ARTICLES OF

CONFEDERATION
 THE COUNTRY UNDER THE AOC
• There are 13 states.
• Maine is still considered part of Massachusetts and is called
“Northern Mass.”
• Vermont is a disputed territory and claims to be an independent
country.
• West Virginia does not yet exist and won’t until 1863.
• Lands out to the Mississippi River are considered the west,
northwest, and southwest and several states have boundary claims
that overlap and are in dispute.
• Most of the country is rural and the only cities are Philadelphia,
Boston, New York, Charleston (Charles Town).
• RI is isolated, semi-independent and very suspicious of the new
country’s structure.
 MAJOR POLITICAL DIVISIONS
• Populated/large states versus under-populated/small states
• Coastal states that rely on fishing and trade with England versus
western/frontier states that rely on farming and trade down the Mississippi;
which is controlled by France and Spain.
• Merchants of the north and east versus farmers of the south and west.
• Political leaders that favor the culture of England versus those who favor the
growing democracy movement in France.
• States of the north which will soon begin to vote for abolition versus the
growing slave plantations of the south.
• Those leaders who desperately want a stronger government versus those who
remember the war and the struggles to remove an abusive government.
• Those who want to open voting rights to more men, especially the poor versus
those who fear the uneducated mobs.
 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION:
THE “FIRST” CONSTITUTION
• June, 1776: Shortly after deciding on a committee to declare independence,
the Continental Congress selects a committee of 13 to draft a potential
constitution.
• July 12, 1776: Committee leader, John Dickinson, reports a draft of the Articles.
Dickinson is given credit in many sources as the main author.
• November 15, 1777: After a year’s debates, the Articles are approved by the
Continental Congress. The Articles are put into use as the de facto structure of
government.
• March 1, 1781: The Articles are fully ratified by the states and the Confederation
Congress is formed. Virginia ratified in late 1777. Maryland was last to ratify
in early 1781.
• March, 1789: The Articles are formally replaced by the new Constitution. The
Confederation Congress had decided to end the Articles in late 1788, as enough
states had now adopted the Constitution for its ratification.