who wrote the articles of confederation?

Answer 1

The main person responsible for drafting the "Articles of Confederation" was John Dickinson. He drafted the document as head of a committee charged with this task in June 1776 at the same time Jefferson, as head of another committee, was drafting a formal "Declaration of Independence". As you can see from the actions of the Declaration committee, the chairman typically would draft the basic document , and others on the committee would review and suggest edits. Thus Dickinson was the principle author; it is unclear what contributions the others committe members made.

But also note that the Second Continental Congress heavily revised the draft before the document reached its final form on November 15, 1777.

An overview of events from the earliest attempts to draft such Articles:

"The impetus for an effective central government lay in wartime urgency, the need for foreign recognition and aid, and the growth of national feeling. Altogether six drafts of the Articles were prepared before Congress settled on a final version in 1777. Benjamin Franklin wrote the first and presented it to Congress in July 1775. It was never formally considered. Later in the year Silas Deane, a delegate from Connecticut, offered one of his own, which was followed still later by a draft from the Connecticut delegation, probably a revision of Deane's.

"None of these drafts contributed significantly to the fourth version written by John Dickinson of Pennsylvania [later of Delaware], the text that after much revision provided the basis for the Articles approved by Congress. Dickinson prepared his draft in June 1776; it was revised by a committee of Congress and discussed in late July and August. The result, the third version of Dickinson's original, was printed to enable Congress to consider it further. In November 1777 the final Articles, much altered by this long deliberative process, were approved for submission to the states."
http://www.answers.com/topic/articles-of-confederation

Dickinson's work:

"The Articles were written during the early part of the American Revolution by a committee of the Second Continental Congress of the now independent thirteen sovereign states. The head of the committee, John Dickinson, who had refused to sign the Declaration of Independence, nevertheless adhering to the will of the majority of the members of the Continental Congress, presented a report on the proposed articles to the Congress on July 12, 1776, eight days after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Dickinson initially proposed a strong central government, with control over the western lands, equal representation for the states, and the power to levy taxes"
http://www.barefootsworld.net/aoc1777.html

draft articles from June 1776:
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(dg004185))


other members of the first committee under Dickinson -- Josiah Barlett, Roger Sherman

http://www.sparknotes.com/history/american/articles/terms.html
http://chronicles.dickinson.edu/encyclo/d/ed_dickinsonJ.htm
http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/articles.html

Answer 2

The Second Continental Congress.

Answer 3

the first Continental Congress they were written to tie the 13 colonies together during the revolutionary war, but would soon be replaced by the Constitution and the bill of rights

Answer 4

george washington???