The Articles of Confederation, like any constitutional document, resulted from a compromise between diverse political interests. Conservatives such as Carter Braxton, James Duane, and James Wilson were reluctant to secede from British rule. However, when war became imminent, they supported the Revolution and pushed for a strong central government to protect private property and to regulate trade. On the other hand, radicals such as Samuel Adams, Thomas Burke, and Richard Henry Lee made an early push for independence. They deplored centralization and supported unification only to thwart British rule. Working from these differences, the American revolutionaries compromised on a confederation that promoted common state interests while preserving state sovereignty. The resultant Articles of Confederation outlined this compromise and framed America's first federal government from 1781 to 1789. Although the Articles were officially enacted on March 1, 1781, many of its institutions were in place from the beginning of the second Continental Congress in 1775.

Securing independence and mutual protection were the primary reasons for confederating. In 1775, Samuel Adams declared that each colonial legislature “is and ought to be the sovereign and uncontrollable Power within its own limits or territory.” Congress received authority from the states, while the states received authority from the people. This made the central government an administrative body at the center of a permanent state alliance rather than a national government managing national affairs.