- The Articles were originally devised to manage the war effort.
- The Articles outlined a structure for a weak central government.
Although the states crafted written constitutions, no comparable document existed at the national level. For five years after independence was declared, the Continental Congress operated without any formal authority. The purpose of having a single congress governing the thirteen unified states was explicit during war time. Thirteen states needed a congress to manage the war effort (and to finance it by requisitioning and borrowing funds and by printing paper currency), to conduct international relations, and to run a postal network that crossed state orders. But as the prospect of military success came to appear more likely, it was not clear what kind of government a national congress should or could provide.
Back in 1777, shortly after the American victory at Saratoga, congress had passed what it called Articles of Confederation, outlining a structure for a weak central government of a collection of friendly states joined together for common defense. Though the articles were not ratified by all the member states until 1781, Congress treated the document as a kind of constitution from the time of its initial passage. Since the Articles did not include any executive or judicial branches of government, Congress could act unilaterally to bring a new national government into being. In keeping with the idea that this was a confederation of sovereign states, each state delegation received one vote in Congress, irrespective of its size. When it came to raising funds for the war, states were assessed based on the size of their free populations, but Congress had no power to tax; it could only ask the states to contribute money.