The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation in 1777.
Congress approved the Articles on November 15, 1777, during the Revolutionary War. They created a confederation called the United States of America and set rules for cooperation among the states.
The Articles did not become fully operative immediately. The states had to ratify them, and Maryland became the last state to do so on March 1, 1781. That date is often treated as the Articles' effective beginning.
The Articles created a Congress with limited central powers. Congress could conduct diplomacy, declare war, and manage certain national affairs, but it lacked important powers such as a general ability to tax individuals directly. Financial and military weaknesses contributed to calls for the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which produced the current Constitution.