The First American Confederacy

On this day in 1781, the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was ratified by the original 13 colonies. This document was crafted by the Second Continental Congress and formally established The United States of America. The document was drafted in 1776 and sent to the states for ratification in 1777. Some of the states were slow in ratifying it and, of course, there was the matter of a revolution. This document established the government that fought for independence from Great Britain.

The government established by the Articles of Confederation was a weak central government. Its primary duties were foreign affairs. The federal government took the responsibility to wage war, negotiate with foreign powers, and appoint ambassadors. The states were responsible for levying the taxes to run the government. The predominant power remained with the states though states agreed to share a common law. The Federalists thought this too weak a form of federal government and pressed for a new government document. Their objections led to the creation of United States Constitution, which was ratified on June 21, 1788.

The Articles created the office of President of the United States in Congress Assembled. Essentially, the president was the presiding officer of Congress and chaired the Committee of States, the government body that ran things when Congress was not in session. This arrangement was quite different from the office of the President under the US Constitution. Still, the leader of Congress was called the President, and you probably did not learn his name in elementary school. The first US president under the Articles of Confederation was Samuel Huntington. History is far more complicated than most people realize, and there are many great men who founded the US that are largely forgotten.