History and political system of the USA

The USA the federal republic consists of 50 states and the District of Columbia

each state has its own government, laws, customs, education, taxes, traffic regulations, etc. each state government has to keep to the Constitution, which was officially adopted in 1790 by the original 13 states the federal government is responsible only for matters concerning the country as a whole: foreign affairs, defence and finance The USA

The President the head of the executive power chosen in nationwide elections every 4 years elected by people quite big power duties - appoints federal judges, ministers and ambassadors - can veto or refuse a law - proposes bills White House the seat of the president

Barack Obama 44 th president of the USA (1 st African American) since January 2009 Democratic party Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School

The Congress the supreme law-making body in the country to make federal laws, declare a war and deal with foreign treaties members - elected in direct election 435 Representatives 100 Senators the seat - the Capitol

The Congress the House of Representatives - elected for 2 years - each state has the number of representatives according to its population the Senate - elected for 6 years - 2 members from each state

Political parties two leading parties the Democrats the Republicans only rarely – 3 rd party or independent representatives Democratic Party (logo) Republican Party (logo)

History of the USA Match these dates with events signing the Declaration of Independence Boston Tea Party Civil War discovery of the USA Wall Street Crash the War of Independence

Discovery and early settlement formal history of the USA starts in 1492 when Christopher Columbus reached the continent OR WITH the prehistory of indigenous people (Indians) lived in what is now the US for thousands of years and developed complex cultures

Christopher Columbus an Italian explorer, navigator and colonizer born in Italy completed 4 voyages across the Atlantic Ocean under the auspices of Spanish monarchs those voyages initiated the Spanish colonization of the New World

First colony st permanent English settlement was founded in Jamestown, Virginia - named after English king James I 1620 – 102 Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth (Massachusetts) on the Mayflower - these people left England in search of religious freedom by the late 18 th century – there were 13 colonies under the British control

Boston Tea Party 1773 – a group of Americans dressed as Indians threw 342 large boxes of tea into the sea

The War of Independence 1775 – 1783 all 13 colonies united in a Congress that led to armed conflict 4 th July 1776 the Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence which was written by Thomas Jefferson it explained the reasons for wanting to be separate from Britain and officially denied colonial obligations to England it’s considered as the beginning of the USA

Franklin, Jefferson, Adams working on the Declaration

George Washington 1 st American president ( ) he was called ‘the Father of his Country’ he led the army to success in American Revolution he was elected twice

George Washington his memory honoured by the Washington Monument names of the country’s capital, a state, many counties, government buildings, schools, streets, …. his image appears on the dollar note

Gold Rush about people moved to California after gold was discovered there these people hoped to make fortune later the gold rush spread to Canada and Alaska

Civil War main causes – SLAVERY (should Africans who had been brought by force to the US be used as slaves???) – STATE RIGHTS (should US federal government be more powerful than the governments of individual states???)

Civil War The South – economy based on agriculture (cotton picking = hard work = > slaves) The North – economy based on industry – larger population, wealthier – slavery was forbidden in the North

Abraham Lincoln elected the president in 1860 was against slavery the North won in 1865 the South became part of the US slavery was made illegal everywhere

Great Depression period of severe economic failure from 1929 – 2 nd WW it began in the US when the New York Stock Exchange fell on October 29 th 1929 = Black Tuesday many businesses and banks failed and millions of people lost their jobs

Martin Luther King the most important leader of the US Civil right movement (famous speech beginning: ‘I have a dream…’) led a series of peaceful campaigns against segregation in the southern states awarded the Nobel Peace Price in 1964 murdered in 1968 Bridge September 2013

The USA and the terrorism 11 th September 2001 series of suicide attacks by al-Qaeda upon the US 4 commercial passenger jet planes hijacked 2 crashed into the Twin Tower in New York City (WTC) – both towers collapsed within 2 hours 1 crashed into the Pentagon 1 crashed into a field in Pennsylvania (however the target was probably the Capitol or the White House) nearly 3000 victims

The USA and the terrorism the USA responded to the attacks by launching the War on Terror invaded Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, who had harboured al-Qaeda terrorists