1.
Indiana General Assembly
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The Indiana General Assembly is the state legislature, or legislative branch, of the state of Indiana. It is a legislature that consists of a lower house, the Indiana House of Representatives, and an upper house. The General Assembly meets annually at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis, members of the General Assembly are elected from districts that are realigned every ten years. Representatives serve terms of two years and senators serve terms of four years, both houses can create bills, but bills must pass both houses before it can be submitted to the governor and enacted into law. Currently the Republican Party holds supermajorities in both chambers of the General Assembly, Republicans outnumber Democrats in the Senate by a 40-10 margin, and in the House of Representatives by a 71-29 margin. The Indiana General Assembly is made up of two houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate, Indiana has a part-time legislature that does not meet year-round. The General Assembly convenes on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January, during odd-numbered years the legislature meets for 61 days and must be adjourned by April 30. During even-numbered years the legislature meets for 30 days and must be adjourned by March 15, the General Assembly may not adjourn for more than three days without a resolution approving adjournment being passed in both houses. The governor has the authority to call on the General Assembly to convene a special session if legislators are unable to complete necessary work within time allotted by the regular sessions. Special sessions of the General Assembly were rarely called in the early history. The General Assembly delegates are elected from districts, every ten years the districts are realigned by the General Assembly using information from the U. S. Census Bureau to ensure that each district is roughly equal in population. The districting is maintained to comply with the United States Supreme Court ruling in Reynolds v. Sims, the Indiana Senate and House of Representatives each have several committees that are charged with overseeing certain areas of the state. Committees vary in size, from three to eleven members, the committees are chaired by senior members of the majority party. Senators and representatives can be members of multiple committees, most legislation begins within the committees who have responsibility for the area that the bill will affect. Once approved by a committee, a bill can be entered into the agenda for debate and vote in the full chamber, although not common, bills can be voted on by the full house without going through the committee process. Indiana legislators make an annual salary of $22,616, plus $155 for each day in session or at a committee hearing. Article 4, Section 7, of the Indiana Constitution states the qualifications to become a Senator or Representative. The candidate must have been a U. S. citizen for a minimum of two prior to his candidacy and must have been resident of the district that he seeks to represent for one year
2.
Republican Party (United States)
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The Republican Party, commonly referred to as the GOP, is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, the other being its historic rival, the Democratic Party. The party is named after republicanism, the dominant value during the American Revolution and it was founded by anti-slavery activists, modernists, ex-Whigs, and ex-Free Soilers in 1854. The Republicans dominated politics nationally and in the majority of northern States for most of the period between 1860 and 1932, there have been 19 Republican presidents, the most from any one party. The Republican Partys current ideology is American conservatism, which contrasts with the Democrats more progressive platform, further, its platform involves support for free market capitalism, free enterprise, fiscal conservatism, a strong national defense, deregulation, and restrictions on labor unions. In addition to advocating for economic policies, the Republican Party is socially conservative. As of 2017, the GOP is documented as being at its strongest position politically since 1928, in addition to holding the Presidency, the Republicans control the 115th United States Congress, having majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The party also holds a majority of governorships and state legislatures, the main cause was opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise by which slavery was kept out of Kansas. The Northern Republicans saw the expansion of slavery as a great evil, the first public meeting of the general anti-Nebraska movement where the name Republican was suggested for a new anti-slavery party was held on March 20,1854, in a schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin. The name was chosen to pay homage to Thomas Jeffersons Republican Party. The first official party convention was held on July 6,1854, in Jackson and it oversaw the preserving of the union, the end of slavery, and the provision of equal rights to all men in the American Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861–1877. The Republicans initial base was in the Northeast and the upper Midwest, with the realignment of parties and voters in the Third Party System, the strong run of John C. Fremont in the 1856 United States presidential election demonstrated it dominated most northern states, early Republican ideology was reflected in the 1856 slogan free labor, free land, free men, which had been coined by Salmon P. Chase, a Senator from Ohio. Free labor referred to the Republican opposition to labor and belief in independent artisans. Free land referred to Republican opposition to the system whereby slaveowners could buy up all the good farm land. The Party strove to contain the expansion of slavery, which would cause the collapse of the slave power, Lincoln, representing the fast-growing western states, won the Republican nomination in 1860 and subsequently won the presidency. The party took on the mission of preserving the Union, and destroying slavery during the American Civil War, in the election of 1864, it united with War Democrats to nominate Lincoln on the National Union Party ticket. The partys success created factionalism within the party in the 1870s and those who felt that Reconstruction had been accomplished and was continued mostly to promote the large-scale corruption tolerated by President Ulysses S. Grant ran Horace Greeley for the presidency. The Stalwarts defended Grant and the system, the Half-Breeds led by Chester A. Arthur pushed for reform of the civil service in 1883
3.
