How long did it take the Continental Congress to formally adopt the Articles of Confederation?

1643: Formation of the New England Confederation Consisting of the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, New Haven and Connecticut colonies, this was the first union formed for the purpose of mutual defense against the French and Indians and as a forum for inter-colonial disputes.

June, 1754: Formation of the Albany Congress With delegates representing Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania (including Delaware), Maryland, Virginia, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, this congress provided for unified negotiations with the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederation.

July 10, 1754: Publication of the Albany Plan of Union Drafted by Benjamin Franklin, this was the first document to detail a proposal of inter- colonial unity and to aim for a permanent union of American colonies.

1765: The Stamp Act Congress meets in New York City This congress developed a unified colonial strategy to appeal and protest the unfair legislation of Parliament. See more...

1774: Meeting of the First Continental Congress Meeting in Philadelphia, the First Continental Congress organized a unified colonial boycott, and agreed to meet again if their terms were not met.

1774: Presentation of the Galloway Plan to Congress This proposal for union included a plan to establish an American Parliament that would provide legislative authority over the colonies and empowered with veto power over the British Parliament in regards to colonial matters.

May, 1775: The Second Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia This congress met to discuss further unified colonial appeals, to plan protests and to manage the beginnings of military action against the British. See more...

January,1776: Publication of Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union Benjamin Franklin drafts a plan of union that based representation in congress and contributions to the common treasury on the number of males in each state between sixteen and sixty years of age.

June 7, 1776: Richard Henry Lee proposes independence in Congress Lee proposes a resolution that calls for drafting a declaration of independence and a plan of government and confederation.

June 12, 1776: Committee appointed to draft Articles of Confederation Congress appoints a committee chaired by John Dickinson to draft the plan of confederation.

July 2, 1776: Draft of the Articles submitted to Congress John Dickinson's draft of the Articles of Confederation is submitted to Congress for debate and revision.

July 4, 1776: U.S. declares independence Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence is published to the world.

November 15, 1777: Congress completes the Articles of Confederation The final version of the Articles of Confederation is adopted by Congress and submitted to the states for ratification.

July 9, 1778: Eight of the thirteen states officially ratify the Articles The delegations from New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and South Carolina sign and ratify the Articles of Confederation.

February 22, 1779: Delaware ratifies the Articles Delaware ratifies the Articles of Confederation, and Maryland is the only state yet to ratify. The confederation does not take effect until all states have ratified.

January 2, 1781: Virginia cession of land Virginia cedes a portion of its land west of the Appalachian Mountains to Congress.

March 1, 1781: Establishment of the U.S. Government Maryland ratifies the Articles of Confederation, formally establishing the first government of the United States.

October 17, 1781: Surrender at Yorktown British General Charles Cornwallis surrenders to the Continental Army at Yorktown, Virginia, ending the war between the United States and Great Britain.

1782: Establishment of the Bank of North America Founded by the Secretary of Finance, Robert Morris, this bank helped to stabilize the commerce of the United States.

March, 1783: Newburgh Mutiny The army stationed at Newburgh threatened mutiny because they had not received their pay and were only stopped by George Washington's effective persuasion to remain loyal to the patriotic cause.

June, 1783: Congress forced from Philadelphia A mutinous group of Pennsylvania troops, demanding pay, forced Congress to leave Philadelphia. President John Dickinson refused the assistance of all on the state militia, as he feared they were not reliable. Congress retreated to Princeton.

September 3, 1783: Signing of Treaty of Paris The Treaty of Paris establishes the terms of peace between the United States and Great Britain.

March 1784: Acquisition of the Northwest Territory Congress officially acquires the land ceded by Virginia north and west of the Ohio River.

April 23,1784: Passage of the Land Ordinance Drafted by Thomas Jefferson and accepted by Congress, this ordinance is the first to establish the process to administer newly acquired lands.

March 25, 1785: Meeting of Mount Vernon Conference Representatives of Maryland and Virginia met at George Washington's plantation to resolve conflicts over the navigation of the Potomac and Pocomoke Rivers.

September 11, 1786: Meeting of the Annapolis Convention New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Virginia, meet to discuss uniform trade regulations, but agree to appeal to all states to meet again to discuss broader reforms.

January 25, 1787: Shays' Rebellion Daniel Shays and other armed farmers from western Massachusetts are defeated in their attempt to conquer an arsenal of weapons in Springfield, Massachusetts.

May 25, 1787: First meeting of the Constitutional Convention Delegates from all states except Rhode Island meet in Philadelphia for the purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation.

July 13, 1787: Passage of the Northwest Ordinance This serves as a revision of the earlier ordinance and establishes, amongst other things, that slavery is prohibited from the new region.

