And it has proven utterly powerless over the worst problems facing the states. Several states maintain customs services, taxing the goods of their neighbors. Nine have their own navies. New York claims ownership of Vermont, which has declared independence - and has even, alarmingly, negotiated separately with the British to win recognition as a separate entity. Meanwhile, Connecticut and Pennsylvania are feuding over the Wyoming Valley.
Hard cash is almost nonexistent, and attempted solutions to debt problems have proven disastrous.
Rhode Island's policy has been to print paper money - and to demand that creditors accept it in payment. That has led to wild inflation within the state and ferocious protests from outsiders who trade with Rhode Islanders. In 1786, debt policies in Massachusetts led to armed rebellion. Farmers, forced by merchants to pay hard money for goods, first closed down the courts - then followed a former Army officer named Daniel Shays in an uprising that was quickly quieted by the state militia. Meanwhile, there are growing threats from abroad.