The Articles of Confederation

In November of 1777, the Continental Congress adopted Articles of Confederation by which the thirteen states would each retain their own sovereignty, joining together only through a very weak central government with strictly limited powers.

“Article 1st  The name of this Confederacy shall henceforth be the United Colonies of N. America. …

2d  The said United Colonies hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, binding on themselves & their posterity, for their common defence against their enemies, for the security of their liberties & properties, the safety of their persons & families, and their mutual & general welfare.

3d  That each Colony shall enjoy & retain as much as they may think fit of their present laws, Customs, Rights, priviledges & peculiar jurisdictions, within its own limits, & may amend its own Constitution as shall seem best to its own Assembly or Convention…

5th  That the power & duty of the Congress shall extend to the determining on war & peace, the entering into alliances, the reconciliation with G. Britain, the settling all disputes between Colony & Colony, if any should arise, & the planting of New Colonies where proper. The Congress shall also make such general ordinances as may be thought necessary to the general welfare, which particular assemblies cannot be competent to, those that may relate to our general commerce or general currency, to the establishment of Posts, & the regulation of our common forces.

13th  Any & every Colony from G Britain upon the continent of N. America, not at present engaged … may upon application & joining the said association be received into the Confederation, vizt Quebec, St John’s, Nova Scotia, Bermuda, East & West Florida.…”

The Articles had to be ratified by every state to go into effect. Though Virginia did so quickly, in December of 1777, other states took longer, fearful of central authority and of each other. Maryland was the last to ratify, on March 1, 1781.

Serious deficiencies included the lack of an Executive Branch and a Supreme Court, and no power to tax or regulate commerce. Nine states were required to approve any meaningful action, and all thirteen had to agree to pass amendments.

This is a contemporary copy of the plan Benjamin Franklin presciently drafted around July 21, 1775. Congress waited until June 11, 1776, after Richard Henry Lee’s motion for independence, to appoint a committee to formulate an official draft. John Dickinson’s official draft owed much to Franklin’s. Congress approved final text on November 15, 1777. Franklin’s, Dickinson’s, and the final version all contain 13 distinct articles. The biggest difference between Franklin’s draft and the final was the method of voting; Franklin proposed that states send delegates to Congress in proportion to its population, with each member voting. The final Articles favored smaller states by calling for states to appoint two to seven delegates, who together would have only one vote per state.

★ Manuscript of Franklin’s plan, ca. 1777 #21853-loan, and early printings