What was the name of the first constitution governing the United States from 1781 to 1789?

The Articles of Confederation were the first constitution governing the United States from 1781 to 1789.

The Second Continental Congress completed the Articles on November 15, 1777, during the American Revolutionary War. All thirteen states ratified them by March 1, 1781, allowing the document to take effect. The Articles formally named the confederation the United States of America and described a union in which the states retained substantial sovereignty.

Congress under the Articles could conduct diplomacy, declare war, make treaties, and manage western territories. It lacked several powers associated with the later federal government, including a general power to tax individuals directly and a separate executive branch. Each state had one vote in Congress regardless of population or size.

Financial problems, interstate disputes, and difficulties enforcing national decisions encouraged calls for reform. Delegates instead gathered at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and drafted a new Constitution. The Constitution replaced the Articles on March 4, 1789, creating the federal government still operating today.