Under the Articles of Confederation the national government managed to achieve a variety of successes such as the creation of executive departments to administer finance, foreign relations, and military affairs but the most important achievement would be the Northwest Ordinance which guaranteed equal treatment for states new and old and also prohibited slavery within the territory. It's weaknesses limited power so much that the government could not tax, force states to honor agreements, make laws regulating trade, and neither could they make laws to regulate the citizens. YA STA