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'A history story: THE U.S. CONSTITUTION WAS STOLEN FROM THE NATIVE AMERICANS' on ViewPure

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The true creators of the constitution were the indigenous Iroquois people of America! The constitution was originally known as the Iroquois Confederacy Articles. Time to start telling the whole truth!

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Native American Herbal Remedies

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'Dr. Jerry Howard speaks on Hohokam Irrigation' on ViewPure

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Dr. Jerry Howard, Curator of the Arizona Museum of Natural History, speaks on Hohokam engineering and gives a tour of current canal excavation sites. Read more about Hohokam canals, http://www.arizonaexperience.org/remember/hohokam-canals-prehistoric-engineering.

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Use the following resources to help you prepare evidence and elaboration on your essay. 

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Use the following resources to help you prepare evidence and elaboration on your essay. 

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Infographic: 3 Branches of the U.S. Government
Learn the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government and see a lesson plan for teachers.

View a larger version of the infographic.

Show Description of Infographic

U.S. Constitution

The Founding Fathers, the framers of the U.S. Constitution, wanted to form a government that did not allow one person to have too much control. With this in mind, they wrote the Constitution to provide for a separation of powers, or three separate branches of government.

Each branch has its own responsibilities and at the same time, the three branches work together to make the country run smoothly and to assure that the rights of citizens are not ignored or disallowed. This is done through checks and balances. A branch may use its powers to check the powers of the other two in order to maintain a balance of power among the three branches of government.

Legislative - Makes Laws

Congress is composed of two parts: the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Senate

The Senate has 100 elected senators total; 2 senators per state. Each senator serves a 6-year term.

House of Representatives

The House has 435 voting representatives; the number of representatives from each state is based on the state's population. Each representative serves a two-year term and may be re-elected.

Executive - Carries Out Laws

The executive branch is composed of the president, vice president, and Cabinet members.

President

The president is the head of state, head of the U.S. government, and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. military.

Vice President

The vice president not only supports the president but also acts as the presiding officer of the Senate.

Cabinet

The Cabinet members are nominated by the president and must be approved by the Senate (with at least 51 votes). They serve as the president's advisors and heads of various departments and agencies.

Judicial - Evaluates Laws

The judicial branch of government is made up of the court system.

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the country. The nine justices are nominated by the president and must be approved by the Senate (with at least 51 votes).

Other Federal Courts

There are lower Federal courts but they were not created by the Constitution. Congress established them around the country to handle federal business as the country grew, using power granted by the Constitution.

You can download or order a kids' version of our 3 Branches poster.

How the U.S. Government Is Organized
The Constitution of the United States divides the federal government into three branches to make sure no individual or group will have too much power:

Legislative-Makes laws (Congress, comprised of the House of Representatives and Senate)

Executive-Carries out laws (president, vice president, Cabinet, most federal agencies)

Judicial-Evaluates laws (Supreme Court and other courts)

Each branch of government can change acts of the other branches:

The president can veto legislation created by Congress and nominates heads of federal agencies.

Congress confirms or rejects the president's nominees and can remove the president from office in exceptional circumstances.

The Justices of the Supreme Court, who can overturn unconstitutional laws, are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

This ability of each branch to respond to the actions of the other branches is called the system of checks and balances.

Legislative Branch of the U.S. Government
The legislative branch drafts proposed laws, confirms or rejects presidential nominations for heads of federal agencies, federal judges, and the Supreme Court, and has the authority to declare war. This branch includes Congress (the Senate and House of Representatives) and special agencies and offices that provide support services to Congress. American citizens have the right to vote for Senators and Representatives through free, confidential ballots.

Congress

Congress is composed of two parts:

Senate-There are two elected Senators per state, totaling 100 Senators. A Senate term is six years and there is no limit to the number of terms an individual can serve.

House of Representatives-There are 435 elected Representatives, which are divided among the 50 states in proportion to their total population. There are additional non-voting delegates who represent the District of Columbia and the territories. A Representative serves a two-year term, and there is no limit to the number of terms an individual can serve.

Legislative Branch Agencies

The legislative branch includes Congress and the agencies that support its work.

Executive Branch of the U.S. Government
The executive branch carries out and enforces laws. It includes the president, vice president, the Cabinet, executive departments, independent agencies, and other boards, commissions, and committees.

American citizens have the right to vote for the president and vice president through free, confidential ballots.

Key roles of the executive branch include:

President-The president leads the country. He or she is the head of state, leader of the federal government, and Commander in Chief of the United States armed forces. The president serves a four-year term and can be elected no more than two times.

Vice president-The vice president supports the president. If the president is unable to serve, the vice president becomes president. The vice president can be elected and serve an unlimited number of four-year terms as vice president, even under a different president.

