FORMATION OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES Articles of Confederation inadequate. At tempts to amend them, 1780, 1783, 1786, all fail. FORMATION OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES Articles of Confederation inadequate. At- CHAPTER IV STEPS IN THE FORMATION OF THE N the first place it must be noticed that our constitution is a growth and not a creation of any one moment in our history. Its elements may be traced back to the days when our Teutonic ancestors were yet in the swamps and forests of Germany. On American soil several stages in its growth may be marked. In the New England confederacy, in the Albany plan of union of 1754, in the various plans proposed about 1774 and 1775, in the Articles of Confederation of 1781, we see successive movements, all essential parts of the ultimate result obtained in the convention of 1787. Along another line of development we may also trace the growth of the forces which became factors in this result. The charters granted by the crown to Virginia, to Massachusetts, to Rhode Island, to Connecticut, and to other colonies, the charters granted by the proprietors to Maryland, to Pennsylvania, etc., furnished many elements for the final structure. The principles of the common law, and the English constitution itself directly, were not without great influence. Anything like a complete study, therefore, of the genesis of our constitution would necessitate an elaborate collection of the material contained in the foregoing suggestions. Our aim will be rather to trace the causes which were the immediate occasion for the constitutional convention, and to note the more impor |