The finances of the States were little better than those of the Union. The
States controlled all the resources of the country; they could and did
raise taxes, but they appropriated the proceeds to their own pressing
necessities; and the meagre sums paid to Congress represented a genuine
sacrifice on the part of many States, particularly Pennsylvania and
Massachusetts. Unfortunately the States exercised unlimited powers over
their own currency and commercial relations. Times were hard, debts had
accumulated, property had been destroyed by the war. State after State
passed stay laws delaying the collection of debts; or "tender laws" were
enacted, by which property at an appraised value was made a legal tender,
Cattle, merchandise, and unimproved real estate were the usual currency
thus forced upon creditors. After peace was declared, a second era of
State paper-money issues came on, and but four of the thirteen States
escaped the craze.

[Sidenote: Weakness of the States.]
[Sidenote: Proposed new states.]
[Sidenote: Insurrections.]

These remedies bore hard on the creditors in other States, created a
feeling of insecurity among business men, and gave no permanent relief.
The discontented, therefore, sought a remedy for themselves. The
Revolutionary War had left behind it an eddy of lawlessness and disregard
of human life. The support of the government was a heavy load upon the
people. The States were physically weak, and the State legislatures
habitually timid. In several States there were organized attempts to set
off outlying portions as independent governments. Vermont had set the
example by withdrawing from New York in 1777, and throughout the
Confederation remained without representation either in the New York
legislature or in Congress. In 1782 the western counties of Pennsylvania