Annapolis Convention (1786)

The Annapolis Convention, formally titled as a Meeting of Commissioners to Remedy Defects of the Federal Government, was a national political convention held September 11–14, 1786 at Mann's Tavern in Annapolis, Maryland, in which twelve delegates from five U.S. states (New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia) gathered to discuss and develop a consensus on reversing the protectionist trade barriers that each state had erected. At the time, under the Articles of Confederation, each state was largely independent from the others, and the national government had no authority to regulate trade between and among the states. New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and North Carolina had appointed commissioners, who failed to arrive in Annapolis in time to attend the meeting, and Connecticut, Maryland, South Carolina, and Georgia had taken no action at all. The convention also related to George Washington's plans concerning the waterways connecting the Potomac and the Ohio River.