American historical, religious and cultural background

United States of America

A country in south-central North America. The territory also includes Alaska in the northwestern tip of North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the central Pacific Ocean. The full name of the United States of America. The area is 952.9 1 10,000 square kilometers. The population is 259 million (1994). White people account for 80. 3%, blacks accounted for 12. 1%, Mexicans accounted for 5.4%, Indians accounted for 1.878 million, and China accounted for 1.653 million. Most residents believe in Protestantism, followed by Catholicism, Judaism and Orthodox Church. Washington D.C.

North America was originally inhabited by Indians. /kloc-At the end of 0/5, Spain, the Netherlands, France, Britain and other countries began to immigrate to North America. 1606, Britain established its first city in North America-James, which later developed into a Virginia colony. 13 colonies were successively established by British colonists from the Atlantic coast in the east to the Appalachian mountains in the west in the 7th century and the first half of the 8th century. They brutally slaughtered local Indians and plundered a large number of blacks from Africa as slaves. 1775, the people's armed uprising in Boston started the first shot of the American people's war of independence against British colonial rule. The second continental congress was held in Philadelphia on 1776. Decided to form a continental army with G Washington as its commander in chief, and adopted the Declaration of Independence to formally declare the establishment of the United States of America. 1783 When the American War of Independence ended, Britain was forced to recognize American independence. 1787 adopted the federal constitution, held the first election at the end of next year, and Washington was elected as the first president. The federal government was established in 1789. 1812 ~1814 After the Second American-British War, the United States completely got rid of British rule. Since then, capitalism in the northern part of the United States has developed rapidly, but the southern part still maintains an agricultural economy that uses slave labor. The 65438+ American abolitionist movement rose in the early 1930s. 1860 * * and anti-slavery Republican A. Lincoln were elected president. The following year, the slave owners in the south launched a rebellion and the civil war broke out. 1In September, 862, Lincoln released The Emancipation Proclamation. 1865 the war ended in the victory in the north, clearing the way for the capitalist development of the whole United States.

/kloc-At the beginning of the 9th century, with the rapid development of capitalism, the American ruling class began to expand abroad. 1803, the United States took advantage of Napoleon's defeat in Haiti to buy the French colony Louisiana in North America. 18 12 The United States expanded westward and occupied Indian land. In 18 18 and 18 19, the United States purchased some land in North Dakota and Florida from Britain and Spain respectively. 1845 occupied Texas, Mexico. The following year, the United States declared war on Mexico under the pretext of the border incident, and Mexico was forced to "sell" 2.3 million square kilometers of land in the north (namely, California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado and other States) to the United States with 1848. /kloc-In the middle and late 20th century, the United States expanded and invaded overseas. 1867, the United States bought Alaska and Aleutian Islands from Russia for $7.2 million. 1898 annexed Hawaii, controlled Cuba through the war against Spain, and seized Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. 1903 occupy midway island and occupy Panama canal. 19 17 forced Denmark to "sell" the Virgin Islands. In the 100 years after 1776, the territory of the United States almost expanded by 10 times. With the development of capitalism, the power of the American proletariat has gradually grown. J Weidemai, a comrade-in-arms of Marx and Engels, founded the first Marxist group-Proletarian League in the United States on 1852. 1858, the national capitalist club joined the first international. 1869, American workers established the first national organization-the Knights of Labor. May 1886 Chicago workers' strike struggle and March 8 1909 Chicago women workers' strike demonstration made these two days May 1 International Labor Day and March 8 International Women's Day.

