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Why did the Articles of Confederation fail?
Virginia criticized the limits placed on the government, and General George Washington is said to have complained that the federation was “little more than a shadow without substance.”
Overall, the Articles were very weak and lacked the necessary powers needed to run the new country effectively. The government was made up of only one branch (Congress) and so was unable to control all of the states.
In conclusion, one of the main reasons why the Articles of Confederation failed was due to the fact that congress had no main control over any of the states. Each state was able to create its own laws and rule itself. In the end, people did not see the point of having a government which had little control over the country. Also many states didn’t want to be controlled. Many states had different beliefs, and were unwilling to be ruled under one set of laws. With so little co-operation between the different states problems grew worse and more were created. These other problems were also important to the failure of the Articles of Confederation, but with so little control the system was bound to fail. In theory it was a revolutionary idea, but in reality it just didn’t work.