For the second time the legislature of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations defeats an amendment to the Articles of Confederation that would have authorized a five percent excise tax on all imported goods to pay off the continental war debt.
NOTES:
- Amendments to the Articles of Confederation had to be unanimous among the States;
- Passage of this amendment might have rendered the Constitution for the united States unnecessary.
[restored 7/12/2026]
Subsequent Events:
Authority:
Articles of Confederation, Article XIII
ccc-2point0.com/Articles-of-Confederation
References:
Irwin H. Polishook, Rhode Island and the Union: 1774 – 1795, (Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1969), 99.
Current U.s. National Debt:
