UNITED STATES CIVICS, GOVERNMENT & Early History
Your Guide to the American Constitutional - Republic System
The First Time the Term United States was Used in America
The geographic location called "America" comes from the name of Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci
"While the colonies may have established it, “America” was given a name long before. America is named after Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian explorer who set forth the then revolutionary concept that the lands that Christopher Columbus sailed to in 1492 were part of a separate continent. A map created in 1507 by Martin Waldseemüller [above] was the first to depict this new continent with the name “America,” a Latinized version of “Amerigo.”
(Source: How Did America Get Its Name? | Library of Congress Blog (loc.gov) )
* * *
In 1493, after reports of Columbus’s discoveries had reached them, the Spanish rulers Ferdinand and Isabella enlisted papal support for their claims to the New World in order to inhibit the Portuguese and other possible rival claimants. To accommodate them, the Spanish-born pope Alexander VI issued bulls setting up a line of demarcation from pole to pole 100 leagues (about 320 miles) west of the Cape Verde Islands see Cabo Verde. Spain was given exclusive rights to all newly discovered and undiscovered lands in the region west of the line. Portuguese expeditions were to keep to the east of the line. Neither power was to occupy any territory already in the hands of a Christian ruler.
Source: Treaty of Tordesillas | Summary, Definition, Map, & Facts | Britannica
America's land was claimed by Spain, France, Russia & England
Over the centuries, rulers of several countries made claim to the lands in the "new" world called America.
Under the strict authority of kings and queens, subjects, (many hoping to gain status & wealth) were used to:
discover;
fight for;
and labor (often forced) over
valuable resources in America for the support and expanded power of royal elites.
Want to learn more about the government systems before and during colonial times?
Click on the link below.
About 175 years after 1st colonies were settled in North America, came "United" States of America
About 175 years after 1st colonies were settled in North America, came "United" States of America
1776 - The United States of America.
English colonists living in America UNITED to break ties with a tyrant king & gain independence.
The first time the term united States was used was in the Declaration of Independence.
Thomas Jefferson referred to the thirteen united States in
the Declaration of Independence.
(source: U.S. Constitution Sesquicentennial Commission, 1935).
"The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events,
it becomes necessary
for one people to dissolve the political bands
which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth,
the separate and equal station
to which the
Laws of Nature and of
Nature's God entitle them . . ."
- The Declaration of Independence,
July 4, 1776
The Americans Fought for independence
"Join, or Die" - Promoting the 1754 Albany Plan
Benjamin Franklin wrote an article in the Pennsylvania Gazette promoting the Albany Plan - A union of the Colonies. This cartoon (left) was published with his article. The snake cut into parts represents the separate colonies. Franklin's point was the colonies would not survive external threats if they did not join together.
"Don't Tread On Me" - The Gadsden Flag
Journal of the South Carolina Provincial Congress, 9 February 1776: "Col. Gadsden presented to the Congress an elegant standard, such as is to be used by the commander in chief of the American navy; being a yellow field, with a lively representation of a rattle-snake in the middle, in the attitude of going to strike, and these words underneath,
"DON'T TREAD ON ME!"
By the time of the War of Independence, the rattlesnake, frequently used in conjunction with the motto "Don't Tread on Me," was a common symbol for the United States, its independent spirit, and its resistance to tyranny.
https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/heritage/banners/usnavy-jack.html)
Does The Constitution Give Citizens Their Rights?
No.
The Constitution does not give citizens their rights.
The People already had their rights before they created the Constitution.
It guarantees to protect them.
The Constitution defines & limits the powers of the government body.
(source: U.S. Congress. Constitution Sesquicentennial Commission, The Story of the U.S. Constitution, 1935)
American Principles & traditions
Excerpt from the Declaration of Independence
Excerpt from the Declaration of Independence
Excerpt from the Declaration of Independence
"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.
Governments are instituted
among Men,
deriving their
just Powers from
the Consent of the Governed,
that whenever any
Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends,
it is the
Right of the People to
alter or to abolish it, and
to institute new Government,
laying its Foundation
on such Principles . . .
We mutually Pledge to each other,
Our Lives, Our Fortunes and
Our Sacred Honor . . ."
July 4, 1776
* Unalienable - Permanent; cannot be removed
Basic Rights & Responsibilities of Citizens
Excerpt from the Declaration of Independence
Excerpt from the Declaration of Independence
- Right to Life
- Right to Liberty
- Right to Pursuit of Happiness
- Right to Equality under the law
*
The people had all their rights and liberties before they made the Constitution.
The Constitution was formed,
among other purposes, to make
the people's liberties secure -
secure not only as against
foreign attack but against
oppression by
their own government.
They set specific limits upon
their national government
and upon the States, and
reserved to themselves
all powers
that they did not grant.