/kloc-from the end of 0/9 to the beginning of the 20th century, the United States entered the stage of imperialism. At the beginning of World War I, the United States declared "neutrality" and later declared war on Germany. After the war, he participated in the Paris Peace Conference where imperialism re-divided the world. From 65438 to 0929, an unprecedented economic crisis broke out in the United States. 1933, F. Roosevelt took office as president and proposed a "new deal" to get rid of the economic crisis. During World War II, the United States was "neutral" first and then entered the war. The monopoly bourgeoisie took the opportunity to make a fortune in the war, and the American economy and military power developed rapidly, and rose to become the overlord of the capitalist world after the war. The invasion of Korea in the early 1950s and zhina in the 1960s seriously weakened the strength of the United States, which experienced the worst economic crisis after the war at 1973 ~ 1975. Reagan became president of the United States on 198 1.

1988165438+1October * * * and Republican George W. Bush were elected president of the United States. During the Bush administration, the United States experienced the longest recession and the weakest recovery after the war. 1992165438+10 In October, Democratic presidential candidate W.J. Clinton was elected as the 42nd president of the United States. 1996165438+10, Clinton ran for re-election.

1787 was enacted in May, and 1789 came into effect in March, which stipulated that the United States is a federal state. In the past two centuries, the United States has made 26 constitutional amendments and made a series of provisions on the political system and civil rights. For example, in September of 179 1, the 10 constitutional amendment passed by the National Assembly (hereinafter referred to as the Civil Rights Act) provided for the protection of freedom of belief, speech, publication and the right to peaceful assembly; 13 and 15 adopted by 1865 and 1870 provide for the abolition of slavery and the recognition of the rights of black citizens; The amendment 19 adopted in 1920 recognizes women's right to vote; 195 1 The 22nd Amendment stipulates that the President can only serve two consecutive terms; 1967, the 25th amendment stipulates that if the president is unable to exercise his functions and powers, the vice president will be promoted to the presidency. The main content of the American constitution is to establish a federal state, and each state has greater autonomy, including legislative power; The political system of separation of powers is implemented, and the legislative, administrative and judicial powers are separated and mutually restricted.

The Congress of the United States, called Congress, is the highest legislative body. The Congress consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and the members of both houses are directly elected by the voters of each state. Each state has two senators, *** 100, with a term of six years and re-election every two years 1/3. The House of Representatives is elected in proportion to the population of each state, with a total of 435 members. The term of office is two years, and all of them will be re-elected at the expiration of their terms. Members of both houses can be re-elected indefinitely. Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives are full-time, and may not hold government posts concurrently. The Senate has 16 standing committees and 4 special and special committees. The House of Representatives has 22 standing committees and 5 special and special committees. Besides, there are four joint committees of the Senate and the public. The103rd congress was held in June 1992 1 1. 1994 After the mid-term elections, the strength of the Democratic Party and the * * * Party in the National Assembly changed, and both the * * * Party and the Democratic Party held majority seats in the Senate and the House of Representatives. The United States implements the presidential cabinet system. The president is the head of state, the head of government and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and has the right to convene an emergency session of Congress. The president's executive orders have the same effect as the law. The president is indirectly elected by the general election, that is, by the electors elected by the voters in each state; The term of office is 4 years, renewable once. The government cabinet consists of ministers and other officials appointed by the President. In fact, the cabinet only plays the role of assistant to the president and advisory group, and has no collective decision-making power. 1997 June 5438+ October, Clinton began his second presidential term. His main cabinet members are: Secretary of State madeleine albright, Finance Minister robert rubin, Defense Minister W Cohen and Trade Representative C barshefsky. There are about 15 political parties in the United States, but only the Democratic Party and the Republican Party play an important role in domestic political and social life. (1) Democratic Party. 179 1 was established, then called * * * and the party. 1794 was renamed democracy and the party. 1828 renamed Democratic Party. The party has no fixed platform, only an election platform that is put forward every four years. Party member is a voter who voted for his candidate in the general election. 2 * * * and the party. Established in 1854. Advocate "free economy" and minimize government (especially federal government) intervention in economic and social life. The party has no fixed platform, only a four-year campaign platform that reflects its traditional ideas. The Party does not have a fixed number of party member people. Generally, people who vote for * * * and party candidates in the presidential election will become their party member.