Long ago in American history, when our country was just coming together after British rule, we had a very critical task that had to be done as soon as possible: froming the new government that would lead the newly independant American colonies. It probably seemed like quite a task to undertake, trying to find the ideal form of government with so many ideas present at the time. After much thought, the colonies decided to form a confederacy, which was a loose bond of allegiance between the states. The states agree to enter into this common bond for their common good, while retaining their individual sovereignty. In the confederacy, the central government was extremely weak, while the smaller states of which it was made up retained large amounts of power with with to government themselves separatly. The main purposes of the central government were to provide key necessities like defense, currency, and mail. The choice to be a confederacy, however, was a decision the whole nation would regret.
Although we now know that confederacies are not the most efficient form of government, teh colonists had good reason to believe that it was what they really needed to govern themselves effectively. The government of England that oppressed them was very strong in its central self. The colonists, fearing the power of a strong, all controling goverment instinctively chose the confederacy form of government, because, it was so weak, that it had no way at all to possibly oppress the people and become overpowerful. The confederacy was used unofficially during the war, to unite the states against Britain. One good thing about it was that it was able to be applied very quickly to the states in their time of need. It worked to an extent in the war, but even then, it ran into problems.
Ideally, a confederacy is supposed to work quite well for several states who are diverse yet seek some kind of common bond or union.
