The Articles of Confederation set up a system of governance in which the federal government was much less centralized than in our current system. Within this system, states and local governments were given much more power. Through this, those in favor of the Articles of Confederation believed common folks would be able to have more control over their lives and the political process. The decentralization also allowed less room for enacting large-scale laws that weren't relevant for large portions of the population. Under the Articles of Confederation, the federal government was unable to draft people into a national military or interfere in many state decisions. The decentralization of the federal government, however, did make the continuation of slavery in southern states more cemented because there was no strong government entity that could stop its continuation or expansion.

The Articles of Confederation created a confederation type of government. In a confederation form of government the states retain most of the power. When the Articles of Confederation were written, the federal government had significant limits put on what it could do. For example, the federal government couldn’t levy taxes. The federal government couldn’t make people join the military. The federal government also couldn’t resolve disputes between the states.

Because of these limits, the federal government created under the Articles of Confederation had many issues. There were financial issues. It was difficult for the government to pay its debts. It had trouble dealing with countries like Great Britain and Spain that were pushing us around and interfering with our trade. The federal government also had trouble keeping order. This was very clear when Shays’ Rebellion occurred.

Thus, the Article of Confederation created a system of government in which the federal government had limited powers while the state governments had many powers.

What system of government did the Articles of Confederation establish?

The government of the United States under the Articles of Confederation was, as the name suggests, a confederation. The Articles themselves described the United States as a "firm league of friendship." The Articles provided for a government that, like most confederations, had a relatively weak central government and a collection of state governments that reserved the majority of the powers of government for themselves. While the states were not technically sovereign, the fact that nine of thirteen had to agree to any legislation, and that they had to unanimously agree to make any significant alterations to the Articles, meant that they were in practice. Having declared their independence from a strong monarchy, the states were reluctant to delegate too many powers to a central government. As it turned out, the national government did not meet the needs of most of the states, and the Constitution devised at Philadelphia and eventually ratified by the thirteen states set up a federal republic that featured a much more powerful central government.