All posts in US Civics

Civics + Reading

After World War 2, the United States government was worried about the Soviet Union and Communism. This time is called “The Cold War.”

Communism means that the government owns almost everything. People cannot own property.

Communism is a different form of government than the US. The US has democracy and a market economy.

During the Cold War, the communist countries and capitalist countries fought to control the world.

The United States and Soviet Union did not fight directly, so we call it a “cold” war. The Soviet Union broke up in 1991.

During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States? –> Communism

From The Civil War to the 1950s, most black people in America did not have equal rights.

White people used the law, education, and fear against black people and other racial groups. This was a terrible time of racial discrimination.

The Civil Rights Movement was a large group of protestors who tried to end racial discrimination. They protested, spoke, and got arrested.

What movement tried to end racial discrimination? –> The Civil Rights Movement

One of the Civil Rights Movement leaders was Martin Luther King Jr. He fought for civil rights.

He fought for civil rights by speaking. He fought for civil rights by writing. He fought for civil rights by protesting. He fought for civil rights by using civil disobedience. He was arrested almost 30 times.

What did Martin Luther King, Jr. do?* –> Fought for civil rights

On April 4, 1968, King was killed by a white man. King was only 39 years old, but Americans will always remember him as a hero. We remember Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday in January.

Do you remember where you were on September 11, 2001? That morning, terrorists attacked the United States.

They flew planes into the World Trade Center towers in New York. They flew a plane into the Pentagon, the main building for the military.

They tried to fly one more plane into the White House, but the people on the plane stopped the terrorists.

What major event happened on September 11, 2001, in the United States? –> Terrorists attacked the United States

Review

1. Name one war fought by the United States in the 1900s.*
2. Who was President during World War I?
3. Who was President during the Great Depression and World War II?
4. Who did the United States fight in World War II?
5. Before he was President, Eisenhower was a general. What war was he in?
6. During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States?
7. What movement tried to end racial discrimination?
8. What did Martin Luther King, Jr. do?*
9. What major event happened on September 11, 2001, in the United States?

After the war, Abraham Lincoln was killed.

Slides with questions to practice this information.

Civics Questions

• Name one war fought by the United States in the 1800s.
• Name the U.S. war between the North and the South.
• Name one problem that led to the Civil War.
• What was one important thing that Abraham Lincoln did?*
• What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?

The Declaration of Independence said “the United States is free!”

But, Britain still wanted to keep the 13 colonies.

The British military sent more and more soldiers and ships to America.

The new United States fought the British military. We call this fight The Revolutionary War.

George Washington was the military leader for the United States. He was the general of the United States Army.

Washington was a hero and a strong leader during this difficult time. He was very, very popular with Americans.

He helped win the Revolutionary War, and he helped with the Constitutional Convention. We call him “the father of our country.”

Who is the “Father of Our Country”? –> George Washington

George Washington and the new US army fought the British for 8 years.

The US army won the war, and the British left the United States.

After the war, George Washington became the first president.

Who was the first president? –> George Washington

Benjamin Franklin also helped the new United States. He was a U.S. diplomat.

What is one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for? –> US diplomat

The new country needed new laws, so the leaders wrote the Constitution. We often call these leaders the founding fathers of the United States.

What is the supreme law of the land? –> The Constitution

Can you answer these questions about the new United States?

1. Who is the “Father of Our Country”?
2. Who was the first President?*
3. What is one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for?
4. What is the supreme law of the land?

Can you answer the civics questions about this information?

Review: Comparing the Declaration of Independence and The Constitution

Review Past Vocabulary

New Questions: #30

Have you EVER been a habitual drunkard?

Yes, I have / No, I haven’t / No, never

¿Alguna vez has sido un borracho habitual?
هل سبق لك سكير المعتاد؟
သငျသညျအစဉျအမွဲတဲ့လေ့ယစ်မူးသောဖူးသလော
你曾经是一个惯性酗酒？
آیا تا به حال میخواره همیشگی بوده است؟
Вы когда-нибудь привычный пьяница?
Weligaa ma ahaa nin sakhraan ah arimahan?
bạn đã từng say sưa theo thói quen?
Adakah anda pernah pemabuk biasa?

