had removed the common enemy that had drawn the states together, the letter built to its main point: national supremacy. “It is indispensable to the happiness of the individual States, that there should be lodged somewhere, a Supreme Power to regulate and govern the general concerns of the Confederated Republic.” Long on theme but short on specifics, the letter called for “an indissoluble Union of the States under one Federal Head,” a continental army supported by uniform state militias, taxing power for Congress, and “complete
