After 16 months of debate, the Continental Congress, sitting in its temporary capital of York, Pennsylvania, agreed to adopt the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union on November 5th, 1777. Of course, the last of the 13 states, Maryland, took until March 1, 1781 to ratify the agreement.
Also on this day, Charles Dickens published the final installment of A Tale of Two Cities in Dickens’ circular.