Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation was the first constitution of the United States of America. The Continental Congress in Philadelphia Pennsylvania first drafted the Articles of Confederation in 1777. A man named John Dickinson in 1776 prepared this first draft. Even before the first ratifying convention met, a clamor rose from every quarter of the nation for a specific bill of rights. The Articles were then ratified in 1781. The cause for the changes to be …showed first 75 words of 815 total…

…showed last 75 words of 815 total…of national argument followed, during which the case for support of the constitution was strongly presented in the FEDERALIST essays of Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison. The last of the 13 states to ratify the Constitution was Rhode Island on May 29, 1790. Source: The Bill of Rights: and what it means today-Edward Dumbauld- 1957 The Bill of Rights: How we got it and what it means-Milton Meltzer, Thomas Crowell-1990 American History Textbook 11th Edition, Garrity, John