BOOM - American Politics and Society

Question 1

What are state governments?

Answer 1

• based in the capital of each state
• each state has its own laws, police and court system, and its own governor in charge

Question 2

What is the central federal government?

Answer 2

• based in the capital, Washington DC
• run by the president (elected every four years), a cabinet of advisors, and Congress (like a parliament), which is made up of elected people from the different states
• oversees matters that affect the whole country (like foreign affairs, the army and the postal service)

Question 3

What is the Bill of Rights?

Answer 3

The Bill of Rights is a part of the constitution which guarantees Americans a series of freedoms and rights, including the right to vote, and freedom of belief, freedom of information and freedom in law. However, by 1919, many states refused to recognise the right to vote of women, African Americans and American Indians.

Question 4

What were the views of the Republican Party?

Answer 4

• more likely to preserve traditions and stay out of people’s lives wherever possible (laissez-faire)
• didn’t support high taxes, which pleased many rich business people
• had more support in the industrial, richer north
• more conservative (traditional)

Question 5

What were the views of the Democratic Party?

Answer 5

• more of an ‘ordinary people’s’ party, preferring to intervene in everyday life if necessary
• favoured helping the most vulnerable, such as the poor or the elderly
• had more support in the poorer southern states
• more liberal (prepared to change things - and accept change)

Question 6

What was American society like in the early 1900s?

Answer 6

America has a long history of immigration. By the early 1900s, there were over 100 different nationalities living there in a population of nearly 110 million. Immigration had made the USA a ‘melting pot’ of different races, cultures and religions.

Question 7

What was life like for native Americans?

Answer 7

• also known as American Indians or ‘Red Indians’
• lived in tribes across America for thousands of years before white Europeans settled there
• the white settlers took much of their land and forced them to live in reservations
• by 1900, there were only about 250,000 American Indians, down from 5 million when the Europeans first arrived

Question 8

What was life like for early immigrants?

Answer 8

• white settlers began to arrive from Europe in the 1600s, particularly from Britain, the Netherlands and Germany
• these settlers fought many wars between themselves and the Native Americans
• the largest group of white settlers, the British, began to regard America as a part of the British Empire. America eventually rebelled against British rule and gained their independence
• by the 1900s, white english-speakers became the most powerful group in America. They tended to hold the best jobs and have the most money and political power
• about 10% of American people owned 90% of the wealth. They were mostly descendants of white immigrants with high status and influence, and were commonly known as WASPs (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants)

Question 9

What was life like for new immigrants?

Answer 9

• a wave of new immigrants flooded into America from about 1850 onwards
• mainly from eastern and Southern Europe, but also from Ireland, China, Japan, and South America
• many were poor and illiterate. They crowded into the large industrial towns and cities looking for work
• some WASPs saw new immigrants as a threat to their way of life

Question 10

What was life like for African Americans?

Answer 10

• millions of Africans were taken to work a slaves in the south of America between 1600 and 1800
• slavery had ended in 1865, and by 1920, there were about 10 million African Americans, mostly in the southern states
• most had limited freedom, including no right to vote. They were denied access to good jobs, decent housing and proper education
• in the early 1920s, African Americans were among the poorest people in the country