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Introduction into the US |
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Introduction to the United States Sommersemester 2003 INHALTSVERZEICHNIS: The country 3 The people: settlement and immigration 6 The people: women and minorities 8 The nineteenth century 9 The twentieth century 9 Evaluating the contemporary situation for women 9 Political institutions 11 Foreign policy 14 The legal system 16 The economy 19 Social Services 23 Education 25 The media 27 The country Physical features and natural resources Regions: Atlantic Plain: coastal lowland from New England to the middle of Texas narrow coastal strip in the North (gradually widens) includes large parts of the Southern states poor soil, fertile citrus-growing Cotton Belt in the South much of the nation’s crude oil and natural gas Piedmont: fertile plateau, narrow in the North, broader in the South eastern edge: rivers running down to the waterfalls first industrial cities along the fall line west side: Appalachians (Canada to Alabama); separation between Eastern Seaboard and interior Appalachians delayed European invasion routes: Great Valley and Delaware Water Gap minerals, iron, building stone, coal (Pennsylvania; West Virginia) most depressed regions nowadays Central Lowland: West of the Appalachians highland from New York west to central Texas and north to Canada iron ore and coal industrial core glacial moraine: north of the Ohio and Missouri Rivers mixed rainfall and temperature towards west: forests with field prairies short grass north to south: long winters snow less winters soil and fossil fuels oil (Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas) Great Plains: semi-arid between Canada and Mexico excellent for ranching western edge to the Pacific Coast: Cordillera mountain chains (the Rockies and the Pacific ranges) buttes, canyons and mesas around the Plateau: desert western arm of the Cordillera: active volcanoes valleys: rich soils, fruit, vegetables, earthquake zones 1906: San Andreas Fault levelled San Francisco Alaska: highest peak: Mt McKinley, tundra, moist, temperate climate metals: gold of the Sierra and Yukon; the Comstock silver of Nevada copper, lead, oil, gas, uranium, shale, soft coal, Hawaii: vegetable, commercial forest, temperate climate, much rain on the windward side; leeward side only moderate rainfall Coastlines and river systems: Mississippi system: New Orleans to Minneapolis (north) and Pittsburgh (east) Great Lakes-St Lawrence system: St Lawrence Seaway was opened 1959 On the West: three systems: The Columbia, the Colorado and the San Joaquin-Sacramento Conservation and recreational areas: Great parts cannot be urbanized (climate, difficult topography) conservation of natural beauty Yellowstone National Park: federal control 1872 National Park Service established 1916 Largest and most famous parks between the Rockies and the Pacific Climate Very high temperature extremes Rainfall: • between Cordillera and the Great Plains: arid or semi-arid • farther east: rainfall increases (Gulf of Mexico) • cloudbursts, hailstorms, tornadoes, blizzards • rapid temperature changes The seasons east of the Rockies: winter: cold, sparkling weather, storms summer: humid weather along the Pacific: winter overcast, drizzly summer: nearly rainless (northwest), dry, hot (further south) Northeast, Upper Midwest: autumn: mild days, frosty nights, The regions: cultural geography Native-American cultural regions Cultural regions in the contemporary US Northeast: from Main south trough Maryland and west to Ohio The South: Virginia to Texas The Midwest: Missouri and Kansas north to Canada The West: Southwest: New Mexico, Arizona and part of the surrounding states Mountain States: Pacific Coast: Changing public attitudes: where do we go from here? ... The second wave: the old immigrants, 1820 – 1890 1776 struggle for independence establishment of “the” American German Jews: persecution Northern/ western Europe: economic push factors European population doubled between 1750 and 1850 60 million left their homeland 2/3 settled in the US largest group: Germans, Irish, Britons and Scandinavians also great numbers: French, Canadians, Chinese, Swiss, Dutch peaks in immigration: Homestead Act 1862, gold in California 1850s till 1880s many Irish people immigrated because of the potato rot The Irish were often discriminated 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act ended Chinese immigration The third wave: new immigrants and immigration restriction, 1890 – 1930 Northwest Europe declined sharply Southern and eastern Europe rose 1907 4/5 were “new” immigrants 1890-1914 over a million immigrants annual largest “new” groups: Italians, Jews, Poles, Hungarians, but also Mexicans, Russians, Czechs, Greeks, Portuguese, Syrians, Japanese, Filipinos 1890 closing of the frontier stopped the land giveaway government large urban immigrant quarters crime, overcrowding, in sanitary conditions, epidemics, ghettoes, (Naturalization Act 1790 : only whites could become American citizens) 1875 only asked local authorities counted immigrants 1891 federal government took responsibility Ellis Island was opened 1875-1917 only legalized groups could immigrate 1921 limitation on immigration: annual number of Europeans: 358. ... Wade case Evaluating the contemporary situation for women the only initiative which failed: ERA sexual harassment rose in the 1990s 1990s: half of the BA degrees have been awarded to women Native Americans Behaviour and governmental policy of the whites reaction of Native Americans Patterns formed in the colonial period great numbers of British settler who segregated themselves from the natives distrust, resentment, disastrous wars short period of peace: exchange between technology for land and survival techniques 1620s and 1630s: natives tried to expel the intruders natives were moved to distant lands assimilation and distant reservations failed cycle of violent conflict 1754 – 1763: French and Indian War British government: limit to white settlement 1763: