The Mount Vernon Conference was a meeting of delegates from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

held at

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is the former residence and plantation of George Washington, a Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States, and his wife, Martha. An American landmar ...

on March 21–28, 1785, to discuss navigational

rights Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...

in the states' common waterways. On March 28, 1785, the group drew up a thirteen-point proposal to govern the rights of both states on the

Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...

Pocomoke River The Pocomoke River stretches approximately U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 from southern Delaware through southeastern Maryland in the United States. At i ...

, and

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...

. Known as the Mount Vernon Compact and formally titled as the Compact of 1785, this

agreement Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus (disambiguation), a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of ...

not only covered tidewater navigation but also extended to issues such as toll duties, commerce regulations, fishing rights, and debt collection. Ratified by the

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

of both

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

s, the compact helped set a precedent for later meetings between states for discussions into areas of mutual concern.

Background

The circumstances that led to the conference began as the country emerged victorious from the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. Lacking an effective central government under the

Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation, officially the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was an agreement and early body of law in the Thirteen Colonies, which served as the nation's first Constitution, frame of government during the Ameri ...

, the states quarreled among themselves, and some even established proprietary regulations, tariffs, and currency. To ensure mutually-profitable commerce on their shared waterways, the Virginia and Maryland legislatures recognized the need for an agreement between both states regarding the jurisdiction of the waters. The awareness led to the chartering in Maryland (1784) and in Virginia (1785) of the Potomac Company to make improvements to the Potomac River and to improve its navigability beyond its

fall line A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is noticeable especially the place rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the ...

for commerce. The company's goal was the linking of the East Coast with the trans-Appalachian

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established ...

. The conference was initially scheduled to begin March 21, 1785, in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

. Maryland delegates included

Samuel Chase Samuel Chase (April 17, 1741 – June 19, 1811) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father of the United States, signer of the Continental Association and United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryla ...

, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, and

Thomas Stone Thomas Stone (1743 – October 5, 1787) was an American Founding Father, planter, politician, and lawyer who signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a delegate for Maryland. He later worked on the committee that formed the Arti ...

. From Virginia, Alexander Henderson and

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, where he was one of three delegates who refused to sign the Constitution. His wr ...

attended;

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

and

Edmund Randolph Edmund Jennings Randolph (August 10, 1753 September 12, 1813) was a Founding Father of the United States, attorney, and the seventh Governor of Virginia. As a delegate from Virginia, he attended the Constitutional Convention and helped to cre ...

had been appointed but were not sufficiently notified of their appointments. None of Virginia's delegates were present when Maryland's arrived for the meeting.

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

, who had been corresponding with Stone about the conference, offered them the hospitality of his

estate in

Fairfax County, Virginia Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. With a population of 1,150,309 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most p ...

, while they waited and then offered to host the gathering itself. Although not an official participant, Washington, with his authoritative knowledge of the issues and active interest in Potomac navigation, inspired the delegates and lent considerable prestige to the proceedings.

Conference

The conference reconvened at Mount Vernon on March 25, 1785, with Washington presiding. Maryland's representatives were empowered to discuss with Virginia their shared concerns involving the Potomac and Pocomoke Rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay. However, the Virginia legislature's instructions to its appointees focused solely on the Potomac. Nonetheless, common ground was found, and on March 28, a final report was prepared for both state legislatures. The report contained 13 clauses and was ratified by Maryland and Virginia. It declared the Potomac, which was under Maryland's sole jurisdiction, to be a common waterway for use by Virginia as well. It provided for reciprocal fishing rights, dividing the costs of constructing navigation aids, co-operation on defense and cases of piracy. It also called for commissioners to deal with any future problems that might arise. Political leaders in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

were invited to join the agreement as well.

Legacy

The Mount Vernon Conference became a model of interstate co-operation outside the framework of the Articles of Confederation. Its success encouraged James Madison to advocate for further discussions on constitutional issues facing the states. He had little to show for efforts to get Virginia's delegates in the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

to seek expanded powers to deal with trade issues. Instead, he introduced a proposal in the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...

to act on the suggestion of the compact commissioners for further debate of interstate issues. With Maryland's agreement on January 21, 1786, Virginia invited all of the states to attend another meeting on commercial issues, the groundbreaking Annapolis Convention. The second interstate political convention, formally titled "A Meeting of Commissioners to Remedy Defects of the Federal Government," convened at George Mann's Tavern held in

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

, on September 11, 1786. Delegates from five states (appointed delegates from four others either arrived too late to participate or otherwise did not attend) gathered to discuss ways to facilitate commerce between the states and establish standard rules and regulations. As a result of the gathering, commissioners called for there to be another constitutional convention for possible improvements to the Articles of Confederation to be discussed. The desired convention took place in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in the summer of 1787. The meetings at Mount Vernon and Annapolis paved the way for the

Philadelphia Convention The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. While the convention was initially intended to revise the league of states and devise the first system of federal government under the Articles of Conf ...

, which further strengthened the concept of interstate co-operation and resulted in a new federal

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

. There,

Gouverneur Morris Gouverneur Morris ( ; January 31, 1752 – November 6, 1816) was an American statesman, a Founding Father of the United States, and a signatory to the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution. He wrote the Preamble to the ...

of Pennsylvania made oblique reference to the success of the Mount Vernon Conference. In 1908, a government commission associated the related events more closely.''Preliminary Report of the Inland Waterways Commission'', 1908.
Introductory note to Section 17, The Gallatin Report
/ref>

The earliest movement toward developing the inland waterways of the country began when, under the influence of George Washington, Virginia and Maryland appointed commissioners primarily to consider the navigation and improvement of the Potomac; they met in 1785 in Alexandria and adjourned to Mount Vernon, where they planned for extension, pursuant to which they reassembled with representatives of other States in Annapolis in 1786; again finding the task a growing one, a further conference was arranged in Philadelphia in 1787, with delegates from all the States. There the deliberations resulted in the framing of the Constitution, whereby the thirteen original States were united primarily on a commercial basis — the commerce of the times being chiefly by water.

References

{{Authority control History of Maryland History of Virginia 1785 in American law 1785 in Maryland 1785 in Virginia 1785 conferences Mount Vernon Confederation period

Background

Conference

Legacy

See also

References