Articles of Confederation

E8310

former constitution foundational legal document treaty

The Articles of Confederation were the first constitution of the United States, creating a loose confederation of sovereign states with a weak central government prior to the adoption of the U.S. Constitution.

Aliases (11)

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	former constitution → foundational legal document → treaty →
adoptedBy	Second Continental Congress →
amendmentRequirement	unanimous consent of the states →
appliedToPoliticalEntity	United States in Congress Assembled →
approvedByCongressOn	1777-11-15 →
cameIntoForceOn	1781-03-01 →
coinagePower	granted to Congress →
country	United States of America →
createdGovernmentType	weak central government →
createdLegislativeBody	Congress of the Confederation →
draftCompletedOn	1777-11-15 →
draftedBy	Second Continental Congress →
enabledLegislation	Northwest Ordinance of 1787 →
executiveBranch	none →
foreignAffairsPower	granted to Congress →
fullTitleIncludes	Perpetual Union →
governmentFormCreated	confederation →
historicalPeriod	American Revolutionary era →
influenced	Constitutional Convention of 1787 →
influencedBy	colonial charters → state constitutions →
inForceDuringEvent	American Revolutionary War (late phase) → Northwest Ordinance era →
judicialBranch	no national judiciary →
language	English →
legalStatus	superseded →
locationOfCongress	New York City → Philadelphia →
numberOfArticles	13 →
primaryAuthor	John Dickinson →
ratifiedOn	1781-03-01 →
reasonForReplacement	ineffective central authority →
recognizedIndependenceOf	individual states →
revenueMechanism	state requisitions →
stateSovereignty	affirmed →
supersededBy	Constitution of the United States →
supersededOn	1789-03-04 →
taxationPowerOfCongress	none →
title	Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union →
treatyPower	granted to Congress →
votingRuleInCongress	one vote per state →
warPower	granted to Congress →
weakness	lack of power to regulate interstate commerce → lack of power to tax → no national judiciary → no separate executive branch → requirement of unanimous consent for amendments →

Referenced by (43)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
John Dickinson → John Hancock → John Rutledge → Thomas McKean →	signatoryTo
American Revolutionary War ("Adoption of the Articles of Confederation") → American Revolutionary era → John Hanson ("Adoption of the Articles of Confederation") → Samuel Huntington ("Adoption of the Articles of Confederation") →	significantEvent
Board of Treasury → Congress of the Confederation → United States in Congress Assembled →	legalBasis
520 Chestnut Street ("Articles of Confederation (ratification events)") → Perpetual Union →	associatedWithDocument
Restrictions on the Authority of the Several States → The Federalist No. 39 →	comparesWith
Article VII of the United States Constitution → Extradition Clause ("Articles of Confederation extradition provisions") →	influencedBy
Federalist No. 40 → The Federalist Papers →	relatedTo
Restrictions on the Authority of the Several States →	cites
Early Republic of the United States ("Confederation period of the United States") →	follows
United States government →	foundationDocument
New England Confederation ("Articles of Confederation of the United Colonies of New England") →	foundingDocument
Perpetual Union ("Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union") →	fullTitleContext
Land Ordinance of 1785 ("Articles of Confederation government") →	governedBy
Congress of the Confederation ("Confederation period") →	historicalPeriod
Privileges and Immunities Clause ("Articles of Confederation comity provisions") →	historicalSource
United States constitutional history →	includesTopic
Framers of the United States Constitution →	legalPredecessorDocument
Federalist No. 40 →	mainSubject
The Federalist No. 39 →	mentions
Samuel Adams ("Articles of Confederation (advocacy and contribution)") →	notableWork
Washington administration ("Articles of Confederation era") →	precededBy
First United States Congress →	precededByLegalFramework
Northwest Ordinance →	ratifiedUnder
United States Declaration of Independence →	relatedDocument
New Jersey Plan →	retainedFeatureOf
Charles Carroll of Carrollton →	signatoryOf
Elbridge Gerry →	signature
Robert Morris →	signed
United States Constitution →	superseded
Patriots →	supportedDocument
Articles of Confederation ("Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union") →	title