On what date did Congress approve the Articles of Confederation for state ratification?

Congress approved the Articles of Confederation for state ratification on November 15, 1777.

The Articles created a league of states and served as the first constitution of the United States. John Dickinson prepared the main draft after Congress appointed a committee in June 1776. Delegates debated the document for more than a year, especially questions about state sovereignty, western lands, taxation, and representation.

The Articles did not create a strong central executive or a national court system. Congress could conduct diplomacy, declare war, and manage military affairs, but it could not directly tax individuals or regulate interstate commerce. These weaknesses became major arguments for replacing the Articles with the Constitution.

All thirteen states eventually ratified the Articles. Maryland’s approval on March 1, 1781, completed the process, so the Articles operated as the national framework during the later Revolutionary War and early postwar years. The Constitution replaced them in 1789.