America - A Quick Overview

1.   How  America  got its name:

        Christopher  Columbus, a Spanish explorer, set on voyage westwards, in 1492, aiming to discover India, but actually touched America.  Subsequently, another Italian explorer by name Amerigo Vespucci,  also sailed westwards, and made several voyages to the new world. He collected much data,  and made several maps of the places discovered. Later,  when  both the explorers were no more, some reports appeared, calling the new world as ‘America’, in remembrance of Amerigo, who did more pioneering work.  

2.   Early History:    

        1565:   First permanent settlement by Spaniards in Florida.

        1605:   Their second settlement in New Mexico in Santa Fe.

        1607:   First English settlement in Virginia. 

        1620:   English pilgrims in large numbers came by a vessel by name ‘May Flower’ to Massachusetts.

           Subsequently, fierce competition set in between English and

French settlers. However, the former finally emerged victorious in 1763.  Spaniards persisted to continue, and had Florida under  them till 1819.  Meanwhile, the early settlers rebelled against the British authorities, and, after the War for Independence from the British, under the command of George Washington, the Declaration of Independence was signed by the then 13 colonies, on 4^th July 1776.  The thirteen states were:  Massachusetts,  Rhode Island, Connecticut,  New Hampshire,  New York,  New Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Virginia,  Maryland,  North and South Carolinas, and  Georgia.  Delegates from these States met in Philadelphia in 1787 to draft a new Constitution. For it to be adopted, at least nine of those states had to pass it, which was done in 1788,  and the Constitution adopted in 1789.  By 1790 all the 13 States  adopted it. Thus America emerged with 13 original states.

3.  American Flag:

        It was a patriotic woman of Philadelphia, Betsy Ross, who made the National Flag, under initial guidance from the first President,  George Washington, in 1777.  It had 13 stripes of alternately red and white horizontally, and a blue circle with 13 white stars . As new states began to join, more stars were added, keeping the red and white stripes untouched. Finally it became 50 stars that are now in the American Flag. To describe this flag , it has an aspect ratio of  3 : 2 (Horiz : Vertical), has thirteen horizontal stripes (seven red and six white in between) filling the entire flag, except in the top left rectangle (of height equal to half the height of flag, and length a little less than half the length of the flag), wherein, against a blue background, there are 50 white stars in nine rows (five of six each, and, four of five each in between). The colors in  the flag: red, white and blue, stand for Courage, Truth, and Justice respectively.

4.  American  National   Anthem: 

        “The Star Spangled Banner”, the National Anthem, has its tune composed by John Stafford Smith, and its words written by a

Baltimore lawyer, Francis Scott Key. The song was long popular with the Armed Services, but it was not until 1931 that Congress proclaimed it as the official National Anthem of USA.

Star Spangled Banner:

          Oh say!  Can you see, by the dawn’s early light,

          What so proudly we hailed, at the twilight’s last gleaming ?

          Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thru the perilous fight,

           Over the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming.

          And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

          Gave proof thru the night, that our flag was still there.

          Oh say, does the Star-Spangled Banner yet wave

          Over the land of the free, and the home of the brave ?

5.   US  Congress   (Legislative Branch of Govt) :

(Any democratic govt has three wings:  Legislature, Executive, and Judiciary.  The first to enact laws, the second to execute them, and, the third to oversee all the legal aspects. First, the legislative wing will be dealt with).

US legislature has two Houses. Senate and the House of Representatives. From each of the 50 states of USA, two Senators are sent.  Thus, Senate has 100 members, the number being fixed, irrespective of population changes, and whether a state is big or small. The term of a Senator is six years.  One-third of them go out of office every two years.  A Senator must be at least 30 years. The Vice-President of USA  presides over the Senate. He exercises his vote only in case of a tie, but only to pass a bill, and not against it.

