Scott Foresman Regions Chapter 2

The U.S. is a DIVERSE nation made up of people from many different BACKGROUNDS and CULTURES.

Christopher Columbus arrived in America in 1492.

Christopher Columbus thought he had landed in the East Indies, a group of islands between Asia and Australia.

Christopher Columbus called the local inhabitants "Indians" because he thought he was in the East Indies.

There are two main theories about how Native American ancestors came to North America:
* Crossing over by walking from Russia to Alaska on the Bering Strait ice sheet.
* Crossing over by sailing boats from Asia, the South Pacific, or Australia.

The Bering Strait is a narrow sea betwee Russia and Alaska. In the Ice Age, it was covered with ice.

Native American ancestors came to North America more than 11,000 years ago

The cultures of the ancestors of Native American were shaped in part by the geography of the areas they settled.

The ancestors of the Native Americans became the 100s of Native American groups that occupied North American by the 1400s, when Columbus arrived.

The goal of Christopher Columbus's voyage was to find a short sea route from Europe to Asia.

At the time of Columbus's voyage, Spain, Portugal, France, and England had been trading goods with China.

The Eurpean explorers came to the Americas searching for gold and other riches. They also came to claim land for their rulers.

1. Juan Ponce de Leon
2. Hernando de Soto
3. Francisco Vlasquez

Juan Ponce de Leon came to Florida in 1513 looking for gold. He didn't find any gold.

Hernando de Soto landed on the west side (Gulf of Mexico side) of Florida in 1539.

Francisco Vasquez travelled north from Mexico seeking gold. In 1540, he explored part of the state now known as New Mexico.

1. Jacques Cartier
2. Jacques Marquette
3. Louis Joliet
4. Robert LaSalle

Jacques Cartier came in 1534, in search of riches.

Jacques Marquette wanted to bring Christianity to the Americas. In 1673, he and Louis Joliet explored and mapped the Mississippi River.

Robert LaSalle travelled the Mississipi River to the Gulf of Mexico and claimed the land for France.

Explorers came to the Americas to find riches, claim land for their rulers, and to bring Christianity.

By 1783, the U.S. claimed land from the ATLANTIC COAST to the MISSISSIPPI.

In 1803, the French sold the land called THE LOUISIANA TERRITORY to the U.S.

The Louisiana Territory included much of the land west of the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains.

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were sent to explore the land in the Louisiana Purchase.

President Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark on their expedition.

Lewis and Clark began their expedition in 1804 from St. Louis.

It took Lewis and Clark 18 months to reach the Pacific Ocean.

From 1803 to 1853, the U.S. expanded it territory by treaties, purchases, and wars.

In 1819, Florida was purchased from Spain.

Texas became a U.S. territory in 1845.

England gave up the Oregon Territory to the U.S. in 1846.

The Mexican War was in 1848. As a result, Mexico sold a huge area of land to the U.S.

In 1853, with the purchase of more land, the area that would become 48 of the 50 U.S. states was complete.

An immigrant is a person who comes to live in a new land.

Most people living in the U.S. are IMMIGRANTS or DESCENDANTS OF IMMIGRANTS.

About 50,000 people come to North America, most from England.

More than 40,000 Africans are brought to America against their will. The practice is outlawed in 1808.

Nearly 200,000 Chinese workers come to the western U.S., many to hekp build railroads.

About 22 million immigrants from Europe come to the U.S. Many pass through Ellis Island in New York City.

About 175,000 Chinese and other Asian immigrants come to the U.S., passing through Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay.

Thousands of immigrants from Southeast Asia, South America, and the Carribean come to the U.S.

Immigrants continue to come to the U.S. to live and work.

Culture is the way of life followed by a group of people. Food, clothing, music, art, religion, holidays, customs, stories, and games are all parts of a group's culture.

Kentucky comes from the Iriquois Indian language. Michigan comes from the Chippewa Indian language.
Florida comes from the Spanish language. Vermont comes from the French language.

New York, New Jersey, and New Hampshire are named after places in ENGLAND.

E pluribus unum.

E pluribus unum is Latin, meaning "out of many, one."

The government is made up of the laws that we follow and the people who run our country.

The government:
* provides clean water.
* builds and maintains roads.
* delivers mail.
* sets aside land for parks and playgrounds.
* tries to make sure that people have safe, pleasant places to live.

A republic is a government in which the leaders are elected.

The U.S. is a republic.

Government leaders represent (or make decisions for) the people who elected them.

Our type of republic is called a representative democracy.

In a democracy, every citizen has a right to take part in government.

A citizen is an official member of a country.

The citizens elect the leaders of government in the U.S.

Laws are a set of rules. Our elected leaders vote on the laws that all people must follow.