Have you EVER been a prostitute, or procured anyone for prostitution?

Yes, I have / No, I haven’t / No, never

¿Alguna vez ha sido una prostituta o adquirirse en cualquiera de prostitución?
هل سبق لك عاهرة، أو شراؤها أي شخص لأغراض الدعارة؟
သငျသညျအစဉျအမွဲပြည့်တန်ဆာများအတွက်ပြည်တန်ဆာ, ဒါမှမဟုတ်ဝယ်ယူရေးမည်သူမဆိုခဲ့ဖူးသလော
你有没有过妓女，或采购人进行卖淫？
آیا تا به حال یک زن روسپی بوده است، یا هر کسی برای فحشا فراهم شده است؟
Вы когда-нибудь проститутка, или закупаете кого за проституцию?
Weligaa ma dhillo ah, ama qof iibsanayo waayo dhillaysi?
Bạn đã bao giờ được một cô gái điếm, hoặc mua bất cứ ai cho mại dâm?
Adakah anda pernah pelacur, atau mengusahakan sesiapa untuk pelacuran?

Have you EVER sold or smuggled controlled substances, illegal drugs, or narcotics?

Yes, I have / No, I haven’t / No, never

¿Alguna vez ha vendido o contrabando sustancias controladas, drogas ilegales o narcóticos?
هل سبق لك أن تباع أو تهريب المواد الخاضعة للرقابة، والمخدرات غير المشروعة، أو المخدرات؟
သငျသညျအစဉျအမွဲထိန်းချုပ်ထားသောတ္ထုများ, တရားမဝင်မူးယစ်ဆေးဝါးများ, ဒါမှမဟုတ်မူးယစ်ဆေးဝါးရောင်းမမှောင်ခိုပြီလော
你有没有出售或走私的管制物质，违禁药物，或毒品？
آیا تا به حال به فروش می رسد و یا قاچاق مواد کنترل، مواد مخدر، مواد مخدر و یا؟
Вы когда-нибудь продать или контрабандные контролируемые вещества, запрещенные наркотики или наркотики?
Weligaa ma iibin ama tahriibiyay ashyaada, daroogooyinka sharci darrada ah, ama daroogada?
Bạn đã bao giờ bán hoặc nhập lậu chất được kiểm soát, ma túy, hoặc ma túy?
Adakah anda pernah dijual atau diseludup bahan terkawal, dadah yang tidak dibenarkan, atau narkotik?

Have you EVER been married to more than one person at the same time?

Yes, I have / No, I haven’t / No, never

¿Alguna vez ha casado con más de una persona al mismo tiempo?
هل سبق لك أن تزوج لأكثر من شخص في نفس الوقت؟
သငျသညျအစဉျအမွဲတစ်ချိန်တည်းမှာတစ်ခုထက် ပို. လူတစ်ဦးမှလက်ထပ်ခဲ့ဖူးသလော
你曾经嫁给一个以上的人在同一时间？
آیا تا به حال به بیش از یک نفر در همان زمان ازدواج کرده؟
Вы когда-нибудь были женаты на более чем одного человека в то же время?
Waligaa guursaday in ka badan hal qof oo waqti isku mid ah?
Bạn đã bao giờ được kết hôn với nhiều hơn một người cùng một lúc?
Adakah anda pernah berkahwin dengan lebih daripada satu orang pada masa yang sama?

Have you EVER married someone in order to obtain an immigration benefit?

Yes, I have / No, I haven’t / No, never

¿Alguna vez ha casado con el fin de obtener un beneficio de inmigración?
هل سبق لك أن تزوج شخص من أجل الحصول على فائدة الهجرة؟
သင်တစ်ဦးလူဝင်မှုကြီးကြပ်ရေးအကျိုးအတွက်ရယူနိုင်ရန်အတွက်အစဉ်အဆက်လက်ထပ်တစ်စုံတစ်ဦးရှိပါသလား?
你有没有结婚的人为了获得移民好处？
آیا تا به حال کسی که به منظور به دست آوردن سود مهاجرت ازدواج کرده؟
Вы когда-нибудь замуж кого-то для того, чтобы получить иммиграционную выгоду?
Weligaa ma guursatay qof si ay u helaan lacagta socdaalka?
Bạn đã bao giờ kết hôn một ai đó để có được một lợi di trú?
Adakah anda pernah berkahwin seseorang untuk mendapatkan manfaat imigresen?

