2. The
United States is an indirect
democracy that is, the people rule
through representatives they elect. Over
time, the vote has been given to more and
more people. In the beginning, only white
men with property could vote. Today any
citizen who is at least 18 years old can
vote.
3. The
United States Constitution, written
in 1787, established the country’s
political system and is the basis for its
laws. In 200 years, the United States has
experienced enormous growth and
change. Yet the Constitution works as
well today as when it was written. One
reason is that the Constitution can be
amended, or changed.
4. (
for example, the fifteenth Amendment
gave black Americans the right to vote
and Nineteenth Amendment gave women
the right to vote.)
Another reason is that the Constitution is
flexible: its basic principles can be
applied and interpreted differently at
different times.
5.
The United States has a federalism system.
This means that there are individual states,
each with its own government, and there is a
federal, or national government. The
constitution gives certain powers to the
federal government, other powers to both. for
example, only the national government can
print money, the states establish their own
school systems, and both the national and
the state governments can collect taxes.
6. Within
the national government,
power is divided among three
branches;
Legislative
Executive
Judicial
7. The
legislative branch consists of
Congress, which has two parts:
The house of Representatives
the Senate .
Congress’s main function is to make
laws. There are 100 senators ( two from
each state) and 435 representatives ( the
number from each state depends on the
size of the state’s population).
8. The
President is the head of the executive
branch and the country. The executive
branch administers the laws ( decides
how the laws should be carried out). In
addition to the President, the Vice –
President and their staffs, the executive
branch consists of departments and
agencies.
9. There
are now 14 departments, including
Treasury, State, Defense, and Health and
Human Services. Each department has
different responsibilities. for ex. The
Treasury Department manages the
nation’s money, while the State
Department helps make foreign policy.
The President appoints the department
heads, who together make up president’s
Cabinet or advisers.
10. The
judicial branch interprets the laws
and makes sure that new laws are in
keeping with the Constitution. There are
several levels of federal courts. The
Supreme Court is the most important. It
has nine members, who are appointed for
life.
11. Each
state has its own constitution. Like
the national government, state
governments are divided into legislative,
executive, and judicial branches. There
are senators and representatives and state
court systems. Just as the President is as
the leader of the national government,
each state has a governor as its leader.
12. The
United States has two main political
parties. The Democratic and Republican
parties. Many other smaller parties play
little if any role. Voters elect the president,
as well as senators, representatives,
governor etc. A voter can choose
candidates from different parties. In recent
years, in fact, voters have tended to
choose Republican presidents and
Democratic congress people.
13. There
are not clear differences between
the Republican and Democratic parties.
In general, the Republican tend to be
more conservative and to have more
support among the upper classes, while
the Democrats tend to be more liberal
and to have more support among the
working classes and the poor.
14. The
United States is an international center
of culture. Its major cities (like New York,
Boston, Washington, Chicago, San
Francisco, and Los Angeles) regularly host
many concerts, and art exhibitions, lectures,
and theatrical performances, and concert
halls are located in the United States.
Performances and exhibitions are usually
very well attended. Tickets can be hard to
get,despite their high prices.
15. Most Americans
enjoy sports- both
playing sports themselves and watching
their favorite sports and teams. Major
professional sports events-baseball,
football, basketball, and hockey, as well
as golf and tennis –are witnessed by tens
of thousands of fans, and by millions
more on TV. Americans also love to
travel. Weekend automobile trips are a
tradition for many families, as are longer
summer vacation trips.
16. people spend New Year’s Day
resting. That’s because they are stayed up
most of the night , greeting the new year!
Some went to parties at friends’ homes
or nightclubs. Others were out on the
streets, throwing confetti and blowing
noisemakers.
Many
17.
in the 1950s and 1960s, Martin Luther
King, led the civil rights movement- the
struggle for equal for black Americans.
King was assassinated in1968. Martin
Luther King Day which falls in January,
around King’s birthday is a time to
celebrate the life and achievements of
this great American.
18. Two
other great Americans honored on
Presidents’ Day. George Washington was
the country’s the first President. Abraham
Lincoln brought the country through the
Civil War. Their birthdays were both in
February and are celebrated together.
19. The
most important American holiday is
the Fourth of July, or Independence
Day. On 4 , 1776 the American colonies
declare their independence from Britain.
many families celebrate the Fourth of
July by having picnics and at night,
watching fireworks.
20. Columbus
Day celebrates Christopher
Columbus’s arrival in the Americas in
1492. As Columbus was Italian, working
for Spain, Columbus Day is an especially
important holidays for many ItalianAmerican and Hispanic-Americans.
