February 23, 1787

Dear Members of Congress,

The Articles of Confederation are not working and you must fix them and recreate the government and Congress. The Articles of Confederation was a very poor choice for governing our country. The states are ruling themselves and printing their own money. The farmers are having a hard time paying taxes and other countries are worried about our ability to trade or pay debts. I believe that there is a much better way to run the country.

We don’t have money to pay the soldiers who fought for our freedom. We can’t collect taxes and if we can’t collect taxes we can’t pay the soldiers. We should have some respect for these soldiers who fought for our independence and show them that we care. If we don’t do this, they will never want to fight for us again. Other states won’t give us a little bit of their money because they need the money to pay for things they need. We don’t all have the same type of money and all the states should only have one type of money.

We have a very weak government. We don’t have a judicial branch or a court system to interpret the laws. We don’t have an executive branch to carry out the laws. We can’t pass a law because nine out of thirteen states have to agree. We need to make a better and stronger government. We can’t use the Articles of confederation anymore because if we continue to use the Articles of Confederation we will never form one united country!

We need to make a stronger and better government. Now make these changes for Congress, the Articles of Confederation, and the government.

Shay’s rebellion also is making it worse and farmers are being put in jail, and if farmers are put in jail, they can’t grow crops or food for us.

America is falling apart because of the Articles of Confederation.

We can form a united nation if we make some needed changes. We can gain strength and power. If we do not change the Articles of Confederation, we are headed down a path of destruction. Please consider carefully.

Sincerely,

George Washington (Connor)