1.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
2.
Constitution Day (United States)
–
Constitution Day is an American federal observance that recognizes the adoption of the United States Constitution and those who have become U. S. citizens. It is normally observed on September 17, the day in 1787 that delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the document in Philadelphia, when Constitution Day falls on a weekend or on another holiday, schools and other institutions observe the holiday on an adjacent weekday. The law establishing the present holiday was created in 2004 with the passage of an amendment by Senator Robert Byrd to the Omnibus spending bill of 2004, before this law was enacted, the holiday was known as Citizenship Day. In May 2005, the United States Department of Education announced the enactment of this law, iowa schools first recognized Constitution Day in 1911. In 1917, the Sons of the American Revolution formed a committee to promote Constitution Day, the committee would include members such as Calvin Coolidge, John D. Rockefeller, and General John Pershing. This day was inspired by Arthur Pine, the head of a publicity-public relations firm in New York City bearing his name. The promotion proved so successful that a newspaper chain promoted “I am an American Day” on a basis and had President Roosevelt name it as an official day. In 1939, William Randolph Hearst advocated, through his chain of daily newspapers, in 1940, Congress designated the third Sunday in May as I am an American Day. In 1944 I am an American Day was promoted through the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, a 16-minute film, I Am an American, was featured in American theaters as a short feature. In 1947 Hearst Newsreels featured the event on News of the Day, by 1949, governors of all 48 states had issued Constitution Day proclamations. On February 29,1952, Congress moved the I am an American Day observation to September 17, Louisville, Ohio, calls itself Constitution Town, and credits one of its own for getting the holiday national recognition. In 1952, resident Olga T. Weber petitioned municipal officials to establish Constitution Day, mayor Gerald A. Romary proclaimed September 17,1952, as Constitution Day in the city. The following April, Weber requested that the Ohio General Assembly proclaim September 17 as statewide Constitution Day and her request was signed into law by Governor Frank J. Lausche. In August 1953, she took her case to the United States Senate, the Senate and House approved her request and it was signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. On April 15,1957, the City Council of Louisville declared the city Constitution Town. S, Constitution & Citizenship Week at MSOE Multiple related links on the U. S. Shows January 1994 US Code prior to amendment adding Constitution Day to this observance
3.
United States Constitution
–
The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. The Constitution, originally comprising seven articles, delineates the national frame of government, Articles Four, Five and Six entrench concepts of federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments and of the states in relationship to the federal government. Article Seven establishes the procedure used by the thirteen States to ratify it. In general, the first ten amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, offer specific protections of individual liberty, the majority of the seventeen later amendments expand individual civil rights protections. Others address issues related to federal authority or modify government processes and procedures, Amendments to the United States Constitution, unlike ones made to many constitutions worldwide, are appended to the document. All four pages of the original U. S, according to the United States Senate, The Constitutions first three words—We the People—affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens. From September 5,1774 to March 1,1781, the Continental Congress functioned as the government of the United States. The process of selecting the delegates for the First and Second Continental Congresses underscores the revolutionary role of the people of the colonies in establishing a governing body. The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was the first constitution of the United States and it was drafted by the Second Continental Congress from mid-1776 through late-1777, and ratification by all 13 states was completed by early 1781. Under the Articles of Confederation, the governments power was quite limited. The