Articles of Confederation

U.S. History

(noun)

An agreement among the 13 states that established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and that served as its first constitution.

Related Terms

  • Philadelphia Convention
  • Alexander Hamilton
  • Annapolis Convention
  • Second Continental Congress
  • Northwest Ordinance

(noun)

An agreement among the 13 colonies that established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states, and that served as its first constitution.

Related Terms

  • Philadelphia Convention
  • Alexander Hamilton
  • Annapolis Convention
  • Second Continental Congress
  • Northwest Ordinance

(noun)

The Articles of Confederation was an agreement among the 13 states that established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and served as its first constitution.

Related Terms

  • Philadelphia Convention
  • Alexander Hamilton
  • Annapolis Convention
  • Second Continental Congress
  • Northwest Ordinance
Political Science

(noun)

The Articles of Confederation was an agreement among the 13 founding states that established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and served as its first constitution

Related Terms

  • delegate
  • John Locke
  • James Madison
  • Three-Fifths Compromise

(noun)

The Articles of Confederation, formally the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was an agreement among the thirteen founding states that established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and served as its first constitution.

Related Terms

  • delegate
  • John Locke
  • James Madison
  • Three-Fifths Compromise

Examples of Articles of Confederation in the following topics:

  • The Articles of Confederation

    • The Articles of Confederation were the United States' first governing document, and had many weaknesses.
    • The Articles of Confederation were an agreement among the 13 founding states, legally establishing the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and serving as its first constitution.
    • The Articles of Confederation, which established a "firm league" among the 13 free and independent states, constituted an international agreement to set up central institutions for conducting vital domestic and foreign affairs.
    • The Articles envisioned a permanent confederation of states, but granted its Congress—the only federal institution—little power to finance itself or ensure that its resolutions were enforced.
    • In May 1786, Continental Congress member Charles Pinckney of South Carolina proposed that Congress revise the Articles.
  • Nationalists of the 1780s

    • Long dissatisfied with the weak Articles of Confederation, nationalists drafted a resolution to form the Annapolis Convention.
    • As the Articles of Confederation could only be amended by unanimous vote of the states, any state had effective veto power over any proposed change .
    • Long dissatisfied with the weak Articles of Confederation, Alexander Hamilton of New York played a major leadership role.
    • The defects that they were to remedy were those barriers that limited trade or commerce between the largely independent states under the Articles of Confederation.
    • The Articles of Confederation were ratified in 1781; the Articles were the governing document of the United States until the Constitution.
  • Powers of the American Government Under the Articles of Confederation

    • The Articles of confederation gave few but important powers of diplomacy to the American government.
    • The states did not generally comply with the requests in full, leaving the confederation chronically short of funds.
    • Nevertheless, the Congress of the Confederation did take two actions with lasting impact.
    • The Northwest Ordinance was one of the few accomplishments under the Articles of Confederation.
    • Discuss how power was distributed and enforced under the Articles of Confederation
  • The Articles of Confederation

    • The Articles of Confederation established a confederacy-type government among the new American states.
    • The Articles of Confederation were established in 1777 by the Second Continental Congress .
    • The Articles provided that a Congress, consisting of two to seven members per state, would hold legislative power.
    • Also, the Articles required the approval of all states for certain important decisions such as making Amendments.
    • Explain the historical origins and purpose of The Articles of Confederation
  • Congress of the Confederation

    • The Congress of the Confederation was the governing body of the United States from 1781 to 1789.
    • The Congress of the Confederation was the governing body of the United States of America, in force from March 1, 1781, to March 4, 1789.
    • The Congress of the Confederation opened in the final stages of the American Revolution.
    • The membership of the Second Continental Congress automatically carried over to the Congress of the Confederation when the latter was created through the ratification of the Articles of Confederation.
    • The Articles of Confederation established a weak national government that consisted of a one-house legislature.
  • Calls for a Stronger Constitution

    • Delegates from Virginia and Maryland met at Mount Vernon to settle issues not addressed in the Articles of Confederation and create a model for interstate cooperation.
    • Its primary aim was to settle issues not addressed under the Articles of Confederation, including interstate cooperation.
    • These issues were not addressed directly by the Articles of Confederation, which regulated the 13 largely independent states at the time, nor by the authorization of the Potomac Company a year earlier, which was to regulate the Potomac above the Great Falls.
    • The conference was significant as a model of interstate cooperation outside of the framework of the relatively weak Articles of Confederation.
    • In 1787, the Philadelphia Convention further expanded cooperation to include all states in an effort to reform or replace the Articles of Confederation with a new constitution.
  • Financial Chaos and Paper Money

    • Under the Articles of Confederation, the central government's power to regulate financial matters was kept quite limited.
    • Under the Articles of Confederation, the central government's power was kept quite limited: the Confederation Congress could make decisions, but lacked the power to enforce them.
    • Implementation of most decisions, including modifications to the Articles, required unanimous approval of all 13 state legislatures.
    • Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress was denied any powers of taxation and could only request money from the state legislatures.
    • The states and the Confederation Congress both incurred large debts during the Revolutionary War, and how to repay those debts became a major issue of debate (some states paid off their war debts and others did not).
  • The Annapolis Convention

    • The Annapolis Convention, led by Alexander Hamilton, was one of two conventions that met to amend the Articles of Confederation.
    • Long dissatisfied with the weak Articles of Confederation, Alexander Hamilton of New York played a major leadership role in drafting a resolution for a constitutional convention, which was later to be called the Annapolis Convention.
    • The defects that the convention was to remedy were those barriers that limited trade or commerce between the largely independent states under the Articles of Confederation.
    • The convention, named A Meeting of Commissioners to Remedy Defects of the Federal Government, met from September 11 to September 14, 1786.
    • Discuss the impact of the Annapolis Convention on the U.S.
  • Impact of the Articles of Confederation

    • The Articles of Confederation, while riddled with problems, did have lasting effects.
    • The Confederation Congress did take two actions with long-lasting impact.
    • Also, the Confederation faced several difficulties in its early years.
    • Under the Articles of Confederation, the central government's power was kept quite limited.
    • Implementation of most decisions, including modifications to the articles, required unanimous approval of all 13 state legislatures.
  • Diplomacy

    • The Articles allowed the Continental Congress to direct the American Revolutionary War and conduct domestic and international diplomacy.
    • The formal ratification of the Articles of Confederation by all 13 states was completed in early 1781.
    • Unfortunately, after the war ended in 1783, the weakness of the Confederation government frustrated the ability of the government to conduct foreign policy.
    • This incomplete British implementation of the Treaty of Paris (1783) was superseded by the implementation of Jay's Treaty in 1795 under the new U.S.
    • Examine how the Articles of Confederation supported Congress during the American Revolution
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