| A | B |
|---|
| colony | oversea settlements tied to a parent or native country |
| secede | withdraw or pull away, as the southern states did from the United States |
| 13,000 BC | people from Asia crossed a land bridge from Asia to America |
| native Americans | descendants of the Asian people who crossed the land bridge |
| northeast native Americans | fished and hunted |
| south and southeast native Americans | farmed, especially corn |
| northwest native Americans | fished and used lumber |
| southwest native Americans | irrigated the land and farmed, especially corn and beans |
| Great Plains native Americans | hunted and used parts of buffalo |
| AD 1500s | approximate years Europeans explored America |
| representative democracy | a form of government in which voters choose leaders |
| federal republic | a form of democratic government used in the USA in which power is divided between the states and the national government |
| immigrant | people who move to a new country to make a permanent home |
| rural | the countryside |
| urban | city area |
| suburb | community outside a large city area |
| France | These settlers lived around the Great Lake area and the Missippi River Valley |
| Great Britain | These people first settled from Massachusetts to Georgia along the Atlantic Ocean |
| Spain | These people settled in the south and southwest, from Texas to California |
| AD 1775 | American colonists rebelled against Great Britain |
| American Revolution | War fought between the American colonists and Great Britain |
| AD 1783 | The year the American Revolution ended |
| Independence | This was officially declared by the American colonists on July, 4, 1776 |
| France and Spain | Two countries that helped the American colonists win the American Revolution. |
| State Constitution | a plan of government for each state in the USA |
| AD 1787 | Philadelphia, the Constitutional Convention |
| constitution | a plan of government |
| US Constitution | a national plan of government that is the basis of all law in the USA |
| two hundred and sixteen years | the age of the US Constitution |
| limtited powers | government cannot interfere with people's rights |
| model | The US Constitution is used as this for other countries' constitutions because it has worked so well |
| amend | change |
| AD 1789 | the year the US Constitution went into effect in our country |
| constitutional amendment | a change or addition to the Constitution |
| AD 1791 | the year the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments, were added to the Constitution |
| AD 1788 | the year that the Constitution was approved |
| president | serves as a leader in a federal republic |
| three branches | power is separated into different groups in the USA so no one has absolute power |
| executive | US branch of government that makes sure that the laws are followed |
| judicial | US branch of government that explains the Constitution and makes sure that laws follow the Constitution |
| legislative | US branch of government that makes the laws |
| Congress | The US house of representatives and the Senate |
| vice president | the assistant leader of the USA |
| thirty two | the number of states added to the USA between the years 1800 and 1900 |
| Industrial Revolution | a period of time in US history when factories and technology boomed |
| AD 1861 | the beginning of the Civil War between the northern US states and the southern US states |
| AD 1865 | the year the Civil War between the northern and southern states of the USA ended |
| slavery | this was stopped at the end of the US civil war |
| civil rights conflicts | after WW II these problems were addressed for women and ethnic groups |
| terrorist attacks | these occurred on September 11, 2001 in the USA |
| Homeland Security Act | established a new department to protect the nation against acts of terror, such as the 9/11 attacks |
| 292 million | the USA population |
| northeastern | region of the USA that is the most crowded area in the country |
| seventy-five | percentage of people of European descent in the USA |
| twelve | percent of Americans who are descendants from the continent of Africa |
| native Americans | the smallest, yet oldest ethnic group of Americans in the USA |
| Hispanic | the fastest growing ethnic group in the USA |
| English | the official language of the USA |
| Christianity | the most practiced religion in the USA |
| Protestantism | the form of the Christian religion most practiced in the USA |
| Spanish | the second most spoken language in the USA |
| Buddhism | another religion practiced by Americans |
| city-dwellers | Where most people live in the USA |
| leisure time | Americans have a lot of this, which they use for sports and recreation |
| literature and art | this teaches us about American life |