Confederation Congress could make decisions, but lacked enforcement powers, implementation of most decisions, including modifications to the Articles, required unanimous approval of all thirteen state legislatures. The Continental Congress could print money but the currency was worthless, Congress could borrow money, but couldnt pay it back. No state paid all their U. S. taxes, some paid nothing, some few paid an amount equal to interest on the national debt owed to their citizens, but no more. No interest was paid on debt owed foreign governments, by 1786, the United States would default on outstanding debts as their dates came due. Internationally, the Articles of Confederation did little to enhance the United States ability to defend its sovereignty, most of the troops in the 625-man United States Army were deployed facing – but not threatening – British forts on American soil. They had not been paid, some were deserting and others threatening mutiny, spain closed New Orleans to American commerce, U. S. officials protested, but to no effect. Barbary pirates began seizing American ships of commerce, the Treasury had no funds to pay their ransom, if any military crisis required action, the Congress had no credit or taxing power to finance a response. Domestically, the Articles of Confederation was failing to bring unity to the sentiments and interests of the various states
4.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
–
Dwight David Ike Eisenhower was an American politician and Army general who served as the 34th President of the United States from 1953 until 1961. He was a general in the United States Army during World War II. He was responsible for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch in 1942–43, in 1951, he became the first Supreme Commander of NATO. Eisenhower was of mostly Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry and was raised in a family in Kansas by parents with a strong religious background. He graduated from West Point in 1915 and later married Mamie Doud, after World War II, Eisenhower served as Army Chief of Staff under President Harry S. Truman and then accepted the post of President at Columbia University. Eisenhower entered the 1952 presidential race as a Republican to counter the non-interventionism of Senator Robert A. Taft, campaigning against communism, Korea and he won in a landslide, defeating Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson and temporarily upending the New Deal Coalition. Eisenhower was the first U. S. president to be constitutionally term-limited under the 22nd Amendment, Eisenhowers main goals in office were to keep pressure on the Soviet Union and reduce federal deficits. He ordered coups in Iran and Guatemala, Eisenhower gave major aid to help the French in the First Indochina War, and after the French were defeated he gave strong financial support to the new state of South Vietnam. Congress agreed to his request in 1955 for the Formosa Resolution, after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957, Eisenhower authorized the establishment of NASA, which led to the space race. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Eisenhower condemned the Israeli, British and French invasion of Egypt and he also condemned the Soviet invasion during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 but took no action. Eisenhower sent 15,000 U. S. troops to Lebanon to prevent the government from falling to a Nasser-inspired revolution during the 1958 Lebanon crisis. Near the end of his term, his efforts to set up a meeting with the Soviets collapsed because of the U-2 incident. On the domestic front, he covertly opposed Joseph McCarthy and contributed to the end of McCarthyism by openly invoking executive privilege and he otherwise left most political activity to his Vice President, Richard Nixon. Eisenhower was a conservative who continued New Deal agencies and expanded Social Security. Eisenhowers two terms saw considerable economic prosperity except for a decline in 1958. Voted Gallups most admired man twelve times, he achieved widespread popular esteem both in and out of office, since the late 20th century, consensus among Western scholars has consistently held Eisenhower as one of the greatest U. S. Presidents. The Eisenhauer family migrated from Karlsbrunn in the Saarland, to North America, first settling in York, Pennsylvania, in 1741, accounts vary as to how and when the German name Eisenhauer was anglicized to Eisenhower. Eisenhowers Pennsylvania Dutch ancestors, who were farmers, included Hans Nikolaus Eisenhauer of Karlsbrunn
5.
