Capitols XVII 1788: The Government That Collapsed and the One That Replaced It

In 1788, the United States was on the brink of failure. No quorum. No money. No power. Yet in its final days, the Confederation Congress launched the government we still live under.

This episode explores the dramatic final session of the United States in Congress Assembled, a government unraveling even as a new Constitution rose to replace it.

Led by President Cyrus Griffin, the 1788 Congress struggled to function amid quorum failures, debt crises, and frontier instability. Meanwhile, eleven states ratified a new Constitution, while North Carolina and Rhode Island stood outside the Union.
Behind the scenes, figures like Sarah Livingston Jay and Lady Christina Griffin sustained diplomacy through elite social networks, while Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee warned George Washington that without his leadership, the new government might fail.

Even as Congress faded, it acted:

• Authorizing aid for American captives in Algiers
• Rejecting the Deane arms settlement
• Asserting America’s right to navigate the Mississippi

And in a moment of historical irony, Congress was physically displaced as Pierre Charles L’Enfant remodeled New York’s City Hall into what would become Federal Hall, the first capitol under the Constitution.
This is the hinge moment of the American experiment, where one government died, and another was born. From collapse to constitution, this is where the Republic begins again.

#AmericanHistory #FederalHall #USConstitution #FoundingEra #RevolutionaryWar #Union250 #CyrusGriffin #GeorgeWashington #BillOfRights #EarlyAmerica

Видео Capitols XVII 1788: The Government That Collapsed and the One That Replaced It канала Stanley Klos