Articles of Confederation

American  

[ahr-ti-kuhlz uhv kuhn-fed-uh-rey-shuhn] / ˈɑr tɪ kəlz əv kənˌfɛd əˈreɪ ʃən /

noun

(used with a plural verb)

1. the first constitution of the 13 American states, adopted in 1781 and replaced in 1789 by the Constitution of the United States.

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Articles of Confederation British  

plural noun

1. the agreement made by the original 13 states in 1777 establishing a confederacy to be known as the United States of America; replaced by the Constitution of 1788

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Articles of Confederation Cultural  

1. An agreement among the thirteen original states, approved in 1781, that provided a loose federal government before the present Constitution went into effect in 1789. There was no chief executive or judiciary, and the legislature of the Confederation had no authority to collect taxes.

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Example Sentences

Congress issued the Declaration as part of a package that included a model treaty with foreign states and Articles of Confederation that defined how the U.S. would be governed.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026

He signed the Articles of Confederation in 1777, befriended Hamilton, and served as his top Treasury assistant.

From Barron's • Mar. 1, 2026

The argument Radan claims to address is “that the union created by the Articles of Confederation that the Union replaced was expressly perpetual, and this was ‘most conclusive’ that the Constitution’s Union was also perpetual.”

From Salon • Dec. 16, 2023

Following the war’s conclusion, the first written constitution, known as the Articles of Confederation, was drafted in 1776–1777 and ratified by the thirteen colonies in 1781.

From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022

Distressed by the political disarray in the state governments in the 1780s and the congenital weakness of the Articles of Confederation, Madison had helped mobilize the movement for the Constitutional Convention.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis