Basic information about the USA
Part 1
There are fifty states and one federal district in the United States of America. Two of these states, Alaska and Hawaii, are not connected to the other states. The US is washed by the Pacific Ocean in the west, by the Atlantic Ocean in the east, by the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico in the south. In the north are Great Lakes. The USA has many kinds of land — rocky coasts, dry empty deserts, big rivers, wide Plains and grasslands, lakes of all sizes, high mountains, great forests, sunny beaches, lands of endless winter.
Many rivers cross the United States. But the greatest is the mighty Mississippi. Native Americans called it "the father of waters". The Mississippi has always been an important waterway since early times. Among other big rivers are the Colorado and the Missouri. The Colorado River rises in the Rocky Mountains or the Rockies that stretch from Alaska down almost to the south of the country. The Colorado River formed the Grand Canyon over millions of years. Today, the canyon is one mile deep and 200 miles (320 km) long. It's interesting that the south side is dry and desert country, but the north side has tall forests. The canyon looks different at different times of the day, and in different seasons and weather. Another big mountain chain is the Appalachians in the east also running from north south.
More than 250 million people live in the US. But the country is very big, so there is still a lot of open space and natural scenery outside the cities. Americans have tried to save many of the most beautiful wild areas of the United States. There are a lot of parks, forests and wild lands where you can enjoy the beauty of wild America. The Grand Canyon, Yosemite Valley, and Yellowstone are among the most famous ones.
The United States is a young country. Its written history is only a few hundred years old. It is sometimes, in fact, called the "New World". Over the last four hundred years millions of people have come to start a new life in this "New World". Americans are not afraid of new ideas. They like exciting, modem cities, new houses, and new cars. At the same time, Americans love old things. They like to visit historic houses and museums. Americans are interested in old traditions, but they are good at making new traditions too.
The people of the United States are a mixture of many different nationalities. Every American schoolchild learns that the United States is a big melting pot of countries. In the past, people from many different European countries came to the US and made one country out of many. These different people brought to their new land a wonderful mixture of customs and traditions. The Germans brought Christmas trees. The Irish brought St. Patrick's Day celebrations. The Scots brought Halloween.
Part 2
After the Revolutionary War, the War of Independence (1775—1783), all the states sent their representatives to Philadelphia where they wrote the Constitution. The Constitution is the highest law in the United States which describes the powers of the national government and the powers of the state governments.
The US government is like a tree with a strong trunk and three branches. The trunk is the people. It holds up the tree: without the support of the people there can be no government.
The first branch on the tree of government is the Congress. The Congress is a meeting of representatives elected from all states. The Congress makes the laws that everybody must obey. The Congress is divided into two parts, the Senate and the House of Representatives. There are 100 senators in the Senate and 435 congressmen in the House of Representatives. A senator's term is six years. A representative's term is two years.
The second branch of government is the President and his helpers. They carry out the laws that the Congress makes. The President signs bills and then they become law. The Vice President and members of the Cabinet help the President to make decisions. The US President is Commander in Chief of the country's armed forces. The President's term is four years and one can be President for one or two terms, but not longer. Americans vote for the President in November of every leap year. A person who wants to become President must be born in the United States, must be at least 35 years old and must live in the United States for at least 14 years before becoming President.
The third branch of government is the Supreme Court. It is made up of nine judges — the most important judges in the land. They have to make sure that the President and the Congress follow the Constitution. They decide what the Constitution and the laws mean, when there is an argument about their meaning. The judges work in the Supreme Court as long as they live.
Americans are very proud of their Constitution. It was written more than 200 years ago and it is still working! But the people of the United States can change the Constitution. Changes in the Constitution are called amendments. There are 26 amendments to the Constitution. The first ten amendments are called the Bill of Rights. They were made in 1791. The Bill of Rights guarantees to people of the USA such important rights and freedoms as freedom of press, freedom of religion, the right to go to court, have a lawyer, and some others. Soon after the Civil (1861-1865) there were three important amendments. The13th amendment ended slavery, the 14th amendment made all black people citizens of the United States, the 15th amendment gave blacks the right to vote. In 1920, the 19th amendment gave women the right to vote. In 1971, the 26th amendment gave people 18 years old and older the right to vote.