revolutionary War
- Why the Articles should be seen not as a failed experiment, but as the opening chapter in America’s oldest and most enduring political argument
- How the debate the Articles sparked over federal vs. state power has never gone away
Links to People, Places, and Publications
1776 in Context
250 years later, how do you think we should view the Articles of Confederation and its place within the American Revolution?
Complementary Episodes
🎧 Episode 179: Governance During the Critical Period
🎧 Episode 258: John Dickinson, Life, Religion, & Politics
🎧 Episode 323: American Expansion and the Political Economy of Plunder
🎧 Episode 366: James Wilson & the U.S. Constitution
🎧 Episode 443: How Independence Happened, Pt 1: The Lee Resolution
🎧 Episode 444: How Independence Happened, Pt 2: The Model Treaty
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