WHEN THE U.S. WAS NEW

Transcription

1 WHEN THE U.S. WAS NEW When America was new, every state had its own rules. Money was not the same in all states. Each state had a leader. No one was the leader of all the people. This was not working! UNIT 1 The people wanted one government. The Founding Fathers worked to make a new government that gave the people what they wanted. People wanted the same rules, the same money, and safety for all people. The Game: Check ( ) the things that people wanted to be the same. cars rules safety schools money jobs homes pizza FYI: Ben Franklin, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and George Washington were four of the Founding Fathers. What did you learn from the lesson? Copyright Illegal to Copy 5

2 RULES OF CONDUCT Break It Down: Rules are everywhere we go: home, school, and work. Rules are made so that people can live and work together. UNIT 1 For example, you may have a rule at school that you must be on time. Another rule is that you may not bring pet snakes to school. Rules of conduct are rules for governments. The Game: Write three good rules for home or school Why are rules made? Copyright Illegal to Copy 8

3 THREE LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT UNIT 1 Break It Down: Our government has three levels: local, state, and national. 1. The local government takes care of the city, town, county, and school district. Local governments provide police, courts, fire departments, libraries, and bus systems. 2. The state government makes laws about education, public safety, state parks, and state roads. The state keeps records of births, deaths, marriages, and divorces. The state also gives out licenses for driving, fishing, and hunting. Doctors, nurses, vets, barbers, cosmetologists, business owners, and other people need a state license to do their work. We must have a license for our cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles, and other vehicles. 3. The national government collects taxes, makes coins and paper money, controls trade, declares war, runs the military, and generally takes care of the health and safety of the people. The Game: Check ( ) the box if the service is provided by the state government. runs state parks runs the Army gives fishing licenses pays for the city police fixes the roads makes paper money declares war makes car repairs keeps marriage records gives car licenses Copyright Illegal to Copy 15

4 WHERE IS THE POWER? Break It Down: There are three kinds of government: federal, unitary, and confederate. UNIT 1 Unitary means that only one main government has power. An example is France, and the government is located in Paris. Federal means the power is shared between two levels of government. The federal government has powers over some things and the local governments have powers over other things. We have this form. The federal government is in Washington, D.C., and each state has its own local government. Confederate means the power is mostly with the local governments. The federal government has very little power. At first we tried to have this kind of government, but Americans decided to change to a federal government. The Game: Label the kinds of government: U Unitary, F Federal, C Confederate. 1. Power is shared between two levels of governments. 2. One government has power. 3. Federal government does not have much power. 4. The government we have in the U.S. today. 5. The government in the U.S. before the Constitution was written. Where is the government in France? Copyright Illegal to Copy 19

5 TEAMS HAVE CAPTAINS Every football team has a captain. The captain leads the team. Every team also has other players who have important jobs. Every democratic government has a leader and other people with important jobs too. UNIT 1 Sharing power is tricky. Some countries want one person to have a lot of power. Some countries want to make sure that one person does not ever have too much power. They may have a government with a parliament or a president. England and Canada each have a parliament. They have a legislature. The legislature is a group of people who are elected to make and pass laws. They also vote for a prime minister, the leader of the country. The prime minister has a lot of power. The U.S. uses the presidential system. The U.S. has a leader, the President, who is elected by the people. The President has certain jobs, but he cannot control everything. The President is not allowed to be part of the legislature because the Founding Fathers did not want the President to have too much power. A country can mix ideas of both systems. France has a mixed system. The Game: Write T for True or F for False. 1. Every democratic government has a leader. 2. Many countries want to make sure that one person is not too powerful. 3. The U.S. uses the parliamentary system. 4. England has a legislature and a president. Copyright Illegal to Copy 21

6 YOUR RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES Citizens have freedoms, rights, and responsibilities. UNIT 1 Break It Down: Americans have the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom to ask the government to right wrongs. Americans have the right to vote, the right to ask for changes in the law, and the right to live, work, and vote without discrimination. If accused of a crime, Americans have the right to a lawyer and a speedy trial. Americans have responsibilities. Americans must follow laws. Americans have to pay taxes. The government has many services for Americans. The court system, the military, police, and fire departments protect us. The government inspects water, food, and places, such as restaurants to make sure there is no risk of disease. Our government provides schools and libraries and upkeep of roads and parks. The government keeps safe our money that is in banks. The government also sends help when there are emergencies such as hurricanes or wildfires. The Game: Draw a picture showing services that the government provides to Americans. Copyright Illegal to Copy 27

7 THE BEGINNING The Story: In the early 1700s, the American colonies were ruled by Great Britain. The American people wanted to govern themselves, but the British government would not let them. Americans sent the king of Great Britain a letter telling him that they were going to rule themselves anyway. That letter was written by Thomas Jefferson and is the Declaration of Independence. It says that all people are born equal and do not have to obey any government unless it is their choice. The king did not like that. He did not want the Americans to rule themselves, because the king made a lot of money from the Americans. It was a law that America had to send goods and money to the king. Americans wanted to use these things to make life better for themselves, not the British! UNIT 2 The Americans fought and won their freedom against the British. It was not easy, because many of the Americans were farmers and were not trained soldiers. There wasn't much money to buy guns and supplies, either. The Americans were tough and brave. They won the war and the freedom to rule themselves. This was the War of Independence or the American Revolution. The Game: Draw a picture of the American Revolution. FYI: Great Britain is made up of England, Scotland, and Wales. Copyright Illegal to Copy 33

