How was a confederation of states different from a federal system of government?

Answer 1

A confederation of states allows greater autonomy for the states involved than federalism does. In practice, both systems allow some degree of power to state governments and some degree of power to the higher level of government (whether we call it federal or confederate) but states tend to be more powerful in a confederate system.

There would be different organization of areas of responsibility. In a federal republic the most of the law is uniform throughout all the states and provinces of the country and the states law deal with matters only that relate directly to them, while in a confederation there is no central code of law, each state or province has its own code of laws which are unique to the state and may be quite different from the other states.

The American colonial system when governed by the Articles of Confederation lacked a central power to raise armies and make treaties. Tariff were also contradictory in the Confederation. Therefore a federal system has merit and the states via the central legislation still have immense input on tariffs and treaties.

Answer 2

A Federal State differs from a Confederate State in that a Federal System is an organized and balanced system of a central and other organized bodies within that central government's sovereign area with various powers.

A Confederate state is a mostly disorganized, liberetarian state.

Answer 3

The federal government comes out of Washington D.C. Confederate governments were created partly to keep slavery legal. The federal government controlled the Confederate states during Reconstruction.