What name was given to the first governing framework of the United States, ratified in 1781?

The Articles of Confederation were the first governing framework of the United States, ratified in 1781.

The Continental Congress approved the Articles in 1777, but all thirteen states had to ratify them before they took effect. Maryland became the final state to ratify the document on March 1, 1781. The Articles established a perpetual union among the states and created a national Congress.

Under the Articles, Congress could conduct diplomacy, declare war, manage western territories, and settle certain disputes. It could not directly tax individuals, regulate interstate commerce effectively, or easily enforce national decisions. Each state had one vote in Congress regardless of population.

These weaknesses encouraged calls for a stronger federal system after problems involving debt, trade, and national defense. Delegates met in Philadelphia in 1787 and drafted the Constitution, which replaced the Articles in 1789. The two documents are therefore successive frameworks, not alternative names for the same system.