The Articles of Confederation became the first national government of the United States on March 1, 1781, when Maryland’s ratification completed approval by all thirteen states.
The Continental Congress adopted the Articles on November 15, 1777, during the Revolutionary War. The document created a “firm league of friendship” among the states and established a Congress, but it gave the central government limited powers. Congress could conduct diplomacy, manage western territories, and direct the war, but it could not directly tax individuals or regulate interstate commerce.
Maryland delayed ratification partly because it wanted western land claims resolved. Once the final state approved the document, Congress formally put the Articles into effect. They remained the nation’s governing framework until the Constitution replaced them in 1789.
The Articles were not simply an unsuccessful draft of the Constitution; they were an operating national system. Their weaknesses, especially financial and military limitations, became major arguments for the Constitutional Convention of 1787.