Approval of the Articles of Confederation
- When
- 1777
- Where
- Temporary seat of the Continental Congress; Site of the Continental Congress's approval of the Articles; Origin of the ratification copies
- Episodes
- 3
On November 15, 1777, the Second Continental Congress finalized and approved the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, its first constitution, while meeting in York, Pennsylvania, after Congress had relocated from Philadelphia to evade advancing British troops.
Episodes
- Congress Relocates to York
To evade advancing British troops, Congress left Philadelphia in fall 1777 for Lancaster and then York, Pennsylvania, where it would finalize the Articles.
- Copies Sent to the States
In late November 1777, unsigned copies of the approved Articles were sent to the states for ratification, with a November 17 cover letter signed by Laurens and Thomson.
- Final Approval of the Articles, November 15, 1777
On November 15, 1777, the Second Continental Congress finalized and approved the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union for distribution to the states.
Background and detail
Background. The Second Continental Congress, acting as provisional government since 1775, took up the question of union after Richard Henry Lee's June 7, 1776 resolution urged preparing a plan of confederation. On June 12, 1776, Congress appointed a committee of thirteen, one delegate per colony, to draft a constitution for a union of the states.
Drafting and Debate. Chairman John Dickinson presented the committee's draft to Congress on July 12, 1776. Debate continued between July 1776 and November 1777, largely at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, though Congress twice left the city—first to Baltimore in winter 1776, then to Lancaster and York, Pennsylvania, in fall 1777, to evade advancing British troops.
Approval and Aftermath. The final draft of the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was completed on November 15, 1777, when the Second Continental Congress approved the document for distribution to the states. Copies were sent for ratification in late November 1777, with a November 17 cover letter signed by President Henry Laurens and Secretary Charles Thomson. The Articles came into force on March 1, 1781, after ratification by all thirteen states.
People involved
- Second Continental Congress · Body that debated, finalized, and approved the Articles of Confederation
- John Dickinson · Chairman of the drafting committee that presented the Articles to Congress
- Richard Henry Lee · Introduced the June 7, 1776 resolution urging preparation of a plan of confederation
- Henry Laurens · President of the Congress; signed the November 17, 1777 cover letter accompanying copies sent to the states
- Charles Thomson · Secretary to the Congress; signed the November 17, 1777 cover letter accompanying copies sent to the states
Sources
- Articles of Confederation Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-30
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.