In (Doc. A) A letter from the Rhode Island Assembly to Congress on Nov. 30, 1782, Rhode Island explains the rejection of Morris's proposal of the collection for a national import duty. Rhode Island stated that it was unequal and unconstitutional. Because all 13 states had to agree, the proposal was thrown out and was not enforced. Morris and Alexander Hamilton devised a dangerous plot called the Newburgh Conspiracy in order to relieve the panic. In 1783, (Doc C) the two men secretly coaxed some army officers to threaten a coup d"e tat unless the treasury obtained the taxation authority needed to raise their pay. A letter from Delegate Joseph Jones to George Washington suggests the immediate pay to the solider by enforcing tariffs and taxation. George Washington blocked this threatened military coup aimed at strengthening the central government and guaranteeing back pay and pensions to officers as the war came to an end. These events proved the Confederation was weak and unable to control financial problems. Diplomatic problems multiplied after the war. Congress was unable to comply with states to repay pre-war debts to British citizens and allow Loyalists to recover confiscated property. European governments closed off nearly all American trade with the colonies. According to (Doc. B), after the Declaration of Independence, the profit of exports to Britain steadily declined. This shows that the export trade to Britain was declining. Britain took away the rights of the United States to trade with the British colonies, yet Britain goods were still flooding in the United States. This, in return caused an economic depression within the colonies. Secretary of Foreign Affairs John Jay negotiated many treaties with Spain, Britain, and other European countries, but they were blocked by Congress. In John Jay's Instructions to the United States Minister to Great Britain (Doc. D, March 7, 1785), Jay insisted that the British remove themselves from the United States.
