What was the first system of government established by the United States?

The first system of government established by the United States was the Articles of Confederation. This document was adopted in 1781 and served as the United States' first national framework of government. Its main purpose was to unify the thirteen original states under a central government while still preserving a significant degree of power for the individual states. The Articles created a loose confederation of states and established a Congress that could make decisions but had limited authority, particularly lacking power to levy taxes or enforce laws.

This period highlighted the challenges that arose from such a decentralized form of governance, which eventually led to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and the drafting of the Federal Constitution. The weakness of the Articles of Confederation underscored the need for a stronger federal government, ultimately resulting in the Constitution we recognize today, which provided a more balanced framework of power between state and federal authorities.

The other choices, while important documents or milestones in American history, do not represent the initial system of governance. The Federal Constitution replaced the Articles, the Bill of Rights outlines individual freedoms and was ratified later, and the Magna Carta is a foundational document for modern democracy but predates the United States and did not serve as a governing document for it.