American Government

US independence was a huge event! This definitely laid the foundations of this great nation. 

I find particularly interesting the fact that the thirteen former colonies kept their autonomy. In my opinion, Americans wanted to be the master of their own destiny: nobody rules them but themselves. 

It is also amazing to know how Americans created and organized their form of government. As in many countries, there are three branches in the US: legislative branch (Congress), executive branch (The President), and the judicial branch (Supreme Court). Perhaps what differs from those other countries is that each branch has powers over the other; this is known as “checks and balance”, and prevents any one branch from gaining undue power. This is the reason why The President is not as powerful as people use to think. 

Regarding the elections, I would say that the system of national Presidential elections is a little bit difficult to understand. Citizens who want to vote must register as voter (it is not obligatory to vote in US). In addition, the “Electoral College” reports the “electoral votes” which are equal to the number of Senator and Representatives each state has in Congress. Despite its complexity, it seems to be the best system for Americans. 

Finally, while in many countries there are plenty of political parties, in America there are just two (in fact, there are more, but they do not influence too much): the Republicans and the Democrats. The traditional European terms of “right” and “left” may fit these two parties, but it actually does not. For example, a Democrat could be “liberal” as well as “conservative”. It is necessary to study these political parties without any “denomination”.

Natives in America?

Although second class’ subject was the immigration in America, I’d like to write about the first immigrant of this nation: Native Americans.

Due to my lack of knowledge, I used to think that there were not inhabitants in America before Europeans arrived. How wrong I was! I have just learnt that first Americans came from Eurasia via Beringia, a former land bridge which connected America to present-day Europe across what is now Bering Strait. Several ethnic groups and tribes settled in the vast central lands of present-day United States and occupied them for many centuries.

However, European arrival resulted in a huge change in Native tribes: the population decreased dramatically since natives did not have immunity to new diseases brought from the Old World. Besides, many tribes had to cede a great quantity of their territories after bloody, long-term wars; they were forced to settle in specific areas.

Nowadays, most of the Native Americans live in Indian Reservations and possess sovereignty, even though it is limited. On the other hand, there is an important number of native which do not live in reservations but in big western cities such as Phoenix and Los Angeles.

I wonder why these people do not have much presence in American culture, I mean, why they do not appear much in American films or series. Of course I believe there are plenty of studies about Native Americans, but it seems that they are not part of US’ history. Perhaps I am exaggerating…