John Dickinson.
The Articles of Confederation were an instrument of government drafted by the Second Continental Congress between 16 June 1776 and 15 November 1777. The task of creating a formal national government was one of three proposals introduced by Richard Henry Lee on 7 June 1776, along with declaring independence from Great Britain and forming commerical and military alliances with foreign states.
A committee of thirteen members, one from each colony, chaired by John Dickinson, was established on 16 June to draft the proposed confederation government. The committee presented its initial draft of the articles of confederation on 12 July 1776. Afterward, there were long debates on such issues as state sovereignty, the exact powers to be given to Congress, whether to have a judiciary, how to deal with western land claims, and voting procedures. To further complicate work on the Articles, Congress was forced to leave Philadelphia twice, for Baltimore, Maryland, in the winter of 1776, and later for Lancaster then York, Pennsylvania, in the fall of 1777, to avoid capture by General William Howe's troops when they occupied Philadelphia. Even so, the committee continued with its work. The final draft of the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was completed on 15 November 1777. Consensus was achieved by: including language guaranteeing that each state retained its sovereignty, leaving the matter of western land claims in the hands of the individual states, including language stating that votes in Congress would be en bloc by state, and establishing a unicameral legislature with limited and clearly delineated powers.
The completion of the Articles was overshadowed by the occupation of Philadelphia by General Howe and the occupation of the Hudson valley by General John Burgoyne. Virginia was the only colony to ratify the Articles before the collapse of the Continental Army at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania made the imminent failure of the North American Rebellion apparent to the American rebels.