A history of the American nation . this body was given considerableauthority. It alone had the right and power of declaring war ormaking peace, of sending or receiving ambassadors, of appoint-ing courts for the trial of piracies or felonies on the high seas,%3i regulating the alloy and value of coin, of fixing the standardof weights and measures, of ^ establishing and regulating postoffices from one State to another. It also could build andequip a navy and raise and support an army, and make requisi-tion for troops upon the States. The Congress was authorizedto appoint a committee to sit in th
A history of the American nation . this body was given considerableauthority. It alone had the right and power of declaring war ormaking peace, of sending or receiving ambassadors, of appoint-ing courts for the trial of piracies or felonies on the high seas,%3i regulating the alloy and value of coin, of fixing the standardof weights and measures, of ^ establishing and regulating postoffices from one State to another. It also could build andequip a navy and raise and support an army, and make requisi-tion for troops upon the States. The Congress was authorizedto appoint a committee to sit in the recess of Congress, to beknown as a Committee of the States. In this Congress eachState had one vote; Delaware had quite as much voice as hadPennsylvania or Virginia. No step could be taken without the 180 THE CONFEDERATION AND THE CONSTITUTION 181 consent of a majority of the States, and for many importantmeasures the consent of nine of them was necessary. All theStates must agree to an amendment or alteration in the ^^J ^ AT THE END OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. O ^^ SHOWING WESTERN LAND CLAIMS OF THE STATES 1783 This Congress stood forth as the representative of the Ameri-can people, and it had many duties and responsibilities; butthere was no effectual means given of executing its laws or ofraising the money which was so needful. No power was given itto collect taxes directly from individuals, or to levy duties on 182 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION imports. The only way to get funds was to ask the States forthem. Moreover, Congress could not execute itseir j^^^ directly upon the citizens of the States, orcompel obedience to treaties with foreign nations. It couldrecommend and advise, but it could not execute; it wassoon, therefore, in a condition where it could promise but couldnot perform. Without power over persons, it had no efficiencyas a government.^ Each State was now jealous in the extreme of any authoritybeyond its own borders. This narrow, selfish,
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