The Articles of Confederation was the first attempt at establishing a national government after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It served the nation from 1777-1787. The Second Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence in July 1776. The Articles were first proposed by a committee of the Second Congress, a committee headed by John Dickinson, on July 12, 1776.

The Third Continental Congress got underway on December 20, 1776. This Congress coordinated the war, and modified and finalized the Articles of Confederation. On November 15, 1777, the Articles were proposed to the colonies… Originally, the Articles called for a strong central government, a feature missing from the final Articles. The Articles formally changed the designation of the colonies to States.

Because of the war and disagreements between the colonies, it took three and a half years to get final ratification of the Articles because they had to be ratified by every state. Final ratification came on March 1, 1781. The War ended two years later, in April 1783.

The Articles created a “confederation”, called the United States of America. In a confederation, the individual political units, States in this case, maintain their sovereignty (in other words, each is its own nation), but they join together in a coordinated way to deal with certain issues, such as fighting the war.

Questions:

What is a confederation?
What was the purpose of the Articles of Confederation?
Who had power in the Articles of Confederation, the states or federal government?
Why was the term colonies changed?
Did the Articles of Confederation make us a "United States"?