Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation was the first Constitution of the United States. They were agreed to by the Continental Congress on November 15, 1777 and in effect after ratification by Maryland, on March 1, 1781. The articles were written in 1777 during the early part of the American Revolution. They were written by a committee of the Second Continental Congress of the 13 colonies. Following the Ratification of the Declaration of Independence the Continental Congress set to work on the task …

…of the thirteen states. There was no veto of legislation and no independent executive. Judicial proceedings in each state were to be honored by all other states. The federal government had no judicial branch and the only authority congress had, was the power to arbitrate disputes between states. Congress was denied the power to levy taxes. The new federal government was financed by donations from the states based on the value of each states land.