5.7.1 13c Articles of Confederation single

This stamp commemorates, or celebrates, the 200th anniversary of the drafting of the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation was the first document created by Americans to organize the states into a union under a federal congress. Take a look at the image. What do you see? Describe the people. What are they doing? After looking at this stamp, what do you think that the creator of the image wants you to think about the people who drafted the Articles of Confederation?

In September 1777, as the British marched toward Philadelphia, the Continental Congress was forced to flee and relocate to York, Pennsylvania. Given the start of the war and the Declaration of Independence, the next step was for Congress to draft a charter, or document, that organized the colonies’ response to the war for independence and beyond. This stamp commemorates the men who participated in this process, which included debate and revision. The primary author of the Articles of Confederation was John Dickinson, a delegate from Delaware. While we know who led the drafting of the document, the men pictured on the stamp are not representations of actual representatives, but rather are symbols of the colonists who participated in the drafting of the document. The stamp highlights that this was a collective effort of the representative body that adopted the draft of the Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777, as commemorated by this stamp. The original union aimed to prosecute the war and structure a solution to competing claims to Native American land. Ultimately, the Articles were not ratified by all of the states until March 1, 1781, because of conflict over representation and land. Students may make inferences about this image to address the question, What does this stamp suggest about American attempts to place the Articles into the story of the American Revolution?

Drafting the Articles of Confederation
York Town, Pennsylvania 1777 13c USA