What I perceive to be the achievements and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. I am interested in whether you see additional achievements or additional weaknesses. Please also address one or more of the following: What structural defect(s) caused the Confederation to fail? Was the lack of a national judiciary, for instance, a fatal flaw? Was a one-year term limit for the congressional executive a fatal flaw? If not, what were the flaws and why were they flaws? Finally, were the Articles of Confederation a necessary precursor to the Constitution?