Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777, the first U.S. governing framework before the Constitution.
The Second Continental Congress approved the Articles during the Revolutionary War. They created a “firm league of friendship” among the states and gave the Confederation Congress limited powers, including responsibility for diplomacy, war, and western territories.
The document required ratification by every state. Maryland’s eventual approval on March 1, 1781, allowed the Articles to take effect, even though Congress had operated under them in practice before that date.
The Articles’ weaknesses became increasingly clear after the war. Congress could not directly tax individuals, regulate interstate commerce, or easily enforce national decisions. These problems contributed to the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The Articles were therefore not the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution, but they were the first written framework for the United States as a union.