What are some disadvantages about the confederation?

In the confederal form of government, the national government gets its power from the states. The weakness with this form is that the national government can only reach states in mandates that are issued, not individuals. For example, if the country goes to war, the national government in a confederation would not be authorized to hold a draft. Instead, the national government would have to rely on states to round up citizens for war. The same would apply to taxes. The nat. government would only be able penalize states rather than being able to penalize individuals directly. This is recognized in the US government only up to the point that states are authorized to do whatever is not explicitly stated otherwise in the Constitution.