Changes

The '''Mount Vernon Conference''' was a meeting in 1785 to address disputes regarding navigation and naval jurisdiction along the Potomac River.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xK1NuzpAcH8C&pg=PA467 A Companion to the American Revolution]</ref>  It was held at the home of [[George Washington]], Mount Vernon.

The '''Mount Vernon Conference''' was a meeting in 1785 to address disputes regarding navigation and naval jurisdiction along the Potomac River.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xK1NuzpAcH8C&pg=PA467 A Companion to the American Revolution]</ref>  It was held at the home of [[George Washington]], Mount Vernon.

==Background==

==Background==

When the War of Independence overthrew British sovereignty and the colonies became States, each was free to do as it chose in matters of commercial regulation, and discordant action caused troublesome complications. The situation was peculiarly annoying as regards Virginia and Maryland, as both were interested in the navigation of the Chesapeake Bay. Virginia complained that she was losing trade because of the lower rates of duty imposed by Maryland, while Maryland was in a state of alarm over Virginia's claim to the right to levy tolls upon vessels passing between the capes of the Chesapeake.

When the War of Independence overthrew British sovereignty and the colonies became States, each was free to do as it chose in matters of commercial regulation, and discordant action caused troublesome complications. The situation was peculiarly annoying as regards Virginia and Maryland, as both were interested in the navigation of the Chesapeake Bay. Virginia complained that she was losing trade because of the lower rates of duty imposed by Maryland, while Maryland was in a state of alarm over Virginia's claim to the right to levy tolls upon vessels passing between the capes of the Chesapeake.

Gen. Washington was president of the Potomac Company, the predecessor of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, and it was a matter of direct concern to the plans of that company that there should be an agreement between the two States in regard to the navigation of the Potomac and the Chesapeake Bay. In 1785 commissioners appointed by the two States were to meet at Alexandria. Gen. Washington invited them to his residence, Mount Vernon. There in his parlor was framed “the compact of 1785,” modification of which is the purpose of the negotiations now going on.

Gen. Washington was president of the Potomac Company, the predecessor of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and it was a matter of direct concern to the plans of that company that there should be an agreement between the two States in regard to the navigation of the Potomac and the Chesapeake Bay. In 1785 commissioners appointed by the two States were to meet at Alexandria. Gen. Washington invited them to his residence, Mount Vernon. There in his parlor was framed “the compact of 1785,” modification of which is the purpose of the negotiations now going on.

The matter immediately under consideration at Mount Vernon in 1785 was only one instance of the general need for a uniform system of commercial regulations, and that conference was the starting point of a movement to obtain such a system. A convention called in behalf of the movement met at Annapolis September II, 1786, and that convention issued the call for the convention which met at Philadelphia in May, 1787, and framed the Constitution of the United States. Gen. Washington presided, and thus had the satisfaction of seeing the triumphant conclusion of the movement started in his parlor in 1785.

The matter immediately under consideration at Mount Vernon in 1785 was only one instance of the general need for a uniform system of commercial regulations, and that conference was the starting point of a movement to obtain such a system. A convention called in behalf of the movement met at Annapolis September II, 1786, and that convention issued the call for the convention which met at Philadelphia in May, 1787, and framed the Constitution of the United States. Gen. Washington presided, and thus had the satisfaction of seeing the triumphant conclusion of the movement started in his parlor in 1785.