Early America

Question 1

When is the birthday of the USA?

Answer 1

July 4 1776

Question 2

What happened on the birthday of the USA?

Answer 2

The United States officially declared its Independence from England, starting a brand new country.

Question 3

What does the phrase “deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed” mean?

Answer 3

It means that ALL governments get their power from the people.

The word “derive” means to “get something from”.

I “derived” my banqueros from Mrs. Gray’s and Mr. Kohn’s classes because they are so nice with giving me banqueros.

Question 3

What is the significance of the Declaration of Independence?

Answer 3

It inspired other people around the world to question the powers of their governments.

This is because any government that does not get its powers from the people is an unjust, unfair government.

Question 3

What is the most important law (legal) document in the USA?

Answer 3

The United States Constitution

Question 3

How many years did it take for the USA to go from signing the Declaration of Independence to officially having the US Constitution as law?

Answer 3

11 years

The Declaration of Independence was official in 1776, and the US Constitution was official in 1787.

Question 3

What do you call it when someone makes a law that goes against the US Constitution?

Answer 3

You call the law “Unconstitutional”, which means that the law isn’t legit because it violates the foundation of American law.

And in case you forgot, the foundation of American law is called the US Constitution.

If a law is found to be following the US constitution, then that law is called “Constitutional”.

Question 3

Who decides on whether or not a law is Constitutional or Unconstitutional?

In other words, who gets to decide whether a law is legit or not legit?

Answer 3

The Supreme Court.

These 9 judges have the final say on whether a law is constitutional or unconstitutional.

Question 3

What are the three branches of government in the USA that are established in the United States Constitution?

Answer 3

1. Legislative Branch
2. Executive Branch
3. Judicial Branch

Question 3

How is the legislative branch split up?

Answer 3

It’s split in two.

One part is called the Senate, and the other part is called the House of Represenatives.

Question 3

What is one similarity AND one difference between the House of Representatives and the Senate?

Answer 3

One similarity is that the House of Representatives and the Senate are both part of the Legislative Branch.

Sometimes that legislative branch is called “Congress”.

One difference is that the House of Representatives has people based on the total population of each state, whereas the Senate has only 2 senators per state, regardless of population.

Question 3

Which state has more Representatives in the House of Representatives? Texas or Alaska?

Answer 3

Texas, because Texas has more population!

Question 3

Which state has more Senators, Texas or Alaska?

Answer 3

They both have EQUAL Senators, 2 each.

This is because, in the Senate, each individual state has the same amount of Senators, regardless of their population.

Question 3

Which part of Congress is closest to what the people want, is it the Senate or the House of Representatives?

Answer 3

The House of Representatives.

This is because the House of Representatives gets its people from states that have the most population.

Question 3

How are Presidents chosen?

Answer 3

The Electoral College decides who is President.

Each state gets a specific number of “electors” based on the total number of Senators AND Representatives that the state has.

So a state like Alaska has 1 representative and 2 senators, so they have a total of 3 electors. This is because 1 + 2 = 3

A state like Texas has 36 representatives and 2 senators, so they have a total of 38 electors. This is because 36 + 2 = 38

Question 3

Electoral Math time:

California has 53 representatives in the House of Representatives, how many electoral votes does it have in the electoral college?

Answer 3

Remember, each state has 2 senators, and the number of electors is determined by:

Number of Members in the House of Representatives
+
Number of Senators

Question 4

Electoral Math time:

Colorado has 7 representatives in the House of Representatives, how many electoral votes does it have in the electoral college?

Answer 4

9

Remember, each state has 2 senators, and the number of electors is determined by:

Number of Members in the House of Representatives
+
Number of Senators

Question 5

What is it called when the government takes away your land?

Answer 5

Eminent domain

Question 6

Under the laws of the U.S. Constitution, when is it legally acceptable for the government to take away private property through eminent domain?

Answer 6

When the government pays the owner fair compensation for the land.

The government is the one that decides what “fair compensation” is.

Question 7

What does an Entrepreneur do?

Answer 7

Entrepreneurs are risk-takers. These are people who borrow money, sometimes risking their entire life savings, in order to start a business because they believe in their idea to make money.