Daughters of the American Revolution
–
The Daughters of the American Revolution is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States struggle for independence. A non-profit group, they work to promote preservation, education. It currently has approximately 180,000 members in the United States and its motto is God, Home, and Country. The DAR is a white organization with a record of excluding African American women. In 1889 the centennial of President George Washingtons inauguration was celebrated, out of the renewed interest in United States history, numerous patriotic and preservation societies were founded. The first meeting of the society was held August 9,1890, the first DAR chapter was organized on October 11,1890, at the Strathmore Arms, the home of Mary Smith Lockwood, one of the DARs four co-founders. Other founders were Eugenia Washington, a great-grandniece of George Washington, Ellen Hardin Walworth and they had also held organizational meetings in August 1890. The First Lady, Caroline Lavina Scott Harrison, wife of President Benjamin Harrison, lent her prestige to the founding of DAR, having initiated a renovation of the White House, she was interested in historic preservation. She helped establish the goals of DAR, which was incorporated by charter in 1896. This was in addition to fraternal and civic organizations flourishing in this period. The DAR chapters raised funds to initiate a number of historic preservation and they began a practice of installing markers at the graves of Revolutionary War veterans to indicate their service, and adding small flags at their gravesites on Memorial Day. Other activities included commissioning and installing monuments to battles and other related to the War. The DAR recognized women patriots contributions as well as those of soldiers, for instance, they installed a monument at the site of a spring where Polly Hawkins Craig and other women got water to use against flaming arrows, in the defense of Bryan Station. In addition to installing markers and monuments, DAR chapters have purchased, preserved and operated historic houses, see DAR Historic Sites and Database for a map and database of DAR sites. Washington, D. C. had segregated facilities under laws established by a Southern-dominated Congress, in 1945, African-American jazz singer Hazel Scott was excluded from performing at Constitution Hall. In October 1945, the DAR invited First Lady Bess Truman to a tea at the hall, congressman Powell protested and asked Truman not to attend the tea. She chose to go, but said publicly that she opposed discrimination, the White House received letters asking Bess Truman to resign from the DAR in protest of their policy, she declined to do so. Other letters supported her having attended the tea, the DAR did not officially reverse its white performers only policy until 1952
6.
Congress of the Confederation
–
A unicameral body with legislative and executive function, it comprised delegates appointed by the legislatures of the several states. Each state delegation had one vote, the membership of the Second Continental Congress automatically carried over to the Congress of the Confederation when the latter was created by the ratification of the Articles of Confederation. It had the secretary as the Second Continental Congress, namely Charles Thomson. The Congress of the Confederation opened in the last stages of the American Revolution, combat ended in October 1781, with the surrender of the British after the Siege and Battle of Yorktown. The British, however, continued to occupy New York City, while the American delegates in Paris, named by the Congress and this formally ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain and the thirteen former colonies, which on July 4,1776, had declared independence. On March 1,1781, the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union were signed by delegates of Maryland at a meeting of the Second Continental Congress, as historian Edmund Burnett wrote, There was no new organization of any kind, not even the election of a new President. The Congress still called itself the Continental Congress, some modern historians would later refer to the Continental Congress after the ratification of the Articles as the Congress of the Confederation or the Confederation Congress. The Congress had little power and without the threat of a war against the British. Nonetheless the Congress still managed to pass important laws, most notably the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, the War of Independence saddled the country with an enormous debt. In 1784, the total Confederation debt was nearly $40 million, of that sum, $8 million was owed to the French and Dutch. Of the domestic debt, government bonds, known as loan-office certificates, composed $11.5 million, certificates on interest indebtedness $3.1 million, the certificates were non-interest bearing notes issued for supplies purchased or impressed, and to pay soldiers and officers. Rhode Island and Virginia rejected the 1781 impost plan while New York rejected the 1783 revised plan, without revenue, except for meager voluntary state requisitions, Congress could not even pay the interest on its outstanding debt. Meanwhile, the states failed, or refused, to meet the requisitions requested of them by Congress. The Confederation Congress itself endorsed the Call and issued one on its own further inviting the states to send delegates. After meeting in secret all summer in the Old Pennsylvania State House now having acquired the nickname and new title of Independence Hall, from the famous action here eleven years earlier. The Confederation Congress received and submitted the new Constitution document to the states, the Congress of the Confederation continued to conduct business for another month after setting the various dates. Pell oversaw the meeting and adjourned the Congress sine die, rather than having a fixed capital, the Congress of the Confederation met in numerous locations which may be considered United States capitals. The Congress of the Confederation initially met at the Old Pennsylvania State House, party Politics in the Continental Congress
7.
