Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation were created under the Second Continental Congress in 1777, though the states did not fully approve the document until 1781. Since the colonies declared themselves independent in 1776, they were technically under their own rule until the articles took effect in 1781. Yet the Articles of Confederation were not a binding document for the newly independent colonies. Instead, the articles acted as a loose organizing document giving the new states comrades and the support of one another but little more.

Originally, plans for the articles looked toward ...