From this time, therefore, the officers of the army continued in the service, relying upon the faith of the country, as expressed in the vote of the 21st of October, 1780, and believing, until they saw proof to the contrary, that the public faith thus pledged to them would be observed.[172] But they were destined to a severe disappointment; and one of the causes of that disappointment was the adoption of the Articles of Confederation. The very change in the constitutional position of the country, from which the most happy results were anticipated, and which undoubtedly cemented the Union, became the means by which they were cheated of their hopes. The Congress of 1780, which had pledged to them a half-pay for life, was the Revolutionary Congress; but the Congress which was to redeem this pledge was the Congress of the Confederation, which required a vote of nine States for an appropriation of money, or a call upon the States for their proportions. When the vote granting the half-pay for life was passed, there were less than nine States in favor of the measure; and after the Confederation was established, the delegates of the States which originally opposed the provision could not be brought to consider it in its true light,--that of a compact with the officers. It was even contended that the vote, having passed before the Confederation was signed and acted upon, was not obligatory upon the Congress under the Confederation, as that instrument required the votes of nine States for an appropriation of money. In this manner, men deluded themselves with the notion, that a change in the form of a government, or in the constitutional method of raising money to discharge the obligations of a contract, can dissolve those obligations, or alter the principles of justice on which they depend. The States in the opposition to the measure refused to be coerced, as they were pleased to consider it, and in the autumn of 1782, the officers became convinced that they had nothing to hope for from Congress, but a reference of their claims to their several States.[173]