This pocket-sized hardcover edition contains the preamble, conclusion, and all thirteen articles that make up the Articles of Confederation. The original document--one of the United States' first governing documents--was passed by the Continental Congress in 1777, and later ratified by the states in 1781. Though the Articles of Confederation was not successful in creating a strong federal government, it did establish a set of rules for politics and governance that do--in some ways--still persist today. This document was replaced by the U.S. Constitution in 1789.