3758

JOINT RESOLUTIONS

WHEREAS, The call for a new constitution for the United
States began as an effort to better regulate the commerce of the
United States; and

WHEREAS, Maryland and Virginia were among the first states
to settle jurisdictional disputes arising from conflicts over
trade, navigation, and fishing; and

WHEREAS, At the request of the Virginia General Assembly,
the Maryland General Assembly in January, 1785, appointed Thomas
Johnson, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Thomas Stone, and Samuel
Chase to meet with representatives from Virginia to discuss and
resolve mutual problems of jurisdiction over navigation and
fishing on the Chesapeake Bay, the Potomac River, and the
Pocomoke River; and

WHEREAS, This meeting convened at Mount Vernon at the
invitation of George Washington on March 28, 1785, and resulted
in the Mount Vernon Compact, provisions of which with regard to
fishing on the Potomac are still in effect today; and

WHEREAS, The bipartisan success of the Mount Vernon
Conference led to the call for a meeting of all the states to
assemble in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1786, to discuss matters
relating to trade; and

WHEREAS, The Annapolis Convention of September 11-14, 1786,
concluded that the whole framework of the national government
required immediate attention and issued a call for the
Philadelphia Convention that, in 1787, adopted the Constitution
of the United States; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, That the
Maryland General Assembly wishes to join with the General
Assembly of Virginia in marking the bicentennial of the Mount
Vernon Conference on March 28, 1985; and be it further

RESOLVED, That March 28, 1985, be observed as a day of
historical significance because of the precedent set for
interstate cooperation between Maryland and Virginia by the Mount
Vernon Conference, that continues to this day, and because of the
important part played by the Mount Vernon Conference as a first
step in the movement toward the drafting of the Constitution of
the United States; and be it further

RESOLVED, That appropriate ceremonies be undertaken in the
State and by the federal government and the other states to
recognize the importance of the Mount Vernon Conference in
promoting interstate cooperation and in laying the groundwork for
the Annapolis Convention of 1786 and the Philadelphia Convention
of 1787; and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution be forwarded by the
Department of Legislative Reference to the Honorable Ronald
Reagan, President of the United States, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,