Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union served as the first constitution of the United States, establishing a loose confederation of the thirteen former colonies during and after the American Revolution. Debated by the Second Continental Congress from mid-1776, the document was completed on November 15, 1777, and did not take effect until March 1, 1781, once all thirteen states had ratified it. It created a deliberately weak central government, reserving most governing power to the individual states and granting the Congress of the Confederation only those authorities the states had once recognized as belonging to the British Crown and Parliament. The confederation Congress lacked the power to levy taxes directly, regulate interstate and foreign commerce, or compel state compliance with its resolutions, and these structural weaknesses became increasingly apparent as the new nation faced war debts and interstate disputes. The Articles were formally superseded when the United States Constitution took effect on March 4, 1789, following its drafting at the 1787 Philadelphia Convention and subsequent ratification, replacing the loose league of friendship with a stronger federal union.