1. Have you EVER been a habitual drunkard?
2. Have you EVER been a prostitute, or procured anyone for prostitution?
3. Have you EVER sold or smuggled controlled substances, illegal drugs, or narcotics?
4. Have you EVER been married to more than one person at the same time?
5. Have you EVER married someone in order to obtain an immigration benefit?

Civics and Reading: The United States is free

Colonists came to America for freedom. But, the colonies were still part of the British Government.

The British Government and the King of England chose the leaders of the colonies. Many colonists wanted to choose their own leaders.

The British Government and the King of England made taxes higher and higher. More and more colonists were unhappy with the government.

More and more American colonists made plans to overthrew the British Government. They fought the British because of high taxes and because they wanted to choose their own leaders.

Why did the colonists fight the British? –> High taxes

Some colonists made a new government to fight the British and make a new country.

They made the Declaration of Independence. It said that the United States is free.

What did the Declaration of Independence do? –> It said the United States is free

The Declaration of Independence is a break-up letter with the British government and King of England. It has a list of all the problems with the British government.

It says that all people have the rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. The American colonists said that the British did not give them life or liberty.

What are two rights in the Declaration of Independence? –> Life and Liberty

Many American colonists talked about the ideas in the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence.

Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? –> Thomas Jefferson

The new American congress had a vote to agree with the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4th, 1776.

Be careful: was adopted = in the past, in history, in 1776.

When was the Declaration of Independence adopted? –> July 4th, 1776

That’s why we celebrate Independence Day every July 4th. Be careful: we celebrate = in the present, every year.

When do we celebrate Independence Day?* –> July 4th (July fourth)

Civics Review

1. Why did the colonists fight the British?
2. When do we celebrate Independence Day?*
3. When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
4. What did the Declaration of Independence do?
5. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
6. What are two rights in the Declaration of Independence?

From Tuesday:

1. Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived?
2. Name one American Indian tribe in the United States.
3. What is one reason colonists came to America?
4. What group of people was taken to America and sold as slaves?
5. Why does the flag have 13 stripes?
6. There were 13 original states. Name three.

Reading and Civics

More than 15,000 years ago, people came to North America, Central America, and South America.

They spread all over America, and created many different cultures and civilizations.

These people were the Native Americans, or American Indians.

Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived? –> American Indians or Native Americans

There were thousands of different American Indian groups, called tribes.

Many tribes are still here today. More than 5 million Native Americans and mixed race Native Americans live in the United States now.

Each tribe has its own traditions, leaders, art, culture, and languages, too.

One example is the Pueblo tribe. Today, a Pueblo woman, Deb Haaland, is a US Representative in New Mexico. She was elected for the second time in November 2020.

Extra information: Right now, the United States has 6 representatives in congress who are Native Americans. They are from New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Hawaii.

Name one American Indian tribe in the United States. –> Pueblo

People from Europe are called Europeans. Christopher Columbus was one of the first Europeans to come to America.

Europeans fought American Indians, took their land, and brought diseases. Millions of American Indians died.

Europeans started colonies in America. These were new cities, but they still had a connection to their home country.

For example, Spain, Portugal, and England started many colonies. The people who live in colonies were called colonists.

In England, the leader of the government was a king. The British king had a lot of power, and many people did not have freedom. We use the words British and English to describe the same place.

Many English people became colonists, and came to America for more freedom.

What is one reason colonists came to America? –> Freedom

On the other hand, many people lost their freedom in America. European businessmen took more than 12 million African people to North and South America and sold them as slaves.

What group of people was taken to America and sold as slaves? –> African people

By the year 1700, America was home to Native Americans, colonists, and slaves. 13 British colonies in North America are now part of the United States.

We remember those 13 original colonies in the 13 stripes of the United States.

