A criminal court deals with criminal cases while a civil court deals with civil suits.
When a person commits a crime such as theft, murder, assault, etc, then those persons are filed in the criminal courts and are governed by the criminal laws. If such a person is found guilty of crime, the judge of the criminal court can sentence him for imprisonment.
Where as when there is some disputes between two parties or some other civil matters, such law suits are governed by civil laws. The civil judges can pass orders to pay for the damages to the victims but can not put a person behind the bars.
the Continental Congress sent the Articles to the states, which approved the new government in March 1781. To unify the 13 colonies, the Articles never made a largely decentralized government that vested most power in the states and in the national legislature.
