QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT.

1.  What are the reasons for reserving the Constitution of the United States for the concluding chapter?

2.  Circumstances that favoured union of the colonies:—­

a.  The origin of their inhabitants. b.  All the details of their civil government. c.  The ease with which they understood one another. d.  Their common dangers, two in particular.

3.  Earlier unions among the colonies:—­

  a.  The New England Confederacy,—­its time, purpose, and
     duration.
  b.  The French danger, and plans to meet it.
  c.  The Albany Congress,—­its nature and immediate purpose.
  d.  The Stamp Act Congress.

4.  Committees of correspondence:—­

  a.  The circular letter of Massachusetts in 1768.
  b.  Town committees of correspondence in Massachusetts in
     1772.
  c.  Colonial committees of correspondence in 1773.
  d.  The habit established through these committees.

5.  The Continental Congress:—­

a.  The immediate causes that led to it. b.  How it might have been temporary. c.  How it became permanent. d.  Its date, place of meeting, and duration. e.  Why “continental” as distinguished from “provincial?” f.  The nature and extent of its authority. g.  The states represented in it never fully sovereign.

6.  Give an account of the “Articles of Confederation.”

7.  Distinguish between the Continental Congress and the Federal.

8.  The powers of the Continental Congress:—­
  a.  Its homelessness and wandering.
  b.  Its delegates and their voting power.
  c.  Its presiding officer.
  d.  Its management of executive matters.
  e.  The finance committee and its problems.
  f.  The raising of money.
  g.  The compelling of obedience.

9.  The Continental Congress not a sovereign body:—­

  a.  The nature of real government.
  b.  Some functions of sovereignty exercised by the Congress.
  c.  The situation illogical.

10.  Explain the “implied war powers” of the Congress.

11.  When was the Congress at the height of its reputation, and why?

12.  Explain the decline in its reputation from 1778 to 1783.

13.  The alarming weakness of the union after 1783:—­

a.  The effect of peace upon the union. b.  Local prejudices. c.  State antagonisms. d.  The gloomy outlook in 1786.

14.  The Federal Convention in 1787:—­

  a.  The reluctance to make the change that was felt to be needed.
  b.  Some facts about the Convention.
  c.  The character of its delegates.
  d.  The fundamental weakness of the Continental Congress.
  e.  The fundamental power of a strong government.
  f.  The objection to granting the power of taxation to the Continental
     Congress.
  g.  The sort of assembly demanded for exercising the taxing power.
  h.  The model on which the federal government was built.