Cyrus Griffin Elected President of the Congress of the Confederation (1788)

In 1788 the Congress of the Confederation elected Cyrus Griffin as its final president under the Articles of Confederation. Griffin, a delegate to the Ninth Congress serving from 1787 to 1788, presided over a body that had received the new Constitution and submitted it to the states, where ratification by nine states was required to make it operative.

Episodes

Background and detail

Background. The Congress of the Confederation, formally the United States in Congress Assembled, governed the United States from March 1, 1781, until March 3, 1789. Created by the Articles of Confederation upon ratification, it replaced the Second Continental Congress and was presided over by a president elected by the delegates to serve as a neutral discussion moderator.

Griffin as Delegate. Cyrus Griffin, a Virginia lawyer and politician, became a delegate to the Ninth Congress of the Confederation, serving from 1787 to 1788. He had previously served in the Virginia House of Delegates and as a Judge of the Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture from 1780 to 1787.

A Caretaker Congress. By early 1788 the Confederation Congress functioned as a caretaker government. It had received the new Constitution drafted in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787, and submitted it to the states, where ratification by nine states was required to make it operative. Despite its diminished standing, the Congress had still managed to pass important laws, most notably the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.

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Sources

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