On November 15, 1777, the Second Continental Congress accepted the Articles of Confederation. The document was then sent to the states for ratification.

The Articles of Confederation, sometimes called the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was the first constitution of the United States and the American colonies’ first successful attempt to form a unified government. The colonies’ different interests and Great Britain’s hesitance to see a unified colonial structure had sabotaged previous attempts for union. The Declaration of Independence made it imperative that some type of union be created, not only to coordinate the Revolutionary War but also to create a single state to deal with foreign nations whose assistance the country needed.

The Articles of Confederation set up a government that united the states through a confederate legislature—the Congress of the Confederation (the successor to the Second Continental Congress). The Confederation, however, had only certain powers given to it; all other powers were reserved for the states. Individual colonies wanted to retain their sovereignty and looked suspiciously at a continental government that could possibly usurp their powers. As a result, the Articles formed a confederation in which each state retained its own power over its citizens, transport, industries, and so forth, and the Confederation government was given only certain specific powers such as foreign affairs. This created a loose federal organization of states in perpetual alliance with one another.