Democratic Party (United States)
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The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The Democrats dominant worldview was once socially conservative and fiscally classical liberalism, while, especially in the rural South, since Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal coalition in the 1930s, the Democratic Party has also promoted a social-liberal platform, supporting social justice. Today, the House Democratic caucus is composed mostly of progressives and centrists, the partys philosophy of modern liberalism advocates social and economic equality, along with the welfare state. It seeks to provide government intervention and regulation in the economy, the party has united with smaller left-wing regional parties throughout the country, such as the Farmer–Labor Party in Minnesota and the Nonpartisan League in North Dakota. Well into the 20th century, the party had conservative pro-business, the New Deal Coalition of 1932–1964 attracted strong support from voters of recent European extraction—many of whom were Catholics based in the cities. After Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal of the 1930s, the pro-business wing withered outside the South, after the racial turmoil of the 1960s, most southern whites and many northern Catholics moved into the Republican Party at the presidential level. The once-powerful labor union element became smaller and less supportive after the 1970s, white Evangelicals and Southerners became heavily Republican at the state and local level in the 1990s. However, African Americans became a major Democratic element after 1964, after 2000, Hispanic and Latino Americans, Asian Americans, the LGBT community, single women and professional women moved towards the party as well. The Northeast and the West Coast became Democratic strongholds by 1990 after the Republicans stopped appealing to socially liberal voters there, overall, the Democratic Party has retained a membership lead over its major rival the Republican Party. The most recent was the 44th president Barack Obama, who held the office from 2009 to 2017, in the 115th Congress, following the 2016 elections, Democrats are the opposition party, holding a minority of seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The party also holds a minority of governorships, and state legislatures, though they do control the mayoralty of cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Washington, D. C. The Democratic Party traces its origins to the inspiration of the Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and that party also inspired the Whigs and modern Republicans. Organizationally, the modern Democratic Party truly arose in the 1830s, since the nomination of William Jennings Bryan in 1896, the party has generally positioned itself to the left of the Republican Party on economic issues. They have been liberal on civil rights issues since 1948. On foreign policy both parties changed position several times and that party, the Democratic-Republican Party, came to power in the election of 1800. After the War of 1812 the Federalists virtually disappeared and the national political party left was the Democratic-Republicans. The Democratic-Republican party still had its own factions, however. As Norton explains the transformation in 1828, Jacksonians believed the peoples will had finally prevailed, through a lavishly financed coalition of state parties, political leaders, and newspaper editors, a popular movement had elected the president
4.
