What governing document created the first national government of the United States?

The Articles of Confederation created the first national government of the United States.

The Second Continental Congress adopted the Articles on November 15, 1777, during the Revolutionary War. They took effect after Maryland became the final state to ratify them on March 1, 1781. The Articles established a “league of friendship” among the states and created a unicameral Congress.

The Confederation Congress could conduct diplomacy, make treaties, declare war, and manage western territories, but the national government had no independent power to tax individuals or regulate interstate commerce. Each state had one vote in Congress regardless of population, and major decisions often required a large supermajority.

Financial weakness, trade disputes, and difficulty enforcing national decisions contributed to calls for reform. The Constitutional Convention met in 1787 and produced the Constitution, which replaced the Articles after ratification. The Articles were therefore not the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution, but the country’s first operating national framework.