American Citizenship: Responsible Participation in the Civic Life of the United States of America

By Alvaro Garcia

A guide to American citizenship and history, from the colonies to the present day, aimed at immigrants applying for US citizenship, people around the world interested in applying, or native born citizens who may want to have a quick reference source on various aspects of American history, their influence on the nation to the present day, and how they shape the ongoing assimilation of immigrants in America. It includes US history, the country's current situation, and some of the future challenges that will have to be met by native born and naturalized citizens alike. It also includes the one hundred questions from which the current US citizenship test questions are drawn, with a reference to the chapter in which the material is mentioned.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alvaro Alejandro Garcia
• Release date: Dec 31, 2012
• ISBN: 9780988643109

Book preview

American Citizenship: Responsible Participation in the Civic Life of the United States of America

AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP:

Responsible Participation in the Civic Life of the United States of America

First Edition

Copyright © 2011 Alvaro Alejandro Garcia

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

ISBN: 978-0-9886431-0-9

Preface

The United States of America has been a magnet for immigrants throughout its entire existence.  It is a country settled by people who left everything behind to begin a new life here. This has been the case for four centuries; the early settlers along the Atlantic seaboard and those in the deep Southwest had something in common: they all took their chances and ventured into the unknown. The country’s Founding Fathers took similar chances by breaking from British rule, risking their own lives in pursuit of an ideal. They understood that the foundation they were building had to be strong, yet flexible. A few years later, free from foreign rule, they sought to enshrine the highest ideals of democracy and freedom in the U.S. Constitution, beginning a grand experiment in governance in which power emanated from the people. After a shaky start, and despite the challenges faced and the missteps made over the years, the nation flourished and became a place sought by people from every corner of the world. This is still the case today. This book is for those people who have made, or whose ancestors have made, that same journey to the United States, which means most of us.

I did not write American Citizenship to address the current debate about immigration. Rather, I wrote the book to ensure that those who have come here from other countries achieve a certain level of understanding of American history, of the current state of the country, and of the future that they and their children will be responsible for. My intention is that the knowledge gained here will lead many to a deeper appreciation of the country and to a greater civic and political involvement, so necessary for the country’s future well being.

This book does not seek to take the place of what is being taught in schools across the nation. It is instead intended to act as an introduction to, or supplement to such material. It achieves its intended educational purpose by introducing the reader to a brief history of the United States. By first giving an overview of U.S. history, American Citizenship gives people a context into which they can put the daily events of their lives and those of the nation as a whole. The second half of the book focuses on the current state of the country, on some of the most important issues that will define American life in this second decade of the 21st century, and on the role that new citizens play in the current and future life of this most unique of national experiments called the United States of America.

The reader familiar with American history may find American Citizenship lacking in detail. It is intentionally so. There are many professional historians who can write a scholarly work, and I do not seek to beat them in their field of expertise. I simply intend to increase citizens’ awareness of this wonderful country by creating an easy to read overview of the nation’s history and its current situation. I believe it is important to do so, for the country will face new challenges in the 21st century, and only through a clear understanding of what makes it exceptional will people from every background, and in every corner of this nation be able to pull together and continue striving to create a more perfect Union.

Al Garcia,

Sugar Land, Texas, USA

Section Summaries

SECTION 1: United States history

Chapter 1-The country’s origins: prehistory to 1600’s

Native Americans; Spanish, English and French explorations; early European settlers and why they came; groups that settled in the U.S. between 1620 and 1776, and how they were received.

Chapter 2-The colonial period, the Revolutionary War & independence: 1600’s to 1800.

The beginning of westward expansion; French and Indian Wars; Clouds gather over the colonies; The Boston Tea Party; The Revolutionary War; The U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Chapter 3-A young nation grows up: 1800 to 1860.

The Louisiana Purchase; The War of 1812; The Texas question; Manifest Destiny and the Mexican-American War; the issue of state rights and slavery; Immigration from other countries.

Chapter 4-Civil War and expansion overseas: 1860 to 1918.

The Civil War and the 13th, 14th, 15th Amendments; Reconstruction; Jim Crow in the South; Immigration wave at end of century; Empire Building and the Spanish American War; World War One and the American role in it.

Chapter 5-A test of character: 1918 to 1945.

The interwar period; the Roaring Twenties; the Great Depression and the New Deal; World War Two.

Chapter 6-The Cold War years: 1945 to 1960s.

The postwar boom; The Korean War; The US as a superpower and the fight against communism; The Space Race; The Cuban Missile Crisis.

Chapter 7-The making of modern America: 1960s to present day.

The Civil Rights Movement; Great Society programs; Renewed immigration; The Vietnam War; The 1973 oil crisis and Watergate; Ronald Reagan and the end of the Cold War; George H.W. Bush and the fall of communism; The Gulf War; The Clinton years; America in the 21st century: The George W. Bush Years; 9/11; The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; Globalization and foreign policy challenges; A third Industrial Revolution; The Financial Crisis of 2008-2009; The Obama presidency.

