What was the name of the first governing framework of the United States before the Constitution, remembered during America250?

The Articles of Confederation were the first governing framework of the United States.

Congress approved the Articles on November 15, 1777, and the states completed ratification on March 1, 1781. The document created a “firm league of friendship” among the states and provided a national Congress, but it deliberately gave the central government limited powers.

Under the Articles, Congress could conduct diplomacy, declare war, manage western territories, and handle some national matters. It could not directly levy taxes or regulate interstate and foreign commerce, and major decisions often required agreement from a large number of states.

The framework was replaced by the Constitution, which was drafted in 1787 and took effect after ratification by the required states in 1788. The Articles were therefore not the same document as the Constitution, though they were a crucial step in the nation’s founding story.