A confederation is defined by rules being made by all the member states, and the member states are not obligated to be a member of that confederation. The term "United States" is actually a misnomer because the states do not have the right to secede from the Union, which was a rule which was not put into place until after the civil war. A state is a separate governing body, and the 50 states are not separate from the federal government. In fact, before the Civil War, the federal government was not as strong, and the states were actually governed as states to the point that they were called "These United States" until the end of the war, when it became "The United States". The Confederate States of America were confederal because there was a weak federal government which could be easily left by member states. (Huge Breathe)