SECTION 2: The American Project today

Chapter 8-The current state of the Union: the domestic situation

Current state of the Union; The ongoing struggle to define America; Demographic change; The political arena; Economic climate; Health care; Technology: a new industrial revolution; Energy; Education.

Chapter 9- The United States and the world today

The importance of the history; Reality check: the 1990’s and the new millennium; The continuing impact of the Great Recession; Immigration; America's self image in a changing world; Main Street and Wall Street; Energy independence and national security.

SECTION 3: Renewing the Union

Chapter 10-Facing the nation’s challenges with common sense

A turnaround needed; Education, the best way to get ahead; Energy independence; Our federal debt; Entitlements; Business in America; The political process; Citizen responsibility; Healthcare; Technology and growth; The environment; Food supply; Taxation; The media; Religion and public life; Language in America; National culture

Chapter 11-The US and the world in the twenty first century

America’s evolving role; The U.S. and the Western Hemisphere; Globalization and the rise of Asia; The U. S. and the Arab world; Immigration in America’s future; the danger of over commitment; Final thoughts on the true source of U.S. strength and on the future.

Appendix-Study material

The U.S. Government: a brief description of its three branches. Useful facts about the country for those living in the United States, who are going through, or planning to go, the process of U.S. citizenship, for those around the world who intend to apply for U.S. citizenship, or for anybody wishing to brush up on their long-forgotten knowledge. 100 question bank with questions used on the U.S. citizenship test, and the pages on which the answers to these questions are located in the book.

SECTION 1 

United States History

Chapter 1

The Country’s Origins: Prehistory to 1600’s

The Early Settlements

The present territory of the continental United States was first populated as a result of human migrations which are believed to have taken place twelve to twenty thousand years ago. As hunter gatherers from Asia crossed over the Bering Strait, they moved south and settled the Americas, in a process that took several thousand years. Through thousands of years, Amerindian groups flourished and developed hunting and agriculture-based cultures that achieved elaborate building techniques and irrigation schemes, such as the case of the Pueblo Indians in the area of present day Arizona and New Mexico. This development reached a high level in many places, as demonstrated by the archaeological record in the Southwest, and the evidence of an active trade between the Southwestern U.S. cultures and Mesoamerican cultures as far back as the Teotihuacan and Classic Maya period around 500 A.D.

After Columbus’ rediscovery of the Americas in 1492 the Spanish began the exploration of the present day West, Southwest and central plains of the U.S. in the sixteenth century. Various expeditions to these areas were led by conquistadors Ponce de Leon, Cabeza de Vaca, Coronado, Cabrillo, and De Soto, among others. Following the pattern established in Mexico and Peru, these expeditions were generally prompted by a search for riches. Specifically, rumors of the existence of the rich cities of Cibola and Quivira were a driving force behind several of them. The expeditions had no success in their quest for gold, but they did add to European knowledge of North America. With settlements in Cuba and Mexico, the mapping of the entire Gulf of Mexico coast was completed by the Spanish shortly after the conquest of Mexico, which took place in 1521. By the mid 1500’s, most of the coastline of today’s continental United States had been mapped. An important milestone in this early period of U.S. history was the establishment of St. Augustine, the first permanent European settlement in the country, founded by the Spanish in present day Florida in 1565.

Other European powers were similarly engaged in exploring the part of the North American land mass that would eventually become the United States. The French expanded their knowledge of the continent through their trade of animal pelts with Native Americans along the St. Laurence River basin, and down the Mississippi River. But it was the English who made the biggest and ultimately most successful efforts by exploring and founding colonies in what is today the Northeast United States. Their first attempts, in 1586 and 1587, were abandoned and wiped out by Native Americans, respectively. But after the foundation of Jamestown in 1607, the English were successful in establishing more colonies. The 1619 voyage of the Mayflower, a small ship that sailed from Plymouth, England to America with 56 people on board, marks the point in American history where immigration from England became a constant event, with far reaching consequences for the world.

In addition to the English, people from other European countries also began to establish settlements in America. The most famous example is that of the Dutch, who got in on the act by establishing New Amsterdam, which eventually became New York when it was sold to the English for twenty four pounds.

These explorations were driven by commercial, scientific, and geopolitical motives. The Spanish had demonstrated, with their conquest of Mexico, that there were many riches to be had for those who had the courage and intelligence to explore and conquer the New World. In doing so, they launched a feverish race to see who could find the next Tenochtitlan, as the rich Aztec capital was called, or the next Inca Empire.

