All 13 states ratified the Articles of Confederation on March 1, 1781.
The Second Continental Congress completed the Articles on November 15, 1777, but approval took more than three years. Maryland delayed ratification because it wanted other states to resolve competing claims to western lands. Once Maryland approved the document, the Articles could take effect for the entire confederation.
The Articles created a national government with a unicameral Congress and gave the states substantial sovereignty. Congress could conduct diplomacy, declare war, and manage certain national matters, but it lacked an independent power to tax individuals or regulate interstate commerce. There was no separate executive president and no national judiciary under the Articles.
The weaknesses of this system contributed to the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The Constitution replaced the Articles on March 4, 1789. The Articles nevertheless formed an important bridge between the Revolutionary War government and the federal system remembered during America250.