Virginia Ratifies Articles of Confederation

Date: December 16, 1777 • Location: Washington, United States

Virginia becomes the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.

The Articles of Confederation, officially the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was an agreement and early body of law in the Thirteen Colonies, which served as the nation's first constitution during the American Revolution. It was debated by the Second Continental Congress at present-day Independence Hall in Philadelphia between July 1776 and November 1777, was finalized by the Congress on November 15, 1777, and came into force on March 1, 1781, after being ratified by all 13 states.