After declaring independence from Great Britain, the 13 Colonies did not have a national government.
In 1777, representatives from the 13 American Colonies wrote the Articles of Confederation, the plan for a new government.
All 13 states ratified the articles and formed a confederation by 1781.
The colonies initially liked the government created by the Articles of Confederation because it was the opposite of the British model that they found overbearing. The articles loosely unified the colonies by giving basic powers to a weaker central government while reserving more power for the states.
Under the Articles of Confederation, the states had more authority than the central government, an arrangement that created some serious problems!