The states completed ratification of the Articles of Confederation in 1781.
The Articles served as the first written constitution of the United States. The Continental Congress approved them in 1777 and sent them to the states, but ratification took several years because of disputes over western land claims and state boundaries.
Maryland was the last state to ratify. Its approval on March 1, 1781, allowed the Articles to take effect and formally established the Confederation’s legal framework during the Revolutionary War. The document created a union in which the states retained substantial sovereignty and the national Congress had limited powers.
The Articles lacked an independent executive and national judiciary, and Congress could not directly impose taxes. These weaknesses contributed to the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The Constitution replaced the Articles after ratification, but the Articles remain an important part of the political history commemorated around America250.