The Articles of Confederation became effective on March 1, 1781, after Maryland supplied the final ratification.
The Articles were the first written framework of government for the United States. The Continental Congress approved the final text in November 1777 and sent it to the states for ratification. Because every state had to agree, the process lasted more than three years.
Maryland delayed approval partly because it wanted stronger protection for western lands claimed by other states. Once Maryland ratified the Articles on March 1, 1781, the document became the legal basis for the Confederation. Congress had already operated under wartime arrangements, but the completed Articles formalized the union’s structure.
The Articles created a weak central government with no independent executive branch and limited power to tax. Their weaknesses contributed to the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The Constitution later replaced the Articles, but the Articles remain an important part of the institutional history leading from independence toward the modern United States.