Articles of Confederation During the Revolutionary War the colonial leaders needed a government to hold them together, while fighting the English king. In 1781 the Articles of Confederation were ratified, effectively tying knots around the new government. The Articles were written to not create a strong government but they did create, however, a basic constitution, and provided a start for the constitution to come later. Reflecting the fear by the colonies of a British-like government, there was no judiciary or executive branch and congress was weak. Amendments could only be made by unanimous consent of all thirteen states, and national laws requir