Indiana Democratic Party
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The Democratic Party of Indiana is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of Indiana. The Indiana Democratic Party holds one of the two US Senate seats and two of Indianas nine Congressional seats, the party Chairman is John Zody. The Indiana Democratic Party has its roots in the work of Jonathan Jennings, Democratic-Republican, Jennings pushed hard for statehood, and is attributed as an intellectual father of the Indiana Democratic Party. He pushed for a school system and a stable state bank. Indiana political parties in the 19th century were extremely divided culturally, Indiana, more than any other Midwestern state, received an influx of southern farmers who didnt mix well with northern manufacturers and businessmen. Patronage was given out regularly as Democratic and Whig politicians fought for control of state government, whigs predominantly controlled the state legislature, while Democrats predominantly controlled the governorship. Turbulent elections and heated Democratic passion ended up persuading 50 Whig legislators to switch parties by 1852, the first Indiana Democratic Party meeting was held in 1848, and at the time was called the Indiana State Central Committee of the Democratic Party. Only seven men were in attendance, Thomas Hendricks, nephew of the third governor of Indiana, became the first post-war Democrat to be elected governor in a Northern state. His popular bipartisan leadership would eventually lead him to be President Grover Clevelands first vice president from 1885 to 1889, as the city of Indianapolis grew into a massive urban area, Democrats began to continuously represent the city in the state legislature. Thomas Taggart, the mayor of Indianapolis from 1895–1901, became the first Hoosier to become chairman of the Democratic National Committee, in 1913, Thomas Marshall, Governor of Indiana, became yet another Democratic Hoosier to be a vice president. Marshall is perhaps best known for his humorous quote as vice president, said on the Senate floor, What this country needs is a really good five-cent cigar. Years later, World War II veteran Frank McKinney became a delegate in the 1948 Democratic Convention, in the 1980s, Evan Bayh became a popular figure within the Indiana Democratic Party as well as the state of Indiana. A young governor elected in 1988, Bayh was later elected to the U. S. Senate in 1998. Long considered a moderate, Bayh was rumored to be a top pick for Barack Obamas vice presidential nominee in 2008, Bayh did not run for reelection in 2010. With the Republicans in the majority, Democrats feared that what they consider to be a bill would be easily passed. The move largely took a cue from Indianas counterparts in Wisconsin, Daniels supported the bill, but not the political timing of it, as it would distract from other parts of his legislative agenda he wanted to focus on. In early March 2011, Democrats faced a choice of returning to the state. The Indiana Constitution allows such fines as a way of compelling missing lawmakers to return, such a tactic was employed as an alternative to sending state troopers after runaway legislators, which Governor Daniels declined to do
5.
Indianapolis
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Indianapolis, is the capital and largest city of the U. S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. It is in the East North Central region of the Midwestern United States, with an estimated population of 853,173 in 2015, Indianapolis is the second most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and 14th largest in the U. S. The city is the economic and cultural center of the Indianapolis metropolitan area, home to 2 million people and its combined statistical area ranks 26th, with 2.4 million inhabitants. Indianapolis covers 372 square miles, making it the 16th largest city by area in the U. S. The city grew beyond the Mile Square, as completion of the National Road and advent of the railroad solidified the position as a manufacturing. Indianapolis is within a single-day drive of 70 percent of the nations population, Indianapolis has developed niche markets in amateur sports and auto racing. The city is perhaps best known for hosting the worlds largest single-day sporting event. The city is notable as headquarters for the American Legion and home to a significant collection of monuments dedicated to veterans and war dead, the most in the U. S. outside of Washington, D. C. Since the 1970 city-county consolidation, known as Unigov, local government administration has operated under the direction of an elected 25-member city-county council, Indianapolis is considered a high sufficiency global city. In 1816, the year Indiana gained statehood, the U. S. Congress donated four sections of land to establish a permanent seat of state government. Two years later, under the Treaty of St. Marys and this tract of land, which was called the New Purchase, included the site selected for the new state capital in 1820. The availability of new lands for purchase in central Indiana attracted settlers. Although many of these first European and American setters were Protestants, few African Americans lived in central Indiana before 1840. The first European Americans to permanently settle in the area that became Indianapolis were either the McCormick or Pogue families, on January 11,1820, the Indiana General Assembly authorized a committee to select a site in central Indiana for the new state capital. The state legislature approved the site, adopting the name Indianapolis on January 6,1821, in April, Alexander Ralston and Elias Pym Fordham were appointed to survey and design a town plan for the new settlement. Indianapolis became a seat of county government on December 31,1821, a combined county and town government continued until 1832, when Indianapolis incorporated as a town. Indianapolis became an incorporated city effective March 30,1847, Samuel Henderson, the citys first mayor, led the new city government, which included a seven-member city council. In 1853, voters approved a new city charter provided for an elected mayor
6.
