Explanation:
United States
September 16, 2011 by Christine Sellers
The following is a guest post by James Martin, a Collections and Outreach Specialist, in observation of Constitution Day on September 17, 2011.
The need for a united policy during the War of Independence led the thirteen states to draft and approve an organic document for a national government. In 1776, the Continental Congress created a committee to draft such a document. In 1777, the committee reported a draft that had been prepared by Delegate John Dickinson. After a period of debate and addition of amendments, the text was approved by the Congress and submitted to the states for ratification. Unlike the current Constitution, all thirteen states had to approve the Articles before it would be in effect. A number of years elapsed between the approval of the draft of the Articles of Confederation by the Continental Congress in late 1777 and the ratification by the final state in 1781.