The Cabinet-Cabinet members serve as advisors to the president. They include the vice president, heads of executive departments, and other high-ranking government officials. Cabinet members are nominated by the president and must be approved by a simple majority of the Senate-51 votes if all 100 Senators vote.

Executive Branch Agencies, Commissions, and Committees

Much of the work in the executive branch is done by federal agencies, departments, committees, and other groups.

Executive Office of the President

The Executive Office of the president communicates the president's message and deals with the federal budget, security, and other high priorities.

Executive Departments

These are the main agencies of the federal government. The heads of these 15 agencies are also members of the president's cabinet.

Executive Department Sub-Agencies and Bureaus

Smaller sub-agencies support specialized work within their parent executive department agencies.

Independent Agencies

These agencies are not represented in the cabinet and are not part of the Executive Office of the president. They deal with government operations, the economy, and regulatory oversight.

Boards, Commissions, and Committees

Congress or the president establish these smaller organizations to manage specific tasks and areas that don't fall under parent agencies.

Quasi-Official Agencies

Although they're not officially part of the executive branch, these agencies are required by federal statute to release certain information about their programs and activities in the Federal Register, the daily journal of government activities.

Judicial Branch of the U.S. Government
The judicial branch interprets the meaning of laws, applies laws to individual cases, and decides if laws violate the Constitution. It is comprised of the Supreme Court and other federal courts.

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States. The Justices of the Supreme Court are nominated by the president and must be approved by the Senate.

Nine members make up the Supreme Court-a Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices. There must be a minimum or quorum of six Justices to decide a case.

If there is an even number of Justices and a case results in a tie, the lower court's decision stands.

There is no fixed term for Justices. They serve until their death, retirement, or removal in exceptional circumstances.

Federal Courts and Judicial Agencies

The Constitution gives Congress the authority to establish other federal courts to handle cases that involve federal laws including tax and bankruptcy, lawsuits involving U.S. and state governments or the Constitution, and more. Other federal judicial agencies and programs support the courts and research judicial policy.

Confirmation Process for Judges and Justices

Appointments for Supreme Court Justices and other federal judgeships follow the same basic process:

The president nominates a person to fill a vacant judgeship.

The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on the nominee and votes on whether to forward the nomination to the full Senate.

If the nomination moves forward, the Senate can debate the nomination. Debate must end before the Senate can vote on whether to confirm the nominee. A Senator will request unanimous consent to end the debate, but any Senator can refuse.

Without unanimous consent, the Senate must pass a cloture motion to end the debate. It takes a simple majority of votes-51 if all 100 Senators vote-to pass cloture and end debate about a federal judicial nominee.

Once the debate ends, the Senate votes on confirmation. The nominee for Supreme Court or any other federal judgeship needs a simple majority of votes-51 if all 100 Senators vote-to be confirmed.

Infographic: How the Supreme Court Works
Learn how cases reach the Supreme Court and how the Justices make their decisions. Use this lesson plan in class.

View a larger version of the infographic.

Show Description of Infographic

How the Supreme Court Works

The Supreme Court is:

The highest court in the country

Located in Washington, DC

The head of the judicial branch of the federal government

Responsible for deciding whether laws violate the Constitution

In session from early October until late June or early July

How a Case Gets to the Supreme Court

Most cases reach the Court on appeal. An appeal is a request for a higher court to reverse the decision of a lower court. Most appeals come from federal courts. They can come from state courts if a case deals with federal law.

Rarely, the Court hears a new case, such as one between states.

1. Dissatisfied parties petition the Court for review
Parties may appeal their case to the Supreme Court, petitioning the Court to review the decision of the lower court.

2. Justices study documents
The Justices examine the petition and supporting materials.

3. Justices vote
Four Justices must vote in favor for a case to be granted review.

What Happens Once a Case is Selected for Review?

1. Parties make arguments
The Justices review the briefs (written arguments) and hear oral arguments. In oral arguments, each side usually has 30 minutes to present its case. The Justices typically ask many questions during this time.

2. Justices write opinions
The Justices vote on the case and write their opinions.

The majority opinion shared by more than half of the Justices becomes the Court's decision.

Justices who disagree with the majority opinion write dissenting or minority opinions.

3. The Court issues its decision
Justices may change their vote after reading first drafts of the opinions. Once the opinions are completed and all of the Justices have cast a final vote, the Court "hands down" its decision.

All cases are heard and decided before summer recess. It can take up to nine months to announce a decision.

Every year:

The Court receives 7,000-8,000 requests for review and grants 70-80 for oral argument. Other requests are granted and decided without argument.

About the Justices:

There are nine Justices:

A Chief Justice, who sits in the middle and is the head of the judicial branch.