Why does the flag have 13 stripes? –> There were 13 original colonies

There were 13 original colonies that became states. Good news: you don’t have to remember all of them!

You can remember the 3 NEW states: New York, New Jersey, and New Hampshire.

Or, you can remember the 3 beautiful sisters: Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

There were 13 original states. Name three. –> New York, New Hampshire, New Jersey

1. Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived?
2. Name one American Indian tribe in the United States.
3. What is one reason colonists came to America?
4. What group of people was taken to America and sold as slaves?
5. Why does the flag have 13 stripes?
6. There were 13 original states. Name three.

Reading + Civics

The job of president is really difficult. However, the president has a lot of help and support. One person who works with the president is the Vice President.

• 

• 

The Vice President is also from the same political party as the President. Sometimes the President can no longer serve. That means the president may retire, get sick, or even die.

If the President can no longer serve, who becomes President? –> The Vice President

The constitution has a plan for a lot of different situations. It is really important to have a president, because they are the commander in chief.

So, if the both the President and the Vice President can no longer serve, the Speaker of the House will become the new president.

If both the President and the Vice President can no longer serve, who becomes President? –> The Speaker of the House

The President is in charge of the Executive branch, so they have many people who work with them. The most important helpers are the Cabinet.

The Cabinet is a group of 16 people who help the President. The President chooses the Cabinet members. The Senate can say “yes” or “no” to the President’s choices.

What does the President’s Cabinet do? –> Helps the president

Each person in the Cabinet is in charge of one department or part of the executive branch. The Vice President is also a member of the Cabinet.

Other Cabinet-level positions include:

Secretary of Agriculture ▪ Secretary of Commerce ▪ Secretary of Defense ▪ Secretary of Education ▪ Secretary of Energy ▪ Secretary of Health and Human Services ▪ Secretary of Homeland Security ▪ Secretary of Housing and Urban Development ▪ Secretary of the Interior ▪ Secretary of Labor ▪ Secretary of State ▪ Secretary of Transportation ▪ Secretary of the Treasury ▪ Secretary of Veterans Affairs ▪ Attorney General

What are two Cabinet-level positions? –> Secretary of State and Vice President

1. If the President can no longer serve, who becomes President?
2. If both the President and the Vice President can no longer serve, who becomes President?
3. What does the President’s Cabinet do?
4. What are two Cabinet-level positions?

Review: Congress + The President

What does congress do in this video?

What does the president do in this video?

Do you think it is fast to make laws, or slow?

Reading and Civics

The constitution defines the United States government. It sets up the legislative branch and the judicial branch.

We have read and learned about Congress and the Courts. There is one more major part of the American government. Do you know what it is?

The executive branch is the final part of the US government. The President is the leader of this part. The President is in charge of the executive branch.

Who is in charge of the executive branch? –> The President

The executive branch has many important departments and offices. The President has a lot of power in this part of the government.

The President is responsible for these departments, including:

• The State Department
• Homeland Security
• The Department of Justice
• The Department of Education
• The Department of Defense

The Department of Defense includes the military. The President is the Commander in Chief of the military. This means they are the #1 boss of the military.

Who is the Commander in Chief of the military? –> The President

The President cannot make new federal laws. Congress makes federal laws. But, Congress must work with the President.

A new law is called a bill. If the Senate and the House agree on a bill, they send it to the President. If the President signs the bill with their name, it becomes a law.

Who signs bills to become laws? –> The President

But, sometimes the President does not agree with Congress. If the President does not sign the bill, it will not become a law.

When the Presidents says “no!” to a bill, it is called a veto. Only the President can veto a bill.

Who vetoes bills? –> The President

The writers of the Constitution did not want the United States to have a king. They did not want to have presidents serve for life.

So, we have a democratic election for President. We elect a President for 4 years.

We elect a President for how many years? –> 4

We vote for President almost at the end of the year. We vote for President in November. Election day is usually on the first Tuesday in November.

In what month do we vote for President?* –> November

1. Who is in charge of the executive branch?
2. Who is the Commander in Chief of the military?
3. Who signs bills to become laws?
4. Who vetoes bills?
5. We elect a President for how many years?
6. In what month do we vote for President?*