The Constitution is a plan for governing our nation.

The first words of the Constitution are, "We the People."

The three levels of government in the U.S. are:

1. Local
2. State
3. National

Local government includes village, town, city, and county governments.

State government is the government set up by the people of each state.

National government is the government of the entire country.

Washington, D.C., is the capital city of the U.S.

The national government meets in its capital city, Washington, D.C.

The Constitution explains how the national and state governments share power.

A federal government is a system of government where the national and state governments share power.

The President of the United States is the head of the national government.

The Constitution gives the President authority to run the country.

Some Presidential duties are:
* suggesting laws
* making budgets
* choosing the people to manage the services the country needs

The President is COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF of the armed forces.

True

State governments are run by GOVERNORS.

Governors get authority to run their governments from STATE LAWS and STATE CONSTITUTIONS.

Most of the laws that affect our daily lives come from state governments.

There are many titles for the top officials of local governments: mayor, village manager, city manager, etc.

False. Some mayors do; some do not.

* Police and fire protection
* Running schools
* Providing clean and safe water supply.

The U.S. government has three branches.

The three branches are:

* legislative branch
* executive branch
* judicial branch

The legislative branch makes our nation's laws.

Congress is the name of the legislative branch of the national government.

Congress has two parts:

* The House of Representatives
* The Senate

Congress meets in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.D.

The citizens of each state elect their Congressional members.

Two Senators are elected from each state.

Senators are elected for 6-year terms.

The number of Representatives is based on the state's population. Each state elects at least one Representative.

Representatives are elected for 2-year terms.

The executive branch is responsible for ENFORCING our nation's laws.

The citizens of the U.S. vote to elect the President.

The President is elected for a 4-year term. A President can only be re-elected once.

The President works and lives in the White House.

The President is responsible for:

* enforcing the nation's laws
* being in charge of our nation's armed forces
* suggesting laws for Congress to pass

The Vice President is in the executive branch.

The Vice President presides over (or heads) the SENATE.

The judicial branch is charge of INTERPRETING our nation's laws.

Judges in our federal courst decide whether laws follow THE CONSTITUTION.

Our nation's highest court is called THE SUPREME COURT.

There are nine judges who serve on the Supreme Court.

The judges who serve on the Supreme Court are called JUSTICES.

False. Supreme Court justices and federal court judges are appointed by the President and approved by the Senate. Once approved, they can keep their jobs for life.

The Supreme Court meets in the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C.

It means changes can occur.

The government can be changed by laws and amendments.

An amendment is a change to the Constitution.

An amendment is passed by Congress, and must then be approved by a majority of the states.

The Bill of Rights consists of the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. These amendments guarantee such as freedom of speech, religion, and press.

A time zone is a region where one standard time is used. In each time zone, clocks are all set to the same time.

Time zones are for consistent time keeping.

Time zones were adopted in the 1880s.

A time-zone map shows the boundaries of the time zones across a content or the entire Earth.

The Earth is divided into 24 time zones.

Each time zone is an hour behind its neighbor to the East and an hour ahead of its neighbor to the West.

False. A person born in the U.S. is a citizen, but there is also a process established by the government for those born outside the U.S.

The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery.

The Thirteenth Amendment was ratified in 1865.

The Nineteenth Amendment gave women equal voting rights.

The Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920.

The Twenty-Sixth Amendment gave voting rights to citizens 18 years old or older. (Before you had to be 21 to vote.)

The Twenty-Sixth Amendment was ratified in 1971.

A passport is a government document that is proof of citizenship. It is used when traveling to foreign countries. Only U.S. citizens can have a U.S. passport.

U.S. citizens have the right to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of press.

In addition to rights, citizens have RESPONSIBILITIES.

Citizens must obey the laws of the country, pay taxes, serve on juries.

Taxes are money the government collects to pay for the services it provides.

People pay taxes several different ways: taxes are taken out of paychecks, sales taxes are added to the price you pay for something. There are other ways, too.

A jury is a panel of ordinary citizens who make decisions in a court of law.

All citizens accused of a crime have a right to a jury trial.

Serving on a jury helps to protect everyone's right to a fair trial.

Yes, voting is a responsibility. Voting shows the government how the citizens want it to run. By voting, citizens make sure that the government represents the will of the people.

People who come and live in a new land are immigrants.

The laws of a country and the people who run it are the government.

Our nation's plan for governing is the Constitution.

The way of life followed by a group of people is their culture.

A change to something, such as the Constitution, is an amendment.

The part of government that makes laws is the legislative branch.

A republic is democracy.

The first 10 amendments to the Constitution are called the Bill of Rights.

The President can be reelected only once so that no single person can be the boss of the country.