"New Jersey in the American Revolution" Topic

Of possible interest?

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Amicalement
Armand

I wonder whether the editor has a concept of what the AWI was.

That the army had to turn to the states instead of Congress for desertion laws illustrates the lack of central authority that plagued military operations during the war.

The AWI wasn't a war between two existing nation states. It was a popular revolt by people who had gained control of the machinery of the 13 colonial governments against their overlord, the King of Great Britain. Maintaining popular support and the support of the colonial governments might have been inconvenient for Washington. The alternative, attempting to assert national control through the use of the military against the civilian population and its duly elected officials in the colonies would have risked a backlash.

But there was a national government, weak though it was, in the Continental Congress.

After the Camden disaster in August 1780, before which Congress had overruled Washington on who was to be the commander of the southern army after Charleston fell (Congress picked Gates over Washington's recommendation of Greene), Congress generally deferred to Washington's judgment, making him the de facto head of state.

The Articles of Confederation was the first constitution which established a national government.