Thirteen colonies unite to form a new country

The Second Continental Congress approves the Articles of Confederation, which unifies the 13 American colonies under a weak central government and names this new country the United States of America. The document, a precursor to the Constitution, will be ratified by the states on March 1, 1781. A key feature of the “weak” Central Government was that only the powers of the King the Colonies recognized was included, with each the 13 Colony/States independence foremost. This original idea is easily seen in the Electoral College and illuminates a big part of our Constitutional “secret sauce” – each state having equal power.