President of the United States
–
The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. The president is considered to be one of the worlds most powerful political figures, the role includes being the commander-in-chief of the worlds most expensive military with the second largest nuclear arsenal and leading the nation with the largest economy by nominal GDP. The office of President holds significant hard and soft power both in the United States and abroad, Constitution vests the executive power of the United States in the president. The president is empowered to grant federal pardons and reprieves. The president is responsible for dictating the legislative agenda of the party to which the president is a member. The president also directs the foreign and domestic policy of the United States, since the office of President was established in 1789, its power has grown substantially, as has the power of the federal government as a whole. However, nine vice presidents have assumed the presidency without having elected to the office. The Twenty-second Amendment prohibits anyone from being elected president for a third term, in all,44 individuals have served 45 presidencies spanning 57 full four-year terms. On January 20,2017, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th, in 1776, the Thirteen Colonies, acting through the Second Continental Congress, declared political independence from Great Britain during the American Revolution. The new states, though independent of each other as nation states, desiring to avoid anything that remotely resembled a monarchy, Congress negotiated the Articles of Confederation to establish a weak alliance between the states. Out from under any monarchy, the states assigned some formerly royal prerogatives to Congress, only after all the states agreed to a resolution settling competing western land claims did the Articles take effect on March 1,1781, when Maryland became the final state to ratify them. In 1783, the Treaty of Paris secured independence for each of the former colonies, with peace at hand, the states each turned toward their own internal affairs. Prospects for the convention appeared bleak until James Madison and Edmund Randolph succeeded in securing George Washingtons attendance to Philadelphia as a delegate for Virginia. It was through the negotiations at Philadelphia that the presidency framed in the U. S. The first power the Constitution confers upon the president is the veto, the Presentment Clause requires any bill passed by Congress to be presented to the president before it can become law. Once the legislation has been presented, the president has three options, Sign the legislation, the bill becomes law. Veto the legislation and return it to Congress, expressing any objections, in this instance, the president neither signs nor vetoes the legislation
8.
Donald Trump
–
Donald John Trump is the 45th and current President of the United States. Prior to entering politics he was a businessman and television personality, Trump was born and raised in Queens, New York City, and earned an economics degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He then took charge of The Trump Organization, the estate and construction firm founded by his paternal grandmother, which he ran for four. During his real career, Trump has built, renovated, and managed numerous office towers, hotels, casinos. Besides real estate, he started several ventures and has lent the use of his name for the branding of various products. He owned the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants from 1996 to 2015, and he hosted The Apprentice, as of 2017, Forbes listed him as the 544th wealthiest person in the world with a net worth of $3.5 billion. Trump first publicly expressed interest in running for office in 1987. He won two Reform Party presidential primaries in 2000, but withdrew his candidacy early on, in June 2015, he launched his campaign for the 2016 presidential election and quickly emerged as the front-runner among 17 candidates in the Republican primaries. His final opponents suspended their campaigns in May 2016, and in July he was nominated at the Republican National Convention along with Indiana governor Mike Pence as his running mate. His campaign received unprecedented media coverage and international attention, many of the statements he made at rallies, in interviews, or on social media were controversial or false. Trump won the election on November 8,2016, in a surprise victory against Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. His political positions have been described by scholars and commentators as populist, protectionist, Trump was born on June 14,1946 at the Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, Queens, New York City. He was the fourth of five born to Frederick Christ Fred Trump. His siblings are Maryanne, Fred Jr. Elizabeth, and Robert, Trumps ancestors originated from the village of Kallstadt, Palatinate, Germany on his fathers side, and from the Outer Hebrides isles of Scotland on his mothers side. All his grandparents, and his mother, were born in Europe and his mothers grandfather was also christened Donald. On a visit to his village, he met Elisabeth Christ. He died from the flu pandemic of 1918 and Elizabeth incorporated the family real estate business, Elizabeth Trump and Son, which would later become The Trump Organization. Trumps father Fred was born in the Bronx, and worked with his mother since he was 15 as a real estate developer, primarily in the New York boroughs of Queens and he eventually built and sold thousands of houses, barracks and apartments
