American society & politics

• Central Government

  * based in the capital- Washington DC.

  * run by a president, advisers and congress made from elected people from different states.

  * overseas matters affect the whole country
• How often is a president elected?

  every 4 years
• examples of overseas matters

  * Foreign affairs

  * the army

  * postal services
• State government

  * based in the capital of each state.

  * each state had its own laws, police and court system with its own governor.
• When did the USA Gain independence

  4th July 1776
• Political party (s)

  REPUBLICANS

  * More likely to preserve traditions and stay out of people lives . (Laissez-faire)

  * didn’t support high taxes pleasing rich.

  * more support in industrial richer north .
• What is laissez- faire?

  A policy where government would stay out of peoples lives wherever possible .
• Each state

  • Has its own laws
  • Has its own police and court system
  • Has its own governor in charge
• Bill of Rights


  Part of the constitution that guarantees Americans a series of freedoms and rights
• Freedoms and rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights

  • Right to vote
  • Freedom of belief
  • Freedom of information
  • Freedom in law
• By 1919, many states refused to recognise the right to vote of women, African-Americans and American Indians
• By 1900, there were over 100 different nationalities living in the USA in population of nearly 110 million
• America has a long history of immigration
• Characteristics of the Democratic Party

  • 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 elderly.
  • more support from poorer southern states
• The population of the US in the early 20th century was 110 million
• Immigration had made the US a 'melting pot' of different races, cultures and ethnicities
• First Americans

  • Also known as ‘red Indians’ or American Indians
  • lived in tribes across America for 1000’s of years before white Europeans settled there
• First Americans prt 2

  • The white settlers took most of their land and forced them to live in reservations.
  • by 1900, there where only about 250,000 American Indians down from 5 million when first settled
• New immigrants

  • New immigrants flooded into America from about 1850 onward .
  • Mainly eastern and southern Europe but also from lreland, china & japan
  • many poor and illiterate crowding into large industrial towns looking for work
  • some saw new immigrants as a threat to their way of life.