The First Constitution: The Articles Of Confederation

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The Articles of Confederation was the first Constitution for the states as a whole (each state had their own by this time), but it was written in a manner that assigned duties, but not so much as to give sweeping power and risk a totalitarian government. Under the Articles of Confederation, the colonies were a “League of Friendship” and not a truly functioning government (Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789, p. 546). The sovereignty of the states and people were front and center, but this created an issue for the function and decision making ability of the Congress. As written by Alexander Hamilton to James Duane, 3 Sept. 1780, this makes “our union feeble and precarious.” The Articles limited the functionality of the Congress