Thomas Mifflin was closing in on his 40th birthday on the day Washington appeared before him in the Annapolis State House. It cannot have been a birthday Mifflin planned to celebrate with much mirth. Let us look at some events that preceded Washington’s meeting with Mifflin in 1783.
The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation when the French threatened to withdraw their support to American Revolution. (Image: Smithsonian National Postal Museum/Public domain)
George Washington’s Resignation
The great Revolutionary War was over, the peace treaty had been signed, and Washington had finally had the ultimate satisfaction he would experience as general-in-chief of the Continental Army by supervising the evacuation of the British occupying forces from New York City.