John Fiske

PREFACE.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. RESULTS OF YORKTOWN. Sympathy between British Whigs and the revolutionary party in America.

CHAPTER II. THE THIRTEEN COMMONWEALTHS. Departure of the

CHAPTER III. THE LEAGUE OF FRIENDSHIP. The several states have never enjoyed complete sovereignty.

CHAPTER IV. DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY. Barbarous superstitions about trade.

CHAPTER V. GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY. Creation of a national domain beyond the Alleghanies.

CHAPTER VI. THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. Difficult problem before the convention. Washington's solemn appeal.

CHAPTER VII. CROWNING THE WORK. The new Constitution is laid

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.

MEMBERS OF THE FEDERAL CONVENTION.

INDEX.

Transcriber’s Note

The punctuation and spelling from the original text have been faithfully preserved. Only obvious typographical errors have been corrected.

THE CRITICAL PERIOD OF
AMERICAN HISTORY
1783–1789

BY

JOHN FISKE

"I am uneasy and apprehensive, more so than during the war."
Jay to Washington, June 27, 1786.

BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY

The Riverside Press, Cambridge

Copyright, 1888,
By JOHN FISKE.

All rights reserved.

The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A.
Electrotyped and Printed by H.O. Houghton & Co.

To
MY DEAR CLASSMATES,
FRANCIS LEE HIGGINSON
AND
CHARLES CABOT JACKSON,
I DEDICATE THIS BOOK.