The general condition of the United States under the articles of confederation is well sketched in the sixth volume of Bancroft's final revision, and in Curtis's _History of the Constitution_, 2 vols., N.Y., 1861. An excellent summary is given in the first volume of Schouler's _History of the United States under the Constitution_, of which vols, i.-iii. (Washington, 1882-85) have appeared. Mr. Schouler's book is suggestive and stimulating. The work most rich in details is Professor McMaster's _History of the People of the United States_, of which the first volume rather more than covers the period 1783-89. The author is especially deserving of praise for the diligence with which he has searched the newspapers and obscure pamphlets of the period. He has thus given much fresh life to the narrative, besides throwing valuable light upon the thoughts and feelings of the men who lived under the "league of friendship." I take pleasure in acknowledging my indebtedness to Professor McMaster for several interesting illustrative details, chiefly in my third, fourth, and seventh chapters. At the same time one is sorely puzzled at some of his omissions, as in the account of the Federal Convention, in which one finds no allusion whatever to the all-important question of the representation of slaves, or to the compromise by which New England secured to Congress full power to regulate commerce by yielding to Georgia and South Carolina in the matter of the African slave-trade. So the discussion as to the national executive is carried on till July 26th, when it was decided that the president should be chosen by Congress for a single term of seven years; then the subject is dropped, and the reader is left to suppose that such was the final arrangement. Instances of what seems like carelessness are sufficiently numerous to make the book in some places an unsafe guide to the general reader, but in spite of such defects, which a careful revision might remedy, its value is great. Further general information as to the period of the Confederation may be found in Morse's admirable _Life of Alexander Hamilton_, 3d ed., 2 vols., Boston, 1882; J.C. Hamilton's _Republic of the United States_, 7 vols., Boston, 1879; Frothingham's _Rise of the Republic_, Boston, 1872, chapter xii.; Von Holst's _Constitutional History_, 5 vols., Chicago, 1877-85, chapter i.; Pitkin's _History of the United States_, 2 vols., New Haven, 1828, vol. ii.; Marshall's _Life of Washington_, 5 vols., Phila., 1805-07; _Journals of Congress_, 13 vols., Phila., 1800; _Secret Journals of Congress_, 4 vols., Boston, 1820-21.