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A History | The American Revolution: First Phase | The New Nation
The New Nation
 The Declaration
of Independence on July 4, 1776, established a new nation and transformed a limited revolt to secure rights
within the British empire into a far-reaching one, aimed at complete independence from British control.
Since the king and his ministers had determined to restore British rule, the Americans now faced a long, hard
struggle for independence requiring a sustained national effort such as they had not expected in 1775.
The new nation was still a weak confederation of thirteen independent states. Such national feeling as
existed was a new phenomenon growing out of common opposition to British measures. Colonial tradition,
divided loyalties, the nature of the economy, and the spirit of a revolt born in opposition to the use of
military force to suppress popular liberties, all worked against the creation of any new strong central
authority capable of mobilizing resources effectively for the long struggle that lay ahead.
The thirteen states proclaiming their independence in 1776 possessed a total population of about two and a
half million people, but not all the males of military age were part of the military potential. About 20
percent were Negro slaves who except under special circumstances were not eligible for service, though
Negroes did serve in the Revolution and not in segregated units. Perhaps one-third of the "politically
active" Americans remained loyal to the British Government. As in any society there were also the
apathetic and indifferent who swayed with the tide. The genuine patriots still provided a far larger
potential of military manpower than the British could possibly transport and supply across the Atlantic,
but most of the men of military age were farmers who married young and immediately started large families.
Whatever their patriotic sentiments, few were ready to undertake long terms of military service, fearing
that if they did their farms and families at home would suffer. Accustomed to the tradition of short-term
militia service under local commanders, they infinitely preferred it to long-term service in
the Continental Army.
The economy of the thirteen new states was neither self-sufficient nor truly national. The states were
essentially a collection of separate agricultural communities, accustomed to exchanging their agricultural
surplus for British manufactured goods and West Indian products. Manufacturing was still in its infancy and
America produced few of the essentials of military supply. Despite diligent efforts to promote domestic
production during the war years, the Continental Army had to rely primarily on captures and imports from
Europe and the West Indies, run through a British blockade, for much of its military hardware and even for
clothing. While the country produced foodstuffs in ample quantity, transport from one area to another was
difficult. The normal avenues of commerce ran up and down the rivers, not overland; roads running north and
south were few and inadequate. There was always a shortage of wagons, boats, and other means of
transportation. Under these circumstances, it was far easier to support local militia for a few days or
weeks than any sizable and continuously operating national army in the field.
The governmental machinery created after the Declaration was characterized by decentralization and executive
weakness. The thirteen new "free and independent states" transformed their existing de facto
revolutionary governments into legal state governments by adopting institutions. Almost invariably, these
constitutions vested most of the powers of government in the state legislatures, successors to the popular
assemblies of the colonial period, and severely restricted the executive authority of the governors. At the
national level, the same general distrust of strong authority was apparent, and the existing Continental
Congress, essentially a gathering of delegates chosen by the state legislatures and without either express
powers of its own or an executive to carry out its enactments, was continued as the only central governing
body. Articles of Confederation stipulating the terms of union
and granting Congress specific but limited powers were drawn up shortly after the Declaration, but jealousies
among the states prevented ratification until 1781. In the interim, Congress exercised most of the powers
granted it under the Articles, but they did not include either the right to levy taxes or the power to raise
military forces directly under its auspices. Congress could only determine the Confederation's need for troops
and money to wage war and set quotas for the states to meet in proportion to their population and wealth.
It had no means of insuring that the states met their quotas, and indeed they seldom did.
The decentralized structure provided no adequate means of financing the war. The state legislatures,
possessing the power to tax that Congress lacked, hesitated to use it extensively in the face of popular
opposition to taxation, and were normally embarrassed to meet even their own expenses. Congress very early
took unto itself the power to issue paper money and to negotiate domestic and foreign loans, but it
shared these powers with also printed paper money the states, which also printed paper money in profusion and
borrowed both at home and abroad to the extent they could. The paper money was a useful expedient in the early
part of the war; indeed the Revolution could not have been carried on without it. But successive
issues by Congress and the states led to first gradual and then galloping inflation, leaving the
phrase "not worth a Continental" as a permanent legacy to the American language. The process
of depreciation and the exhaustion of credit gradually robbed both the states and Congress of the power to
pay troops, buy supplies, and otherwise meet the multitudinous expenses of war.
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