The Articles of Confederation were the first national governing framework replaced by the U.S. Constitution.
The Articles were drafted during the American Revolutionary War and approved by the Second Continental Congress in 1777. They became effective after all thirteen states ratified them in 1781. The document created a “firm league of friendship” among the states rather than the strong federal structure later established by the Constitution.
Under the Articles, Congress could conduct diplomacy, declare war, and manage western territories, but it could not directly tax individuals or regulate interstate commerce. There was no separate executive branch and no national judicial branch. These limits made it difficult to finance the government and respond consistently to economic and political problems.
Delegates met at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787 to revise the system, but they ultimately drafted an entirely new Constitution. The Constitution took effect in 1789. America250 commemorations often connect the Articles to the later constitutional system because both belong to the founding period.