Our Vice President is pictured on the left and her name is Kamala Harris. 

Angus King’s title is U.S. Senator (from Maine).

This is Joe Biden and the main purpose of his job is to carry out (enforce) the laws made by Congress.

This woman’s title is US Representative (from Maine) and there are 434 other people who hold that title today.

Her name is Chellie Pingree.

The man in Rep. Jared Golden and the woman is Sen. Susan Collins.  They both work in the legislative branch.  Their job is to make laws.

This is the Capitol Building and it is associated with the legislative branch.

In general, legal cases are decided in this building by the Supreme Court.  They interpret laws and the Constitution.

Senators and Representatives do most of their work in the Capitol Building.

The brick building is not the White House.  It is Wells Junior High.

The White House has a curved “portico” (entrance area) on one side and a rectangular entrance on the other.  It does not have a dome like the Capitol Building.  It has less columns and stairs in front than does the Supreme Court.

Each of these buildings is a federal building; each is white in color; each is in Washington, DC.

If they were privately owned they would not be federal buildings because federal means…of the central or national government.

The Preamble

The Constitution has seven articles.  

          7

The first ten amendments to the Constitution are called The Bill of Rights.  

There are 27 amendments, one chief executive at a time (the President), two Senators per state, and nine Supreme Court Justices.

The purpose of the US Constitution is to tell the rules and laws for how our government works and to list  the rights of the people, the states, and the federal government.

An amendment is a change, as in a change to the Constitution.

A majority is at least half plus one. 

The written explanation of a decision made by the Supreme Court is called an opinion. 

If someone is naturalized it means that he or she has become a citizen, even though he or she was not born in the USA.  To be naturalized you must live in the US for a certain length of time, take classes, and pass a citizenship test.

The President’s inaugural speech is given on the day that he or she is sworn into office.  

This is known as  inauguration day. 

There are 100 Senators in the legislative branch of the US government.

The cabinet works with the executive branch.

Federalism is a system where the national and state governments share powers so that neither one becomes too powerful.  

Answers will vary. 

Some examples are: 

Congress can check the powers of the President by having to approve appointments of ambassadors and Supreme Court Justices. 

Also, Congress can impeach a President.

The President can check the power of Congress by vetoing a law.

The USA has a separation of powers into three branches so that one branch of government does not get too powerful and have the ability to abuse its power. 

With checks and balances, we make sure that no ONE branch is free to do whatever they want.  This is one way that citizens are protected from unfairness and poor decisions that may be made by our leaders.