Unfortunately for the settlers in North America, but rather fortunately for the future development of the country, there were no more cities of gold, and rich mines as there were in Mexico and Peru. Instead, many of those who came did so generally to avoid political or religious persecution. Apart from a common desire to live free of oppression, what most of these people wanted was a plot of land they could call their own, and the freedom to live life and worship as they saw fit, without having to worry about the government. Many came as indentured servants and had to pay off the Atlantic voyage through hard labor, often for several years. Most immigrants had very little to lose in their country of origin, and much to gain by coming to this far off land.

The voyage across the Atlantic was a long, perilous trip, and many ships went down in stormy weather. But for those who made it across, the American continent offered unmatched opportunities. Despite the frigid winters, the constant danger of starvation, and the often dangerous native inhabitants, people kept coming to this new land, for it offered opportunity in a way no other did.

The Native Americans living along the East Coast received these newcomers in different ways. Some were friendly and helped them adapt to their new land. The national American holiday of Thanksgiving celebrates one such case which occurred in 1621 when the colonists celebrated a bountiful harvest that was made possible by the help they received from Native Americans. But in many occasions, Native Americans fought fiercely against what they rightly saw as an invasion of their ancestral lands. As immigration continued, there were constant clashes between European immigrants and Native Americans, and it was only through firepower, disease, and the sheer force of numbers that European settlements along the Eastern seaboard became safer from attack, as the original inhabitants gradually decreased in number and retreated farther West.

The English gradually realized the true extension of the land being claimed for the King through expeditions such as those of John Cabot, Francis Drake, and James Cook. The new lands gave them an imperial reach that their island country had previously lacked. With the Spanish mostly focused on their mineral-rich Central and South American empires, the only real competition came from the French, and the continuous exploration done by the English was driven by a need to consolidate territorial claims. Immigrants from Europe aided the colonization effort. Groups from Germany, Scotland, Wales and England dominated initially, but there were also pockets of Dutch and Swedish in present day New York and Delaware. The Spanish, meanwhile, continued their exploration of the South and Southwest, and pushed the boundaries of European civilization in those areas by establishing missions with the purpose of converting Native Americans to Christianity.

No one really knows how many people lived in North America at the time, but it is believed that they numbered in the millions. The American Indians, as they were called then or Native Americans as they are now commonly referred to, living here were members of many tribes spread across the continent. These tribes had a variety of languages and very diverse customs. Among these tribes, the Iroquois League, Choctaw, Shawnee, and Delaware were all important groups in the Northeast who came in contact with European settlers in the early days of colonization.

The Central Plains, extending from the Mississippi to the Rockies, and all the way from present day Canada to south of the Rio Grande, were inhabited by tribes that depended on hunting and gathering, often following the great buffalo herds as they made their annual migrations. The Sioux, Apache and Comanche are among those tribes that inhabited the Plains and had the biggest impact on the history of the settlement of that frontier.

The horse, introduced by the Spaniards into Mexico in the 16th Century, had found a home in the open plains after horses that had escaped from the Spanish expeditions multiplied. Horses became an indispensable part of the plains inhabitants’ way of life during the seventeenth century. This way of life would continue unchanged until the mid 1800’s, when the westward expansion of the U.S. would bring the various tribes into conflict with the European settlers, a conflict that lasted decades and ended in the destruction of the old way of life.

Chapter 2

The Colonial Period, the Revolutionary War and Independence: 1600’s to 1800

The beginning of westward expansion

As the United States continued to attract more immigrants from Europe it expanded southwards and westwards. North American colonies became a very important part of the growing British Empire, and their population grew gradually from immigration and from natural growth. Relationships between the colonies and England remained cordial, and Americans colonists remained loyal British subjects. After the initial settlements in Virginia, people had settled in other areas, founding a total of thirteen colonies: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia. These are referred to as the Thirteen Colonies, and are represented on the United States flag by the red and white stripes.

The colonies were founded as places where freedom of religion prevailed. By the time of the Revolutionary War in the 1770’s, the colonies had been attracting people who were looking for a place to exercise their religion without fear of persecution for over one hundred and fifty years.  This religious freedom was in stark contrast with the European countries of the time, including England, where the line between Protestant and Catholic was clearly drawn, and where conflict between those practicing Judaism and Islam and Christianity in its various denominations had led to bloody wars and intolerance for religious minorities.

As the colonies grew and prospered, a very active trade was established with Europe. Tobacco, animal hides and later on, cotton, were high value exports that the colonies sent to Europe. In exchange they got a variety of finished goods, tea, spices and something else that became crucial for the development of the country: slaves.

Slavery, practiced by many nations at the time, was adapted to American plantations and made into a large scale enterprise. As demand for labor grew, the trafficking of people from Africa to the European colonies in the New World became a big, bloody business. This shameful human traffic became a critical underpinning of the economies of the colonies, especially those in the South whose economic development relied on agricultural products produced at plantations that required a large pool of constantly renewable labor.

North America continued to