Indiana
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Indiana /ɪndiˈænə/ is a U. S. state located in the midwestern and Great Lakes regions of North America. Indiana is the 38th largest by area and the 16th most populous of the 50 United States and its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th U. S. state on December 11,1816, before becoming a territory, varying cultures of indigenous peoples and historic Native Americans inhabited Indiana for thousands of years. Indiana has an economy with a gross state product of $298 billion in 2012. Indiana has several areas with populations greater than 100,000. The states name means Land of the Indians, or simply Indian Land and it also stems from Indianas territorial history. On May 7,1800, the United States Congress passed legislation to divide the Northwest Territory into two areas and named the section the Indiana Territory. In 1816, when Congress passed an Enabling Act to begin the process of establishing statehood for Indiana, a resident of Indiana is officially known as a Hoosier. The first inhabitants in what is now Indiana were the Paleo-Indians, divided into small groups, the Paleo-Indians were nomads who hunted large game such as mastodons. They created stone tools made out of chert by chipping, knapping and flaking, the Archaic period, which began between 5000 and 4000 BC, covered the next phase of indigenous culture. The people developed new tools as well as techniques to cook food, such new tools included different types of spear points and knives, with various forms of notches. They made ground-stone tools such as axes, woodworking tools. During the latter part of the period, they built mounds and middens. The Archaic period ended at about 1500 BC, although some Archaic people lived until 700 BC, afterward, the Woodland period took place in Indiana, where various new cultural attributes appeared. During this period, the people created ceramics and pottery, an early Woodland period group named the Adena people had elegant burial rituals, featuring log tombs beneath earth mounds. In the middle portion of the Woodland period, the Hopewell people began developing long-range trade of goods, nearing the end of the stage, the people developed highly productive cultivation and adaptation of agriculture, growing such crops as corn and squash. The Woodland period ended around 1000 AD, the Mississippian culture emerged, lasting from 1000 until the 15th century, shortly before the arrival of Europeans. During this stage, the people created large urban settlements designed according to their cosmology, with mounds and plazas defining ceremonial
7.
United States
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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
8.
Hammond, Indiana
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Hammond /ˈhæmənd/ is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area, the population was 80,830 at the 2010 census, replacing Gary as the most populous city in Lake County. Hammond is located at 41°36′40″N 87°29′35″W, the citys elevation above sea level ranges from 577 feet to 610 feet. The city sits within the boundaries of the former Lake Chicago, Most of the city is on sandy soil with a layer of black topsoil that varies from non-existent to several feet thick. Much of the sand has been removed for purposes such as industrial use to make concrete. According to the 2010 census, Hammond has an area of 24.886 square miles. The population density was 3,548.3 inhabitants per square mile, there were 32,945 housing units at an average density of 1,446.2 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 59. 4% White,22. 5% African American,0. 5% Native American,1. 0% Asian,13. 3% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 34. 1% of the population. 30. 3% of all households were made up of individuals and 9. 7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.36. The median age in the city was 33.3 years. 27. 6% of residents were under the age of 18,10. 1% were between the ages of 18 and 24,27. 3% were from 25 to 44,24. 2% were from 45 to 64, and 10. 7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49. 0% male and 51. 0% female, as of the census of 2000, there were 83,048 people,32,026 households and 20,880 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,630.0 per square mile, there were 34,139 housing units at an average density of 1,492.2 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 72. 35% White,14. 57% African American,0. 41% Native American,0. 46% Asian,0. 08% Pacific Islander,9. 32% from other races, and 2. 81% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 21. 04% of the population,29. 7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10. 9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the family size was 3.23. In the city, the population was out with 27. 3% under the age of 18,9. 8% from 18 to 24,30. 1% from 25 to 44,19. 8% from 45 to 64. The median age was 34 years, for every 100 females there were 95.3 males
9.
