The Articles of Confederation, which was considered the first constitution of the United States of America, and the US Constitution, which acts as the supreme law in the United States today, both are poles apart. In fact, it was only because of the weaknesses of the Articles that the present-day US Constitution was drafted. Backdrop The Articles of Confederation or Articles was a written agreement which laid the guidelines for the functioning of the national government. It was drafted by the Continental Congress and sent to the thirteen original states for ratification in November 1777. The ratification process was important, as without it the document did not come into effect. On February 2, 1781, Maryland became the last state to ratify it, following which it was ratified by the Congress on March 1, 1781. Within a few years of its ratification, the Articles was subjected to severe criticism by the Founding Fathers of the United States. Problems with the document existed in plenty; the biggest issue being the fact that it left the national government at the mercy of states. Eventually, it was decided that this agreement had to be revised to suit the needs of the nation as a whole. In May 1787, delegates from the thirteen states met in Philadelphia to revise the same. The impressive list of delegates at the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 featured prominent names of the American history, such as James Madison, George Washington, William Pierce, and Benjamin Franklin. During the convention, these delegates came to the conclusion that it was better to draft an entirely new constitution instead of revising the existing agreement, and thus came into existence the new US Constitution. Articles of Confederation Vs. the US Constitution The Articles was subjected to severe criticism as it centralized all the powers in the hands of state governments and left the national government at their mercy. That, however, was not the only point of distinction between these documents. The two differed in several contexts, including the number of votes in the Congress and the need of judiciary. The US Constitution was drafted as the Articles of Confederation, which preceded it, didn't live up to the expectations. While the states were happy with the Articles, as it put them in command with the national government having no enforcing authority whatsoever, it resulted in chaos, with each state coming up with its own laws. A strong push was required to bring the state of the affairs back on the track and that came with the US Constitution, which has definitely lived up to the expectations.