Articles of Confederation

American

[ahr-ti-kuhlz uhv kuhn-fed-uh-rey-shuhn] / ˈɑr tɪ kəlz əv kənˌfɛd əˈreɪ ʃən /

noun

(used with a plural verb)

the first constitution of the 13 American states, adopted in 1781 and replaced in 1789 by the Constitution of the United States.

Articles of Confederation British

plural noun

the agreement made by the original 13 states in 1777 establishing a confederacy to be known as the United States of America; replaced by the Constitution of 1788

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Articles of Confederation Cultural

An agreement among the thirteen original states, approved in 1781, that provided a loose federal government before the present Constitution went into effect in 1789. There was no chief executive or judiciary, and the legislature of the Confederation had no authority to collect taxes.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He signed the Articles of Confederation in 1777, befriended Hamilton, and served as his top Treasury assistant.

From Barron's

Hence they created the Articles of Confederation by signing a treaty among themselves.

From The Wall Street Journal

Over the next several years, these new states finalized a unifying treaty called the Articles of Confederation.

From The Wall Street Journal

Yet while the drafters of the Constitution were suspicious of military power, they also understood that the national government created by the Articles of Confederation was too weak and couldn’t respond effectively to a crisis.

From Salon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023