U. S. GOVERNMENT FACTS

I. The U. S. has a bicameral legislature (2 chamber—Senate and House of Representatives). Only Nebraska has a unicameral legislature. 3 branches of government (like Texas)—Legislative (makes laws) Judicial (Interprets the laws—court system)---Executive (sees that the laws are carried out—President’s branch) There are 2 Senators from each state. Te membership of the House of Representatives is based on population.

II. The President (George Walker Bush) appoints his cabinet. A few key positions are as follows: Vice President: Richard Cheney--Secretary of State: Condoleezzi Rice—Secretary of Defense: Robert Gates-- Attorney General: Peter D. Keisler (Acting). The President and his family live in the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Drive. A President can serve 2 consecutive 4-year terms ONLY!!!

III. The U. S. Government has a checks and balance system. This means that each branch of the government has the ability to check (or to control) the other branches. This is so that no branch misuses its power or that it does not get too powerful. The 2 U. S. Senators from Texas are Kay Bailey Hutchinson and John Cornyn—both Republicans.

IV. The U. S. Supreme Court has 9 members. The serve for life. The current Chief Justice (appointed in 2005) is John Roberts. This is the highest court in America.

V. A constitution is a set of basic principles that determines the powers and duties of a government. The framers (writers) of the U. S. Constitution created a federal system in which both national law and state law exist. The constitution was adopted by the original 13 colonies in 1787. The Constitution established a government in which the people choose their leaders. This is called a democracy. The U. S. Constitution can be changed by the use of amendments. An amendment is an official change, correction, or addition to the Constitution. The first 10 amendments to this document are the Bill of Rights. These guarantee individual rights or freedoms. This Constitution is the world’s oldest written national constitution!!! The U. S. Constitution has about 7,000 words compared to the Texas Constitution’s 60,0000.

VI. The 13^th Amendment outlawed slavery.

The 14^th Amendment gave full citizenship rights of to all people in the U. S. (born here or naturalized) except for the Native Americans.

The 15^th Amendment gave African American men the right to vote.

Women were not allowed suffrage (voting) rights until 1921.