Articles of Confederation (1777): America’s First Constitution Explained

What Were the Articles of Confederation?

Before 1775, the 13 colonies in North America were under British rule. That changed with the start of the American War of Independence. By 1776, the colonies had declared themselves free and independent from Britain.

With independence won, the newly formed states needed a unified system of government. To achieve this, the Articles of Confederation were drafted in 1777. These Articles served as the first constitution of the United States—a framework of rules and agreements outlining how the 13 independent states would work together under one national government.

To explore more key moments and founding documents from America’s early years, visit our main page on the formation of the United States.

Who wrote the Articles?

The Second Continental Congress selected 13 members to a committee. It was this committee’s job to discuss, finalise and write down the Articles of Confederation. After they had discussed and finalised these rules, John Dickinson was the one who actually wrote them down.

What was written in the Articles?

The basic purpose of the Articles was to set down some rules which would help the 13 states run a new government, now that they had declared independence from Britain.

Each rule came to be called an Article. The first article stated that the name of the confederation was ‘United States of America’. This was the first time USA was used as the official name of the newly born nation.

Other articles stated that each state will have one vote in the Congress and national issues such as war and international trade will be in the power of the central government.

The Articles also mentioned that the main army of USA will be under the command of the central government while individual states can maintain a militia if they wanted to. In all, there were 13 articles.

Did the Articles leave out anything?

The Articles actually left out a lot of things. This was because before the Articles were written, each state was independent and had a sort of government of its own. So whatever was left out in the Articles was handled by the individual states.

For example, the power to make most of the judicial decision was left with the individual states. So the central government had little power to decide important legal cases.

Another thing left out by the articles was the matter of money. The central government had no power to impose taxes and had to rely on individual states. So the central government simply had no way of getting money for the different tasks it had to accomplish.

Approval by the states

Even after the Articles of Confederation had been written in 1777, they still had to be ratified by all the states. So the document was sent to each state. It took many years before all the states had officially approved it. Maryland was the last state who ratified it on February 2, 1781.

Aftermath

The Articles of Confederation was the first attempt to create a constitution for USA. But the Articles were able to create only a weak central government and strong individual states. So later in 1787, Congress decided to create a new constitution where the powers of the central government were described in more detail.

What were the Articles of Confederation?

The Articles of Confederation were the first constitution of the United States, written in 1777. They outlined how the 13 states would work together under a unified national government.

Why were the Articles of Confederation created?

They were created to establish a basic framework for the new nation’s government after gaining independence from Britain, ensuring cooperation among the 13 states.

What were the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?

The Articles gave limited power to the central government, lacking the authority to tax or regulate commerce, which made it difficult to run the country effectively.

When did the Articles of Confederation go into effect?

Although written in 1777, they officially went into effect in 1781 after being ratified by all 13 states.

What replaced the Articles of Confederation?

The Articles were replaced by the U.S. Constitution in 1789, which provided a stronger federal structure and addressed the weaknesses of the earlier system.

Birth of the USA