- Principles of American Democracy
- the Constitution is the supreme law of the land
- Sets up and defines the government
- Protects basic rights of Americans
- Self-government -> We the People (first 3 words of the Constitution)
- The first ten amendments (change/addition) to the constitution = Bill of Rights
- Rights of freedom from the First Amendment
- speech, religion, assembly, press
- 27 amendments in total
- Declaration of Independence -> declared our independence from Great Britain
- life, liberty, pursuit of happiness (rights)
- Freedom of religion -> you can practice any religion, or not practice a religion
- System of Government
- Congress / Legislative / President / Executive / Courts / Judicial (branches of the government)
- Congress = senate + house of representatives
- Makes federal laws
- 100 US Senators (elected for 6 years)
- 435 Representatives voting members (elected for 2 years)
- checks and balances / separation of powers
- prevent one branch from becoming too powerful
- President in charge of executive, commander in Chief, signs bills to become laws, vetoes bills
- Elected for 4 years in the month of November
- Next in line -> vice president, then the Speaker of the House
- President’s Cabinet advises the President
- Cabinet level positions
- Secretary of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health, Homeland Security,
- State, Transportation, Treasury, Attorney General, Vice President
- Judicial branch
- reviews laws, explain laws, resolve disputes, decides if a law goes against the Constitution
- Highest court in the US = Supreme Court
- John G. Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice of the United States
- 9 Justices, 2 retired (as of Nov 2019)
- Federal government can
- Print money, declare war, create an army, make treaties
- States can
- Provide education, provide protection (police), provide safety (fire departments), give a driver’s
- license, approve zoning and land use
- Two major parties of the US
- Democratic and Republican
- History
- Colonists came to America for
- freedom, economic opportunity
- American Indians (Native Americans) lived in America before europeans arrived
- Africans were taken to America and sold as slaves
- Colonists fought the British because of high taxes
- Declaration of Independence
- Written by Thomas Jefferson
- Adopted on July 4th 1776
- 13 original States including
- New York, New Jersey, Connecticut
- Constitution
- was written at the Constitutional Convention
- by the founding fathers in 1787
- Federalist papers written by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton
- Benjamin Franklin famous for
- US diplomat
- Oldest member of the constitutional convention
- Father of our country
- George Washington, first president
- US bought french territory Louisiana in 1803
- Wars in the 1800s
- Mexican-American war, Civil war, Spanish-American war
- Civil war = between north and south because of slavery
- Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves (emancipation proclamation), led the civil war
- Susan B Anthony fought for women rights
- Wars in the 1900s
- ww1, ww2, korean war, vietnam war, persian gulf war
- Wilson, president during WW1
- Franklin Roosevelt president during WW2
- US fought Japan, Germany and Italy
- Cold war main concern was communism
- Civil rights tried to end racial discrimination
- Martin Luther King junior fought for civil rights
- Worked for equality for all americans
- Florida specifics
- Representatives (27)
- Matt Gaetz
- Ted Yoho
- Frederica Wilson (24th District)
- More: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/FL#representatives
- Capital
- Other (as of November 2019)
- Vice President -> Mike Pence
- Speaker of the house -> Nancy Pelosi
- American Indian tribes
- US territory
- Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands
- The flag
- 13 stripes for the 13 original colonies
- 50 stars for the 50 states
- National anthem is the Star-Spangled Banner
- Independence day is July 4th