What was the first written constitution of the United States before the Constitution replaced it?

The Articles of Confederation were the first written constitution of the United States before the Constitution replaced them.

The Second Continental Congress adopted the Articles on November 15, 1777. They created a confederation called the United States of America and provided a framework for cooperation among the states during and after the Revolutionary War. The Articles took effect on March 1, 1781, when Maryland became the final state to ratify them.

Under the Articles, the national government had a one-house Congress but no separate executive branch or national judiciary. Congress could conduct diplomacy, declare war, and manage western lands, but it lacked strong powers to tax individuals or regulate interstate commerce. Financial and political weaknesses encouraged calls for reform.

The Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia in 1787 and produced the Constitution, which replaced the Articles after ratification. The Articles therefore belong to the founding era but are not the same document as the later Constitution or the Bill of Rights.