The Articles of Confederation were fully ratified on March 1, 1781.
The Articles created the first constitutional framework for the United States during the Revolutionary War. The Continental Congress approved the document in November 1777 and sent it to the states for ratification. Maryland's delayed approval had prevented completion, largely because of disputes over western land claims held by some states.
After Maryland ratified the Articles, they took effect on March 1, 1781. The system preserved substantial state sovereignty and gave each state one vote in Congress. It allowed the Confederation government to conduct diplomacy, manage the war, and handle certain common affairs, but it lacked several powers later granted to the federal government under the Constitution.
The Articles were not the Declaration of Independence and did not establish the present constitutional system. The Constitution replaced them in 1789 after the Philadelphia Convention and ratification by the states.