September 17, 1787: Draft of constitution submitted to the states The Constitutional Convention sends its draft of the U.S. Constitution to the states for ratification.

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The Articles of Confederation served as the written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain. It established a weak central government that mostly, but not entirely, prevented the individual states from conducting their own foreign diplomacy.

The Albany Plan an earlier, pre-independence attempt at joining the colonies into a larger union, had failed in part because the individual colonies were concerned about losing power to another central insitution. As the American Revolution gained momentum, however, many political leaders saw the advantages of a centralized government that could coordinate the Revolutionary War. In June of 1775, the New York provincial Congress sent a plan of union to the Continental Congress, which, like the Albany Plan, continued to recognize the authority of the British Crown.

Some Continental Congress delegates had also informally discussed plans for a more permanent union than the Continental Congress, whose status was temporary. Benjamin Franklin had drawn up a plan for “Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union.” While some delegates, such as Thomas Jefferson, supported Franklin’s proposal, many others were strongly opposed. Franklin introduced his plan before Congress on July 21, but stated that it should be viewed as a draft for when Congress was interested in reaching a more formal proposal. Congress tabled the plan.

Following the Declaration of Independence, the members of the Continental Congress realized it would be necessary to set up a national government. Congress began to discuss the form this government would take on July 22, disagreeing on a number of issues, including whether representation and voting would be proportional or state-by-state. The disagreements delayed final discussions of confederation until October of 1777. By then, the British capture of Philadelphia had made the issue more urgent. Delegates finally formulated the Articles of Confederation, in which they agreed to state-by-state voting and proportional state tax burdens based on land values, though they left the issue of state claims to western lands unresolved. Congress sent the Articles to the states for ratification at the end of November. Most delegates realized that the Articles were a flawed compromise, but believed that it was better than an absence of formal national government.

On December 16, 1777, Virginia was the first state to ratify. Other states ratified during the early months of 1778. When Congress reconvened in June of 1778, the delegates learned that Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey refused to ratify the Articles. The Articles required unanimous approval from the states. These smaller states wanted other states to relinquish their western land claims before they would ratify the Articles. New Jersey and Delaware eventually agreed to the conditions of the Articles, with New Jersey ratifying on Nov 20, 1778, and Delaware on Feb 1, 1779. This left Maryland as the last remaining holdout.

Irked by Maryland’s recalcitrance, several other state governments passed resolutions endorsing the formation of a national government without the state of Maryland, but other politicians such as Congressman Thomas Burke of North Carolina persuaded their governments to refrain from doing so, arguing that without unanimous approval of the new Confederation, the new country would remain weak, divided, and open to future foreign intervention and manipulation.

Meanwhile, in 1780, British forces began to conduct raids on Maryland communities in the Chesapeake Bay. Alarmed, the state government wrote to the French minister Anne-César De la Luzerne asking for French naval assistance. Luzerne wrote back, urging the government of Maryland to ratify the Articles of Confederation. Marylanders were given further incentive to ratify when Virginia agreed to relinquish its western land claims, and so the Maryland legislature ratified the Articles of Confederation on March 1, 1781.

The Continental Congress voted on Jan 10, 1781, to establish a Department of Foreign Affairs; on Aug 10 of that year, it elected Robert R. Livingston as Secretary of Foreign Affairs. The Secretary’s duties involved corresponding with U.S. representatives abroad and with ministers of foreign powers. The Secretary was also charged with transmitting Congress’ instructions to U.S. agents abroad and was authorized to attend sessions of Congress. A further Act of Feb 22, 1782, allowed the Secretary to ask and respond to questions during sessions of the Continental Congress.

The Articles created a sovereign, national government, and, as such, limited the rights of the states to conduct their own diplomacy and foreign policy. However, this proved difficult to enforce, as the national government could not prevent the state of Georgia from pursuing its own independent policy regarding Spanish Florida, attempting to occupy disputed territories and threatening war if Spanish officials did not work to curb Indian attacks or refrain from harboring escaped slaves. Nor could the Confederation government prevent the landing of convicts that the British Government continued to export to its former colonies. In addition, the Articles did not allow Congress sufficient authority to enforce provisions of the 1783 Treaty of Paris that allowed British creditors to sue debtors for pre-Revolutionary debts, an unpopular clause that many state governments chose to ignore. Consequently, British forces continued to occupy forts in the Great Lakes region. These problems, combined with the Confederation government’s ineffectual response to Shays’ Rebellion in Massachusetts, convinced national leaders that a more powerful central government was necessary. This led to the Constitutional Convention that formulated the current Constitution of the United States.