The Historical Development of the 13 Colonies into the United States

1.     Discuss the concept of sovereignty, its characteristics and how the concept relates to the historical development of the 13 colonies into the United States? (hint, remember who existed first, what contributed to the separate development) 2.     Discuss why the U.S. first adopted the Articles of Confederation, what were the weaknesses of this confederal form of government and what were the practical, political and cultural limitations faced by the framers of the Constitution in their attempt to propose a new form of government. (hint, while the framers were trying to overcome weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation they were limited in the choices upon which they could agree, why?). 3.     Discuss the growth of Federal power and its limits, based on the Supremacy Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause and the Commerce Clause. (hint, remember the role of the Supremes in this). 4.     Discuss the Freedom of Speech and its limitations. (hint, remember the Bill of Rights requires government action against rights and some speech is not as protected from government action as other types of speech, why?) 5.     Discuss each of the 5 view of how political power is distributed in the U.S. (hint, go back to the first class, first chapter in text).