In the eighteenth century, the British colonies in North America were most similar to Great Britain in their common law legal system. A major intention of the framers of the Articles of Confederation was to weaken the American people's primary loyalty to their individual states. Electoral votes are unevenly distributed among the states. A candidate can win the popular vote but lose the Presidency. Too much time elapses between the general election in November and the counting of the electoral votes in January.
Candidates tend to ignore the states with young voters.
A major problem of the government under the Articles of Confederation was that the courts of the national government had nearly unlimited power. President could make major decisions without the approval of Congress. Congress depended on the states for men and money to support an army. One reason for the importance of the Federalist Papers in United States history is that these writings helped persuade some states to ratify the United States Constitution. The United States Constitution is best described as a statement of rules and procedures for government.