The initial attempt by the American colonists to establish an independent government was codified in which document?

• A. The Articles of Confederation
• B. The United States Constitution
• C. The Magna Carta
• D. The Northwest Ordinance

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is recognizing the first formal framework the new nation used to govern itself after independence. The Articles of Confederation created a loose union of states with a central Congress in which each state had one vote. This was the initial attempt to coordinate national matters like defense and diplomacy while keeping most authority with the states. It was ratified in 1781 and served as the governing framework until weaknesses—such as no executive branch, no national judiciary, and no power to tax—led to its replacement by the Constitution.

The other options don’t fit as the first framework: the United States Constitution came later and established a stronger federal government; the Magna Carta is an English medieval charter unrelated to American independence; and the Northwest Ordinance was a 1787 rule for governing western territories, not the founding mechanism for the new nation.