The Second Continental Congress approved the Articles of Confederation for distribution to the states on November 15, 1777.
The Articles were designed as a framework for cooperation among the revolutionary states. Congress debated them from July 1776 through November 1777, addressing issues such as state sovereignty, western lands, voting, taxation, and the powers of the central government.
Approval in 1777 did not make the Articles fully effective immediately. The document still required ratification by all thirteen states. Maryland delayed ratification because of disputes over western land claims, and the Articles finally took effect on March 1, 1781, after Maryland approved them.
The Articles created a weak central government with a unicameral Congress and no separate executive president. They served as the nation's first constitution until the United States Constitution replaced them in 1789. The approval date is therefore different from both the final ratification date and the date the Constitution was signed.