(source: U.S. Constitution Sesquicentennial Commission, established by a
Joint Resolution of the Congress of
the United States,
approved August 23, 1935).
The Economic System in America
Excerpt from the Declaration of Independence
In support of an individual's Rights, Liberties & Pursuit of Happiness, Americans have a Free-Market Economic System.
There are two standard terms to describe America's Economic System:
Capitalism and Free-Market
This American economic system is
based on the market-system of
supply and demand
of goods and services.
The basic structure: Rather than the government controlling what to produce and who to produce it,
private citizens, as entrepreneurs* own businesses (as a method of financial support and creating wealth).
Entrepreneurs in
the "free" market system try to determine which products & services people want and need (demand).
Entrepreneurs produce (supply) products or services to meet those needs & wants.
* An Entrepreneur is one who
assumes financial
& other risks
to undertake a private
business venture.
The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution
We, the people of the United States,
1. In order to form a more perfect union;
2. Establish justice;
3. Insure domestic tranquility;
4. Provide for the common defense;
5. Promote the general welfare; and,
6. Secure the blessing of liberty to
ourselves and our posterity,
do ordain and establish
this Constitution for
the United States of America.
*
A Citizen's Responsibilities:
Loyalty - to the United States and the words and spirit of the Constitution
Obey - the laws of the United States
Vote – Learn about your representatives and determine who will represent your interests best and the interests of America.
Jury Duty – Participate in the court system as a juror to decide facts in legal cases involving peers in your community.
The American Flag
(Pictured above is original flag with 13 stars representing the 13 colonies)
Today, the 50 white stars on a blue field represent the 50 states.
The colors on the flag represent:
- Red: valor and bravery
- White: purity and innocence
- Blue: vigilance, perseverance
and justice
- Stripes: The flag’s 13 alternating red and white stripes represent the original colonies
The Pledge of Allegiance
"I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America,
and
to the republic
for which it stands,
one nation
under God,
indivisible,
with liberty
and
justice for all."
*
In Support of Allegiance
to the Republic
U.S. Constitution, Article IV, Section 4:
The United States
shall guarantee
to every State in this Union
a Republican Form of Government,
and
shall protect each of them
against Invasion;
and . . .
against domestic Violence.
Delicate cluster! Flag of teeming life!
Covering all my lands - all my seashores lining!
Flag of death!
(how I watch'd you through the smoke of battle pressing!
How I heard you flap and rustle, cloth defiant!)
Ah my silvery beauty - ah my wooly white and crimson!
Ah to sing the song of you, my matron mighty!
My sacred one, my mother!
- Walt Whitman, 1871
America's National Anthem - The Star Spangled Banner
A Brief History of the Song
The Song - America's National Anthem
The Flag that Inspired the Song
Attorney Francis Scott Key witnessed the twenty-five hour bombardment of Fort McHenry from a British troopship anchored some four miles away. He was aboard the ship to negotiate the release of an American civilian imprisoned by the British.
On September 14, 1814, while aboard the British ship during the bombardment of Ft. McHenry, Francis Scott Key witnessed at dawn the failure of the British attempt to take Baltimore.
Based on this experience, he wrote a poem that poses the question,
"Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave?"
Almost immediately Key's poem was published and wedded to the tune of the "Anacreontic Song."
Long before the Civil War "The Star Spangled Banner" became the musical and lyrical embodiment of the American flag. . .
The Flag that Inspired the Song
The Song - America's National Anthem
The Flag that Inspired the Song
On July 26, 1889, the Secretary of the Navy designated "The Star Spangled Banner" as the official tune to be played at the raising of the flag.
During Woodrow Wilson's presidency, it was chosen by the White House to be played wherever a national anthem
was appropriate.
Still the song was variously criticized as too violent in tone, too difficult to sing,
and, by prohibitionists,
as basically a drinking song.
But on its side
"The Star Spangled Banner" had a strong supporter in
John Philip Sousa who, in 1931,
opined that besides Key's
"soul-stirring" words, "it is the spirit of the music that inspires."
That same year,
on March 3, President Herbert C. Hoover signed the Act establishing Key's poem and Smith's music as the official anthem of the United States. (source: Library of Congress.gov)
The Song - America's National Anthem
The Song - America's National Anthem
The Song - America's National Anthem
The Star Spangled Banner
O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there,
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free
and the home of the brave?
(excerpt of song)
E Pluribus Unum is Latin for - Out of Many, One
The Great Seal of the United States
Before the the Continental Congress of the newly independent United States adjourned July 4, 1776, Dr. Franklin, Mr. J. Adams and Mr. T Jefferson, were assigned to create a device for a seal for the United States of America.
Six years later & with the help of 14 men the seal was adopted, June 20, 1782.