Title: Confederation Period
Content:  The Articles of Confederation created a loose union of states. The confederation's central government consisted of a unicameral Congress with legislative and executive function, and was composed of delegates from each state in the union. Congress received only those powers which the states had previously recognized as belonging to king and parliament. Each state had one vote in Congress, regardless of its size or population, and any act of Congress required the votes of nine of the 13 states to pass; any decision to amend the Articles required the unanimous consent of the states. Each state's legislature appointed multiple members to its delegation, allowing delegates to return to their homes without leaving their state unrepresented. Under 
Title: Articles of Confederation
Content:  Under the Articles of Confederation, the central government's power was kept quite limited. The Confederation Congress could make decisions but lacked enforcement powers. Implementation of most decisions, including modifications to the Articles, required unanimous approval of all thirteen state legislatures. Congress was denied any powers of taxation: it could only request money from the states. The states often failed to meet these requests in full, leaving both Congress and the Continental Army chronically short of money. As more money was printed by Congress, the continental dollars depreciated. In 1779, George Washington wrote to John Jay, who was serving as the 
Title: Federalist No. 76
Content:  Ratified in 1781, the Articles of Confederation originally depicted the nation's government when it was a confederation of states. Under the Articles of Confederation, the Congress of the Confederation was the legislature that had overarching power and authority, including that of appointments. In 1787, at the Philadelphia Convention, a proposal for a new system of government was constructed. Rather than having a single authoritative and dominating body, the delegates devised a plan for three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial. Not only this, but the system of checks and balances was also created in order to prevent unequal power amongst branches. The new structure of government was a key ideal written in the Constitution of the United States, signed on September 17, 1787 by delegates of the Continental Congress. In regards to Federalist Paper 76, the essay discusses the arrangement of the power of appointment and the distribution of power. Hamilton wrote Federalist 76 in support of the proposals from the Constitutional Convention.
Title: Confederation Period
Content:  Articles, states were forbidden from negotiating with other nations or maintaining a military without Congress's consent, but almost all other powers were reserved for the states. Congress lacked the power to raise revenue, and was incapable of enforcing its own legislation and instructions. As such, Congress was heavily reliant on the compliance and support of the states.  Following the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, which had provided the original impetus for the Articles, Congress's ability to accomplish anything of material consequence declined significantly. Rarely did more than half of the roughly sixty delegates attend a session of Congress at any given time, causing difficulties in raising a quorum. Many of the most prominent national leaders, such 
Title: President of the United States
Content:  sent it to the states for ratification. Under the Articles, which took effect on March 1, 1781, the Congress of the Confederation was a central political authority without any legislative power. It could make its own resolutions, determinations, and regulations, but not any laws, and could not impose any taxes or enforce local commercial regulations upon its citizens. This institutional design reflected how Americans believed the deposed British system of Crown and Parliament ought to have functioned with respect to the royal dominion: a superintending body for matters that concerned the entire empire. The states were out from under any 
Title: Federalist No. 14
Content:  When the thirteen colonies separated from their motherland, Great Britain, they instated a national government under the framework outlined by the Articles of Confederation. Under this administration, the national government had very limited powers, allowing the States to function independently, as the Article reads: "each state retain[ed] its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right." However, the Articles of Confederation did not prove to be effective, so in 1786, leaders called a meeting dubbed the Annapolis Convention to discuss the issues of the government. This meeting led to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 to discuss the formation of 
Title: Articles of Confederation
Content:  of Confederation contain a preamble, thirteen articles, a conclusion, and a signatory section. The individual articles set the rules for current and future operations of the confederation's central government. Under the Articles, the states retained sovereignty over all governmental functions not specifically relinquished to the national Congress, which was empowered to make war and peace, negotiate diplomatic and commercial agreements with foreign countries, and to resolve disputes between the states. The document also stipulates that its provisions "shall be inviolably observed by every state" and that "the Union shall be perpetual". Summary of the purpose and content of each of the 13 articles:
Title: Confederation Period
Content:  which came to be known as the Articles of Confederation, provided for a weak national government with little power to coerce the state governments. The first article of the new constitution established a name for the new confederacy – the United States of America. The first draft of the Articles of Confederation, written by John Dickinson, was presented to Congress on July 12, 1776, but Congress did not send the proposed constitution to the states until November 1777. Three major constitutional issues divided Congress: state borders, including claims to lands west of the Appalachian Mountains, state representation in the new Congress, and whether tax levies on states should take slaves into account. Ultimately, Congress decided that each state would have one 
Title: Constitutional Convention (United States)
Content:  the United States, was to be governed according to the Articles of Confederation, which was more of a treaty between independent countries than a national constitution. The Articles were adopted by the Second Continental Congress in 1777 but not finally ratified by all states until 1781. During the Confederation Period, the United States was essentially a federation of independent republics, with the Articles guaranteeing state sovereignty and independence. The Confederation was governed by the Congress of the Confederation, a unicameral legislature whose members were chosen by the state legislatures and in which each state cast a single vote. Congress was given a limited set of powers, 
Title: List of delegates to the Continental Congress
Content:  of the Confederation, which helped guide the new nation through the final stages of the Revolutionary War. Under the Articles, the Confederation Congress had limited power. It could declare war, sign treaties, and settle disputes between the states. It could also borrow or print money, but did not have the power to tax; nor could it compel the individual states to comply with its decisions. It convened in eight sessions (a ninth failed to achieve a quorum) prior to being supplanted in 1789, when the United States Congress became the nation's legislative branch of government under a new Constitution.

Question: who had the most governmental power under the articles of confederation?
Answer: the states.