What document served as the United States' first constitution during the founding era?

The Articles of Confederation served as the United States' first constitution during the founding era.

The Second Continental Congress debated the Articles between July 1776 and November 1777. Congress approved the final draft on November 15, 1777, and the agreement took effect on March 1, 1781, after all thirteen states had ratified it.

The Articles created a confederation in which the states retained substantial sovereignty. Congress could conduct diplomacy, declare war, and manage certain national affairs, but the central government lacked a separate executive branch, a national court system, and broad power to tax individuals directly.

These limitations became increasingly apparent after the Revolutionary War. The Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia in 1787 and produced the Constitution that replaced the Articles on March 4, 1789. The Declaration of Independence was a founding proclamation, not a framework for operating the national government.