This article from May 1787, reports on a “hint” offered to the delegates scheduled to meet in Philadelphia to revise the current national government. The suggestion from “the southern papers” was to dissolve the Confederation of the United States formed in 1781 under the Articles of Confederation. The states would recombine into four separate republics- northern, middle, southern and western, according to geography and “climate, whose effect no positive law can surpass.” The divisions reflected the regional affinities that had existed well before the Revolution. Proponents of this separation thought it would ensure the consensus and common interest believed essential to sustaining a republic.
Hampshire Gazette. “Southern papers suggest dissolution of the Confederation of States article published in the Hampshire Gazette.” May 2, 1787. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l04-099/. Accessed on October 16, 2024.
Please note: Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.