The Articles of Confederation
153
there was considerable disagreement over rival claims of ownership by
States and land companies. State jealousies also contributed to the dissention, for these vast expanses of territory were a potential source of
great wealth and power. Maryland and four other small States—New
Hampshire, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Delaware—took the view
that all western lands were or should be the common property of the nation. Fearing oppression by the large States, the small States were the last
The Issue of Sovereignty.
Lithograph by O. E. Woods. Published in Philadelphia, 1863. (Courtesy of the Library
of Congress.)