Gary, Indiana
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Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States,25 miles from downtown Chicago, Illinois. The population of Gary was 80,294 at the 2010 census, from the middle of the twentieth century to the present, Gary has experienced drastic population loss, falling by 55 percent from its peak of 178,320 in 1960. Gary is adjacent to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and borders Lake Michigan, the city is known for its large steel mills, and for being the birthplace of The Jackson 5 music group. Gary, Indiana, was founded in 1906 by the United States Steel Corporation as the home for its new plant, the city was named after lawyer Elbert Henry Gary, who was the founding chairman of the United States Steel Corporation. Gary was the site of civil unrest in the Steel Strike of 1919, on October 4,1919, a riot broke out on Broadway, the main north-south street through downtown Gary, between striking steel workers and strike breakers brought in from outside. Three days later, Indiana governor James P. Goodrich declared martial law, shortly thereafter, over 4,000 federal troops under the command of Major General Leonard Wood arrived to restore order. The jobs offered by the industry provided Gary with very rapid growth. At that time,19. 3% of the population was classified as foreign-born, Gary was also becoming increasingly racially diverse, with 17. 8% of the population classified as black, and 3. 5% as Mexican. Garys fortunes have risen and fallen with those of the steel industry, the growth of the steel industry brought prosperity to the community. Broadway was known as a center for the region. Department stores and architecturally significant movie houses were built in the downtown area, in the 1960s, like many other American urban centers reliant on one particular industry, Gary entered a spiral of decline. Garys decline was brought on by the growing overseas competitiveness in the steel industry, the U. S. Steel Gary Works employed over 30,000 in 1970, declined to just 6,000 by 1990, and further declined to 5,100 in August of 2015. As the city declined, crime increased, rapid racial change occurred in Gary during the late 20th century. Non-whites were primarily restricted to live in the Midtown section just south of downtown, Gary had one of the nations first African-American mayors, Richard G. Hatcher, and hosted the ground-breaking 1972 National Black Political Convention. Since the 1930s, Gary had developed a reputation as a city due to rampant political corruption, racial violence & segregation, labor unrest. In the 1960s through the 1980s, surrounding localities such as Merrillville and Crown Point experienced rapid growth, including new homes. Owing to white flight, economic distress, and a perception of skyrocketing crime, many middle-class, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Gary had the highest percentage of African-Americans of U. S. cities with a population of 100,000 or more, 84%. This no longer applies to Gary since the population of the city has now fallen well below 100,000 residents, as of 2013, the Gary Department of Redevelopment has estimated that one-third of all homes in the city are unoccupied and/or abandoned
10.
Valparaiso, Indiana
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Valparaiso is a city and the county seat of Porter County, Indiana, United States. The population was 31,730 at the 2010 census, the site of present-day Valparaiso was included in the purchase of land from the Potawatomi people by the U. S. Government in October 1832. Chiquas town or Chipuaw was located a mile east of the current Courthouse along the Sauk Trail, chiquas town existed from at or before 1830 until after 1832. The location is just north of the crossing on State Route 2. Located on the ancient Naive American trail from Rock Island to Detroit, the city was once called the City of Churches due to the large number of churches located here at the end of the 19th Century. The city also has a history of being a transportation hub for the region. In 1858, the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad reached Valparaiso, by 1910, an interurban railway connected the city to Gary, Indiana. Today, while the city no longer has a train station, it is still very much a part of the Crossroads of America due to its proximity to I-65, I-80, I-90. Additionally, the Canadian National railroad still runs through the downtown area, until 1991, it was the terminal of Amtraks Calumet commuter service. The city is situated at the junctions of U. S. Route 30, State Road 2, and State Road 49. According to the 2010 census, Valparaiso has an area of 15.578 square miles. The city is situated on the Valparaiso Moraine, glaciation has left numerous features on the landscape here. Kettle lakes and knobs make up much of this area of Northwest Indiana. Many glacial erratics can be throughout the city. The moraine has left the city with mostly clay soil, as of the census of 2010, there were 31,730 people,12,610 households, and 7,117 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,043.1 inhabitants per square mile, there were 13,506 housing units at an average density of 869.7 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 89. 9% White,3. 3% African American,0. 3% Native American,2. 1% Asian,0. 1% Pacific Islander,2. 2% from other races, and 2. 1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7. 1% of the population,34. 5% of all households were made up of individuals and 11. 3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older
