Franklin claimed parentage (though it was probably written by Paine's follower, James Cannon)
and took it proudly with him when he went to France, where the liberal bigwigs gasped in
admiration: as Adams put it, Mr Turgot, the Duc de la Rochefoucauld, Mr Condorcet and many others became enamored with the constitution of Mr Franklin.' But it provedinconvenient' and
was deradicalized in 1790. But by that time it had done its insidious work in French
Revolutionary heads.
While the states were making themselves sovereign, the Continental Congress had also to
empower itself to fight a war. So in 1776-7, it produced the Articles of Confederation, in effect
the first American Constitution. In drafting it, delegates were not much concerned with theory
but were anxious to produce practical results. So, oddly enough, although Americans had been
discussing the location of sovereignty with the British for over ten years, this document made no
effort to locate it in America and nothing was said of states' rights. It was unanimously agreed
that the Congress should control the war and foreign policy, and the states the rest-what it called
internal police.' Thomas Burke of North Carolina proposed an article stating that each state retained its sovereignty, freedom and independence, and every power, jurisdiction and right,
which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to Congress.' This was approved by
eleven of thirteen delegations and became Article II. But Burke himself later stated: `The United
States ought to be as one Sovereign with respect to foreign Powers, in all things that relate to
War or where the States have a common interest.' So the question was left begged." The whole
thing was done in a hurry and finished on November 15, 1777. But ratification was slower; in
fact Maryland did not ratify till March 1, 1781, by which time experience had demonstrated
plainly that a stronger executive was needed, and that in turn made the case for a new, and more
considered, constitution.
In the meantime, the urgent work of liberating and building the new country had necessarily
passed from the men of the pen to the men of the sword. The War of Independence was a long
war, lasting in effect eight and a half years. It was a war of attrition and exhaustion. The issue
was: could the Americans hold out long enough, and maintain an army in the field of sufficient
caliber and firepower, to wear out and destroy Britain's willingness to continue a struggle, and
pay for it, which was actually begun in order to save the British taxpayer money? Here was the
basic paradox of the war, which in the end proved decisive. The British had no fundamental
national interest in fighting the war. If they won, it merely brought more political problems. If
they lost, it hurt little but their pride. Few, outside London, were interested in the outcome; it
made remarkably little impact on the literature, letters, newspapers, and diaries of the time.
Certainly, no one volunteered to fight it. A few Whigs were passionate in opposing the war. But
they had no popular support. Nor had the King and his ministers in waging it. There were no
mass meetings or protests. No loyal demonstrations either. It was a colonial war, an imperialist
war, which in a sense had more in common with the future Vietnam War or the Soviet war in
Afghanistan, than with the recent Seven Years War. It was the first war of liberation.
In view of this, the American patriots were fortunate in their commander-in-chief. Washington
was, by temperament and skills, the ideal commander for this kind of conflict. He was no great
field commander. He fought in all nine general actions, and lost all but three of them. But he was
a strategist. He realized that his supreme task was to train an army, keep it in the field, supply it,
and pay it. By doing so, he enabled all thirteen state governments, plus the Congress, to remain
functioning, and so to constitute a nation, which matured rapidly during the eight years of
conflict. Somehow or other, legislatures functioned, courts sat, taxes were raised, the new