Question 8

What is a common pattern in American History?

Answer 8

Immigration.

People have always come to the United States as immigrants. The only people who aren’t immigrants are people who are called Native Americans or Indigenous people.

Question 9

What do immigrants do when they come to the USA?

Answer 9

They bring their culture with them. Oftentimes, this is food. This food is now common in the United States, although you may have not eaten some of these things.

Germans brought over hamburgers bratwurst.
Italians brought over spaghetti and pizza.
Hispanic peoples brought over tacos and Spanish rice.

English brought over Shepard’s Pie and Fish & Chips.

Question 10

What are the FOUR major reasons why immigrants choose to come to the USA?

Answer 10

1. They want to practice their religion freely without facing persecution
2. They want freedom and equality
3. They want better economic opportunities
4. They want to be safe from war and genocide

Question 11

Why is voting such a big deal in the USA?

Answer 11

Because the USA was first created by people who felt they should have a say in what their government does. This was the first country in the world to give the right to vote to so many people at once.

Question 12

When you don’t vote, what are you doing to American Democracy?

Answer 12

You are starving American Democracy.

This is because the people are the life blood of American Democracy. If people stop voting, then government becomes much weaker and can even become a dictatorship. This is why it’s important for people to watch the news (like PBS News Hour) and vote!

Question 13

What is the “free enterprise system”?

Answer 13

The word “enterprise” means business. So, if you started a new barbershop to cut people’s hair, you would say that you started a new “enterprise”.

Free enterprise means that businesses are FREE to compete against each other.

So if I start a barbershop right next to your barbershop, then we would have competition, and whoever cut the best hair for the best price would win, and the loser would go out of business.

This is the free enterprise system at work!

Question 14

What is a “Civic” Responsibility?

Answer 14

Any responsibility that deals with maintaining American Democracy.

Question 15

What are FOUR important “Civic Responsibilities”?

Answer 15

1. Participating in the Democratic Process (like voting)
2. Staying informed of the news (like watching PBS News Hour)
3. Showing up for Jury Duty (because everyone has the right to a jury)
4. Following all laws (because if everyone stops following laws we have chaos)

Question 16

Who is Alexis De Tocqueville?

Answer 16

A french guy who came over to the USA to check out what Americans were doing during the 1800s. This was because the USA was a new country.

Question 17

What is “liberty” and why is it important?

Answer 17

Freedom.

Think about it like this, if you could, would you enjoy your classes more if you got to decide what time you wanted to take them?

This is one of the core reasons why liberty is important, when people feel free, they are happier people. Nobody wants to feel like a bird in a cage :(

Question 18

What is the 10th amendment?

Answer 18

It says that all powers not specifically given to the National Government in Washington D.C. are left up to each individual state.

This is called “States Rights”.

Question 19

What is a lobbyist?

Answer 19

A lobbyist is someone who tries to convince someone from Congress (like a senator or a representative) to vote FOR or AGAINST a bill.

So if you were an oil lobbyist, you would try to lobby (convince) people in Congress to vote to help oil companies make more money.

Question 20

What is an era?

Answer 20

An era is a period of time. It’s usually identified by political, economic, or social trends.

So for example, due to COVID, some historians have already begun to call the time period from March 2020 to the present-day as the “COVID era”.

Question 21

What is Laissez-Faire?

Answer 21

It means to have very little government regulation of business.

Republicans and Conservatives tend to support laissez-faire government laws that decrease the regulation of business so that business owners can make more money, thus creating economic growth or jobs.

Democrats and Liberals tend to be against laissez-faire government laws that increase the regulation of business so that the environment or workers can be protected.

Question 22

What does it mean when something is “Populist”?

Answer 22

It means that it is popular among the common people.

Question 23

Why did the 26th amendment get adopted, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18?

Answer 23

Because before the 26th amendment, people could be *forced* to go fight in a war (through something called the draft) but not be old enough to vote.

So people said “if I am old enough to die for my country in war, I am old enough to vote”, and so then they added the 26th amendment to the Constitution!