 Under the Articles of Confederation , there were no general federal courts or crimes . Although the Articles authorized a federal court to punish " <unk> and felonies committed on the high seas , " and the Congress of the Confederation in 1775 created the Court of Appeals in Prize Cases , Congress soon devolved this power to the states . Rather than creating additional crimes , the Congress merely recommended to the states that they criminalize acts like piracy and counterfeiting . 
