Articles of Confederation
America's first constitution
The Articles of Confederation was the first constitution of the United States, adopted in 1781 and replaced by the current Constitution in 1789.
It established a loose alliance of sovereign states with a weak central government—Congress could not tax, regulate commerce, or enforce laws.
The Articles' failures, particularly during Shays' Rebellion, demonstrated the need for a stronger federal structure.
- Iroquois ConfederacyNative American tribal league
- American RevolutionColonial separation from Britain
- coalitionTemporary alliance for action
- unicameralOne legislative chamber
- states' rightsProvincial governmental autonomy
Continental Congress · decentralization · supermajority · league · ratification · draft · U.S. Constitution · Declaration of Independence · seal · Congress · alliance · Revolutionary War · legislature · delegates · Philadelphia · amendment · independence · national debt
- American RevolutionDeclaration of Independence, Boston Tea Party, Continental Congress, founding fathers, Stamp Act
- US HistoryAmerican Revolution, US history, Civil War, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln
- constitutional lawConstitution, Bill of Rights, First Amendment, Second Amendment, Fourth Amendment
- Colonial Americanacolonial laws, almanacs, Benjamin Franklin, William Bradford, Thomas Paine
- Confederation EraConstitutional Convention, Continental Congress, state sovereignty, interstate commerce, war debts
- constitutionsbill of rights, constitutional amendment, constitutional reform, clause, clauses
Articles of ConfederationUnited States Constitution
America's foundational legal framework
Articles of Confederationcentralized government
Authority held by one body
absolute monarchy · centralized authority · imperial government