Eight Associate Justices

When a new Justice is needed:

The President nominates a candidate, usually a federal judge.

The Senate votes to confirm the nominee.

The Court can continue deciding cases with less than nine Justices, but if there is a tie, the lower court's decision stands.

Justices are appointed for life, though they may resign or retire.

They serve an average of 16 years.

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Branches of the U.S. Government | USAGov

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Infographic: 3 Branches of the U.S. Government Learn the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government and see a lesson plan for teachers. View a larger version of the infographic. Show Description of Infographic The Founding Fathers, the framers of the U.S.

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Article

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Iroquois - League of Nations - Native Americans in Olden Times for Kids

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Borrowing Ideas: When the early colonists began to design a system of government for what would become the United States of America, they borrowed many ideas from the League of Nations. It was an incredible system of government. It worked for Iroquois, and it worked for the new American government.

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Extra Resource: Boatbuilding Tradition Still Strong

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Extra Resource: Boatbuilding Tradition Still Strong

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Article with Video (Click on view original to view video)

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Humans have been making boats for thousands of years. Archeologists have found evidence of boat building by early human beings all over the world. They say early humans used the boats to both hunt and explore.

Some of the earliest boats have been found in the Aleutian Islands, in the northwestern United States. People who lived there long ago ate sea mammals to survive. They used a small, quick kayak to hunt the animals. Russians would later name the kayak a "baidarka." This kind of boat is only built in the Aleutian Islands.

Corey Freedman works at the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle, Washington. He teaches students how to build baidarkas using methods that are respectful of the culture.

"We use very, very little materials, thus our boats are the lightest in the world."

Students make the boats the same way boat builders made them hundreds of years ago, except they do not use animal skins. The boats are built without detailed technical plans or drawings or modern tools -- except electric-powered tools.

"They're all done, built like sculptures, freehand. So it's more of an art than a science."

A student named Jim has been interested in boating for about 40 years. He puts different pieces together without using nails.

He is building his fourth kayak.

He says the people of the Aleutian Islands, called "Aleuts," used the baidarka to hunt sea animals.

"The, the Aleuts would, would chase down seals and sea lions in this boat, so it's a very, very fast boat. I, I've heard that there's evidence that, that when the Russians showed up in the area, they found the, the natives paddling along at six, seven, eight, 10 knots (per hour) chasing, chasing seals."

The boats are built in about nine days. Corey Freedman says the boats may look the same, but they have differences.

"And the boats are shaped actually to their personality. Sounds hokey, but if one person is more competitive than another, we're gonna have different-shaped boats. All those things are taken advantage of."

The students at the Center for Wooden Boats are adults. But Mr. Freedman also teaches boat building to young people in Alaska. They are from 12 to 14 years of age, and come from villages throughout the large state.

"It's a leadership program, and the boatbuilding that we do is one facet of what they learn there. And at the end of camp, for about 10 days or two weeks, they actually go on an expedition using the boats that they built."

Mr. Freedman says he has loved boat building since he was a child. And he loves sharing his passion with children who live in an area where the boats were first made.

I'm Christopher Cruise.
VOA Correspondent Rebecca Ward reported this story from the U.S. Northwest. Christopher Cruise wrote the story in VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
Words in This Story

archeologist - n. someone who explores past human life and activities by studying the bones and tools of ancient people

kayak - n. a long narrow boat

sculpture - n. a piece of art that is made from clay, marble, stone or metal

freehand - adj. done without special tools or instruments

nail - n. a long, thin piece of metal that is sharp at one end and flat at the other end

paddle - v. to move a boat forward through water with a long, usually wooden pole

knot - n. a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour (one nautical mile is a unit of distance equal to 1,852 meters or 1.15 miles; this measurement is used for sea and air travel)

facet - n. a part of something

expedition - n. a group of people who travel together, often to a distant place
Do fishermen in your country build their own small boats? If so, do they use plans or do they build the boats using their own memory and experience? We want to hear from you. Write your thoughts in the comments section.
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Boatbuilding Tradition Still Strong in US Northwest

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Some of the earliest boats have been found in the Aleutian Islands, in the northwestern US. People who lived there long ago ate sea mammals to survive. They used a small kayak to hunt animals. Russians would later name the kayak a "baidarka." This kind of boat is only built in the Aleutian Islands.

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The Anasazi & Ancestral Pueblo People 's

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The Anasazi   Chaco Canyon   500 Nations   Native American Hopi Tribe

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Modern Efficient Irrigation Systems Save Money for Farmers

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Modern Efficient Irrigation Systems Save Money for Farmers

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Modern, Efficient Irrigation Systems Save Money For Farmers

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Teachers' Domain  When Did the First Americans Arrive.mp4