How Many Articles Are in the Articles of Confederation?

The Articles of Confederation contains 13 articles, numbered I through XIII. The Continental Congress adopted the document on November 15, 1777, but it did not take effect until every state ratified it, which happened on March 1, 1781, when Maryland became the last state to sign on.¹ The Articles remained the supreme law of the land until March 4, 1789, when the U.S. Constitution replaced them.²

Each of the 13 articles addresses a distinct part of how the first national government was organized. Together they created a deliberately weak central authority, with nearly all real power reserved to the individual states.

What Each of the 13 Articles Says

Article I names the new country “The United States of America.”

Article II declares that every state keeps its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, along with any power not expressly delegated to the national congress.¹

Article III creates a “firm league of friendship” among the states, committing them to defend each other against outside attacks.

Article IV guarantees that free inhabitants of any state can travel to and trade in other states on equal terms with local residents. It also requires states to give “full faith and credit” to the court records and legal proceedings of other states, and to extradite people accused of serious crimes.

Article V sets up the national congress. Each state gets one vote regardless of population or size. States appoint between two and seven delegates annually, and no delegate can serve more than three years out of any six.

Article VI bars states from conducting their own foreign diplomacy or going to war independently without congressional approval. It also requires every state to maintain a well-equipped militia.

Article VII gives state legislatures the power to appoint all military officers at or below the rank of colonel when troops are raised for the common defense.

Article VIII directs that all war expenses and costs for the “common defence or general welfare” come from a shared treasury, funded by the states in proportion to the value of their land and improvements.

Article IX grants the national congress its most significant powers: declaring war, making treaties, settling boundary disputes between states, coining money, running the postal system, and regulating trade with Indigenous nations outside state borders. Most of these actions require the agreement of at least nine of the thirteen states.¹

Article X authorizes a “Committee of the States” to handle limited business when the full congress is not in session.

Article XI offers Canada automatic admission to the union if it wants to join. Any other colony needs approval from nine states.

Article XII pledges the United States to honor all debts and financial obligations the Continental Congress had incurred before the Articles took effect.

Article XIII declares the union “perpetual” and establishes the amendment process, requiring congressional approval followed by unanimous consent of every state legislature.³

The Preamble and Signatory Section

The document is not only the thirteen numbered articles. It opens with a preamble that lists all thirteen states entering the compact and describes the agreement as a “perpetual union.” It closes with a signatory section where the delegates formally endorsed the document on behalf of their state legislatures.⁴ Those two sections frame the numbered articles but are not themselves counted among them.

How the Articles Split Power Between the States and Congress

The count of 13 matters less than what those articles actually did with authority. Article II set the tone by reserving all powers to the states except those “expressly delegated” to congress.¹ Unlike the Constitution that later replaced it, the Articles left no room for implied powers.

Congress could ask the states for money under Article VIII, but it could not tax anyone directly. It could request troops under Articles VI and VII, but each state decided how to recruit, equip, and officer them.⁵ The Articles created no president, no executive branch, and no national court system. The entire federal government was a single legislative body in which every state, from Delaware to Virginia, cast one vote under Article V.

Article IX made the biggest decisions harder still. Declaring war, signing treaties, borrowing money, coining currency, and setting the size of the army or navy all required agreement from nine of the thirteen states. Routine questions needed a simple majority, but anything consequential required broad consensus.

Key Dates for the Articles of Confederation

Three dates anchor the document’s life:

November 15, 1777: The Continental Congress adopted the Articles and sent them to the states for ratification.
March 1, 1781: Maryland became the final state to ratify, bringing the Articles into force. Maryland had held out for years, refusing to sign until states with large western land claims agreed to relinquish that territory for the common benefit. Virginia’s decision to give up its western claims finally cleared the way.⁶
March 4, 1789: The U.S. Constitution took effect, replacing the Articles.²

During the eight years the Articles governed the country, congress operated within the boundaries those 13 articles set. When delegates gathered in Philadelphia in May 1787 with instructions to revise the document, they concluded that revision was not enough and drafted a new framework instead. The new Constitution required ratification by only nine of the thirteen states rather than all of them, deliberately avoiding the unanimity requirement written into Article XIII.⁷

1
National Archives. Articles of Confederation
2
Library of Congress. Articles of Confederation: Primary Documents in American History
3
The Founders’ Constitution. Articles of Confederation, Article 13
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. Articles of Confederation
5
The Founders’ Constitution. Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution
6
Office of the Historian. Articles of Confederation, 1777-1781
7
Library of Congress. Convention and Ratification – Creating the United States