8 A NEW GOVERNMENT After the Americans won their freedom from Great Britain, they set up their government. The Founding Fathers wrote a set of rules called the Articles of Confederation. It gave each state a lot of power. They called it a "friendship" between the states. There was not a strong federal government. Soon, the Americans knew that the Articles of Confederation was not right for them. It was hard to get the votes of nine of the thirteen states, a majority needed to make or change a law. Not much got done! The Founding Fathers came together again. Their meeting is called the Constitutional Convention. UNIT 2 In 1787, a new, better constitution was written. The Founding Fathers worried that one person or group might get too much power, so they made sure the power was shared. The power is shared between the three branches of government. The Game: Write three good sentences telling about the new government Copyright Illegal to Copy 34

9 THE THREE BRANCHES The Founding Fathers made a government with three separate branches. Break It Down: These branches are 1. Legislative (Congress) 2. Executive (President) 3. Judicial (Supreme Court) Each branch has different powers. This is called separation of powers. This gives the country a strong federal government and a balance of power. In this form of government, no one branch has all the power. UNIT 2 Charles de Montesquieu had the idea that there should be three parts of government: the Legislative, the Executive, and the Judicial branches. He said that it was important for these powers to work separately so that no single part had too much power. The Game: Fill in the blanks with the words below. separation of powers balance of power branches Charles Legislative Executive Judicial Founding Fathers 1. de Montesquieu had the idea that there should be three parts of government. 2. Congress makes up the branch. 3. The Supreme Court makes up the branch. 4. The President is head of the branch. 5. Each branch has different powers, and this is called a. 6. The three of government are the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches. 7. When the branches share the power, it is called a. 8. The set up our government. Copyright Illegal to Copy 38

10 THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH Break It Down: The Legislative branch of government makes laws for our country. This is how it works. Citizens vote and elect people to Congress. Congress has two groups: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Congress is the only branch of government that can make laws. The Constitution does not let Congress pass laws about these things: a national school system rules for marriage and divorce the minimum age to get a driver's license rules for local governments LEGISLATIVE BRANCH CONGRESS SENATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES UNIT 2 Congress cannot put someone in jail without their rights unless there is a real threat to safety. Congress cannot spend our money dishonestly. Congress cannot make someone the king of the country. The Game: List five things that Congress cannot do Copyright Illegal to Copy 39

11 THE U.S. CONGRESS Break It Down: Congress is made up of two groups: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The main job of Congress is to write and vote on bills. The bills are given to the President. If the President agrees with the bills, they become new laws. Congress has other jobs: making coins and paper money dealing with the military declaring war controlling business between states and other countries running the postal system running the highway system and national parks U.S. CONGRESS SENATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES UNIT 2 Congress spends federal tax money. Congress watches the President and the people who work with him. The Game: List five jobs of Congress FYI: Bills are "wanna-be" laws. The Post Office is part of what system? Copyright Illegal to Copy 40

12 BEING A U.S. CITIZEN Citizens have rights and responsibilities. Break It Down: Citizens have an important responsibility to get involved! Citizens have these responsibilities: serve on a jury when asked obey the laws respect the rights of others pay taxes serve in the military if asked (men) volunteer to help in the community UNIT 2 If you take your grandma to the doctor, you are helping her. That is a personal responsibility. You have civic duties too. Many people like you are volunteer firefighters or help at the library. You should help your community become a better place to live. That is your civic duty. Sometimes you have to do things for the good of your country. If you are called to be on a jury, you have to do that, even if you want to do something else. If there is a war and you are a young man, you could be asked to serve in the military. You have to do that; it is your duty. The Game: List four things you do to help your family and your community FYI: Civic means having to do with your city or citizenship. Copyright Illegal to Copy 58

13 MAIN IDEAS OF THE CONSTITUTION The Constitution is a "living document" because it can be changed. However, it has only been changed 27 times in over two hundred years. The Constitution set up a strong government, but it also lets people have rights and freedom. Break It Down: The Founding Fathers based our government on three main ideas: inherent rights the rights that all Americans have self-government government by the people separation of powers the branches of government have different powers The U.S. government is a federal democratic republic government. We have a government that gives the federal government some of the power and the states some of the power. We have a democracy because people govern themselves. It is representative because people pick the leaders by voting. It is a republic because the government gets its power from the people. UNIT 3 The first ten changes that were made to the Constitution are called the Bill of Rights. Other changes have been made to the Constitution since then. The Game: Draw a line matching the words with the meanings. 1. inherent rights the first changes to the Constitution 2. separation of powers people govern themselves 3. democracy the rights all Americans have 4. Bill of Rights power is divided 5. republic government gets its power from the people Copyright Illegal to Copy 75

14 BALANCING POWER There is a system of checks and balances within the government. Break It Down: The Constitution allows each branch to have some control over the other two branches. This balances the power. No one branch can become too powerful. Each branch checks, or holds back, the power of the other branches. Remember, the government has power, but the power comes from the people. Remember that the very first words of the Constitution are, "We the People of the United States...." The U.S. citizens give the power to the government and limit what it can do. The U.S. citizens elect officials to run the government. UNIT 3 The Game: Draw a line matching the words with the meanings. 1. check children or descendants 2. tranquility hold back the power 3. posterity calmness and peace 4. domestic at home 5. promote the first changes to the Constitution 6. separation of powers encourage 7. democracy people govern themselves 8. Bill of Rights power is divided 9. gavel health, happiness, and well-being 10. welfare the hammer judges use Copyright Illegal to Copy 77