Appalachian: separation line: west: Indian Country; east: British America 1783 – 1860: conquest and removal no protection for Native-American rights assimilation: teachers and missionaries were sent to the natives Tecumseh tried to ban a further US expansion 1812: Tecumseh joined the British against the US; he was killed removal: to accept a revival of the old separation policy 1840: nearly 100000 natives had been removed to Indian Territory many native Americans sank into dependence, alcoholism and poverty 1860 – 1934: war, concentration and forced assimilation removal was replaced with a policy of concentration 1850-1890: wars, treaty-making, treaty violation, new wars most famous battle of the Little Big Horn: Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse killed Colonel Custer because they entered their sacred Black Hills 1870s to 1930s: different assimilation programmes Americanisation 1) The deliberate eroding of tribes’ legal authority 2) Education native Americans’ children 3) Allotment programmes (small farms owned by natives) 1934: 4 million acres had been sold to whites or sold by failed Indian farmers 1934 – 1970: tribal restoration and termination 1934: Indian Recognizing Act: centrepiece of the tribal restoration plan repealed allotment, restored “surplus” lands to tribes, allowed the return of allotment farms to communal ownership effective progress toward providing social services, self-government to Native Americans 1953: three new programmes: financial compensation for lost lands and treaty violations termination: Indians as ordinary citizens help to find work in cities The situation of Native Americans in recent history 20 % of US oil and 2/3 of the country’s uranium are on reservation land 1990: ¼ was a reservation Indian 20% live below the poverty line 2000: most reservation Indians live in appalling conditions African Americans from Caribbean and African countries most blacks live in urban areas brought to the American South in the early 1600s (as slaves) hard work, poor living conditions, humiliation 1808 importation of slaves war banned By 1860: grown to just under 4 million 1861: civil war began 1863 Lincoln freed the slaves in the undefeated parts of the South “Jim Crow laws” in the South: denying social, economic and political rights 1909: NAACP: National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People 1950s. ... 000 Filipinos: 3/5 arrived in Hawaii 1920 over half of the Hawaiian population was Asian 1930s prominent positions in Hawaiian politics mainland: Anti-Asian campaigns World War II brought decisive social and economic improvements 1945 – 1965: discrimination laws were stuck down 1965: new immigration wave Latinos Mexican Americans since the late 1800s including the descendants of the Spanish settlers from the 1500s 2000: 35 million people / 13% of the population are “Latino or Hispanic” fastest growing nation Latinos: largest US subculture Mexican Americans: 2/3 South western sates; large Midwestern cities (Chicago. ... Puerto Rico (18% New York City), Cuba (6%) 45 million Hispanics Asian, Chinese, Japanese, Philippians, Thailand, India, Vietnam, Laos as refugees after the Vietnam War 19th: Chinese brought to America to build the railroad in the west; Irish railroad worker in the East especially West Coast: Japanese internment camps Political institutions Historical origins • First US constitution [ Articles of Confederation 1781-1788]:very weak central government • One house legislature that lacked financial, diplomatic, and military power • 1787 ten Amendments were added three branches: legislative, executive, judicial • new government balance in Congress house of Representatives: seats were proportional to population Senate: every state got 2 seats Conflicts between North and South over slavery north: slavery was abolished 3/5 of slaves were counted for representation in the House economic agreements taxing imports but not exports The constitutional framework 17 Amendments have been added after the Bill of Rights principles: federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances Federalism: • US Constitution: supreme law • state and local laws must conform to it • legal charges must be brought against a law to interpret its constitutionality • Amendments: 2/3 majority in Congress or 2/3 of the states • changes ratified by legislature or ¾ of the states Separation of powers: • legislative: Congress and support agencies • Executive: President and executive bureaucracy • judicial: US Supreme Court and federal courts • sb can serve in only one branch • President, Senator, Representatives are elected in independent elections Checks and balances • President: nominates federal judges veto legislation (can be overridden by 2/3 majority) • Congress: houses check each other remove members of other branches through impeachment • Senate must confirm their appointment • Supreme Court justices: for lifetime Constitutional change: • Civil War Amendments 13th: to abolish slavery 14th: slaves became citizens 15th: former male slave could vote • 17th (1913): US senators voted by a popular vote • 19th (1920): Women could vote • 26th (1971): voting age: 18 • 16th (1913): federal government: much greater financial power The political parties • founding fathers: political parties as factions narrow private interests and factions couldn’t gain significant power • one person is elected from each electoral district and need plurality to win the election separation of powers created parties • since 1856: Democrats and Republicans Differences between the parties Republicans Democrats - conservatives - voted by the rest of the states after the Civil War - 1932-1968: conservative: rural Midwest and West, liberal in the Northeast - election 2000: rural areas, small town, South, Mountain States - small governments, minimal regulation of business, low taxes, private solutions to poverty and social problems - George W. |
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Title: Introduction into the US
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