How is the Constitution different from the Articles of Confederation?

The Articles of Confederation gave much more power to the states. So, the federal government was at the mercy of the states in terms of receiving funds for defense (standing army and navy). Plus each state was creating its own currencies which made it difficult for the federal government to create a standard for weights and measures. The Constitution was an attempt to provide just enough power to the Federal government to allow it to act as a national spokesperson in foreign matters and to provide standards for the trade of commodities between the states on one set of weights and measures, rather than having each state demanding to be paid in their currency which they valued much more highly than a neighboring states currency.