WHAT IS THE SIZE OF THE USA ?
9,000,000 km2 it is the 3rd largest country of the world
HOW MANY DIFFERENT TIME ZONE ARE THERE ?
4 time zones
WHAT ARE THE 2 MAJOR MOUNTAIN CHAINS ? AND WHERE ARE THEY ?
On the West side the Rocky Mountains and on the East side the Appalachian Mountains
WHAT ARE THE LATEST STATES TO JOIN THE UNION ? AND WHEN WAS IT ?
In 1959 Alaska and Hawaii are the 2 latest states to join the union
WHAT ARE THE 13 FOUNDER STATES ?
The 13 original states were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT ETHNICITY OF THE AMERICANS’ ANCESTORS ? (at least 3)
German, Italian, English, Mexican, African-American, Irish, Filipino, American-Indian, American)
WHAT IS THE MOTTO ?
“e pluribum unum” out of many we form one
ON WHAT IS BASED THE SENSE OF COMMUNITY ?
It’s an adherence to a set of political beliefs and values which are part of a common heritage
WHAT ARE THE AMERICAN CREEDS ?
Freedom, equality, individualism, democracy, property and constitutionalism
WHAT IS A CONSTITUTION ?
A document establishing the system of fundamental principles according to which a state is governed
WHEN WAS WRITTEN THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION ?
It’s been in effect since 1788 and remains unchanged nowadays
WHEN DID EUROPEANS START TO SETTLE ? AND WHY ?
In the 17th century because they knew there were a lot of resources on these lands
WHAT ARE THE MAJOR POWER AT THAT TIME ?
France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and England
WHY THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ENGLISH CROWN AND THE COLONIES GOT WORSE ?
Due to its war debt, the Crown started to tax the colonies on almost everything that could be brought, like stamps or windows.
WHAT WAS THE BANNER OF THE REBELLION ?
“no taxation without representation”
WHAT DID THE REBELLION CLAIM ?
The colonies wanted a representation in Parliament
WHEN WAS BOSTON TEA PARTY ? WHAT HAPPENED ?
In 1773 England gave the monopoly on trading tea in the Empire to the East India Company, which upset the colonies. When the 1st cargo arrived in Boston, some rebels went on board and dumped the cargo. From that day on, a cycle of provocation from the American and retaliation from the Crown began
WHAT WAS THE NAME OF THE CONGRESS FORMED BY THE 13 COLONIES ?
WHAT HAPPENED IN 1776 ?
The Continental Congress commissioned Jefferson with writing the declaration on independence
WHAT DID THEY STATE IN THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE ?
They denounced the arbitrary rule of the British, listed the abuses by the British Crown and celebrated and praised the Enlightenment ideals (i.e. the necessary consent of the governed and the natural rights : ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ T. Jefferson)
WHAT STATES THE PREAMBLE ?
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
WHEN WAS RATIFIED THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE ? WHAT IS THAT DAY NOW ?
It was ratified on July 4th 1776 and is now known as Independence Day
WHAT WAS THE CONTINENTAL ARMY ?
It was the full-time army of professional soldiers that replaced the local militia. George Washington was the Commandant of that army.
WHAT COUNTRY SUPPORTED THE REVOLUTIONARIES ?
France. Marqui de la Fayette fought alongside Washington and the Continental army.
WHEN WAS THE TREATY OF PARIS SIGNED ?
It was signed in 1783
WHAT WERE THE ISSUES OF THE FIRST FORM OF THE GOVERNMENT ?
There was no separate executive branch, no judicial branch. As for the Legislative, it was one vote per state regardless of the size but the biggest issue was that there was no power to impose taxes.
WHEN WERE THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION REPLACED ?
The Constitutional Convention replaced them in 1787
WHAT WERE THE DIFFERENT ISSUES THAT NEEDED TO BE TAKEN CARE OF AT THE CONVENTION IN PHILADELPHIA ?
They needed to settle whether the political representation of the states should be elected based on the population or equality, what they should do about slavery and how to account for the slaves when counting the population, and deciding on the number of representatives per state in Congress.
HOW DID THEY ANSWER TO THE SLAVERY ISSUE ? WHEN WAS IT REPEALED ?
They found the 3/5 compromise. It was repealed in 1868 with the 14th amendment
WHO WERE THE FOUNDING FATHERS ?
T. Jefferson, G. Washington, B. Franklin, A. Hamilton, J.Madison, J. Adams, J. Jay
WHAT WAS THE CORNERSTONE PRINCIPLE ?
It was the separation of the powers, i.e. power must be used to balance power
WHAT ARE THE CHECKS AND BALANCES ?
It is a mechanism through which a branch of the government is able to participate in and influence on the action of other branches. That means that each branch can hamper the action of another (e.g. veto)
HOW IS THE ELECTION PROCESS ?
It is fragmented. There are different constituencies, terms of office and mode of election
Last changed2 years ago