The Articles Of Confederation: First Constitution Of The United States

The Articles of Confederation, was the first constitution of the United States. It served as

a written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States

after it declared independence from Great Britain. The Articles of Confederation was made up of

all 13 colonies. It was later ratified on March 1, 1781. The Articles of Confederation stated that

the states would remain sovereign and independent, but would go to Congress as a last resort. It

led to the Constitutional Convention (Gomez,1). In September 1786, delegates from states called

for a Constitutional Convention. The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia on

May 14, 1787. They chose a delegate from each colony, some of the delegates were George

In article V of the U.S. Constitution it says that you can amend a document according

to a two-step procedure. You first have to propose the amendment, then it has to be ratified

(Gomez,1). On January 29, 1919, the 18th Amendment was ratified, which meant the sale of

alcohol in the United States was prohibited. This caused great havoc. Americans quickly began

to smuggle in alcohol and sell it illegally. Since so many people revolted against this

amendment, the Congress proposed the 21st Amendment, which ratified the 18th Amendment,

allowing Americans to enjoy alcohol once again (History,1).

In 1865, the Congress ratified the 13th Amendment. This Amendment forever banned the

practice of slavery. The amendment says, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a

punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the

United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Slavery was very big back in the 1800s,

so many people thought it had to be abolished (Staff,1). This was a huge turning point in the

United States history, because this was the first time that instead of African Americans working

for us, they were working with