        In the House of Representatives, their number from any State, depends on the population of the State. Hence, the basis is changed every ten years, after each new Census.  Initially, it was 1 for every 30,000 people. For the present US population of about 308 million, it becomes about 1 for every 700,000.  Representatives are usually called Congressmen.  Presently there are 435 of them. Each Congressman or Congresswoman, must be at least 25 years of age. The Presiding Officer of the House of Representatives, is called Speaker, elected by the members. He or she can vote on all issues, being a Member.

6.  How Laws are made :

         Any Law has to be passed by both the Houses. A proposed Law is called a Bill. A Bill can be passed in three ways:

1.  If both Houses pass it with a majority, send it to the President,  who when signs it, it becomes a Law.

2.  If President were to veto the Bill, it is returned to its starting point. Then, if both Houses pass it with two-third majority, it becomes a Law,  even without President’s signature.

3.  If President keeps the Bill for more than ten days, it becomes Law automatically, even without his signature.

7.  Powers  of  House of Representatives  and  Senate:

          The House of Representatives is empowered to begin considering all Bills that generate revenue, e.g., tax bills.

          Approval of Senate is needed for all Presidential appointments, including Members of his Cabinet (including  Secretary of State, Secretary of Treasury etc),  Judges, Ambassadors and Consuls to foreign countries. Treaties with foreign countries are to be approved by Senate, before President puts his Seal. On the recommendation of the President, it is Congress that can declare a war.

8.  Impeachment  of  a  President :

          Constitution provides for the impeachment  of President, Vice-President, and Federal Judges.  In case of impeachment proceedings against the President, it is taken up by House of Representatives, which can recommend impeachment, but the trial is undertaken by the Senate.  Normally, it is the Vice-President that presides over the Senate proceedings. But, in case of a trial for the impeachment of a President, the Presiding Officer for Senate would be the Chief Justice, and not the Vice-President. 

9.  Judiciary :

          Supreme Court is the highest federal court.  It has nine Judges. It is presided over by  the Chief Justice. Judges are appointed by the President, after approval of the Senate. They serve for life in general unless accused of breach of good behavior.

Supreme Court tries only important cases, and cases involving the interpretation of the Constitution.

         Besides the Supreme Court, there are eleven Circuit Courts of Appeal, and, 91 District Courts  whose number increases with the population.  Also, there are some Special Courts, e.g., Court of Claims, Court of Customs & Patent Appeals, Territorial Court etc.

10.  Amendments  to the  Constitution :

          These are passed the same way as other Laws, but need not go for Presidential signature.  An amendment to the Constitution must be cleared by both Houses of Congress, by a two-third majority. Then they are voted upon by State Legislatures, and, three-fourths of the States must ratify, for it to be passed. Till now 27 Amendments have been passed. The first ten were passed in 1791 itself, called the Bill of Rights. The 22^nd Amendment set the Presidential terms to two.  Initially, the President-elect used to take office on 4^th of March, following his election. But by the 20^th Amendment to the Constitution, the date changed to 20^th January.

11.  Executive  Branch : 

          In USA it is Presidential form of government. The eligibility qualifications for President and Vice-President, are as follows:

          No naturalized citizen can be President or Vice-President. They must be native-born citizens. The President must be at least 35 years of age, and be a resident of  USA  for fourteen years preceding his election. If President dies, resigns, or become unable to perform his duties, then, the Vice-President takes over as the President.  If both President and Vice-President are unavailable, the order of succession as the President is as follows:

          Speaker of the House of Representatives, President pro-tem of the US Senate,  Secretary of State,  Secretary of Treasury ….

US  Presidents:  The first President, George Washington, served for two terms. So did several others. It was only Franklin. D. Roosevelt, who was elected for a third term, after he so ably pulled the country out of the severe depression stage.  As mentioned earlier, the 22^nd Amendment to the Constitution set the limit as two terms.  Four of the Presidents viz.,  Abraham Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and  John F. Kennedy, met death at hands of assassins.

12.  Election  of the  President : 

          The President is elected by the people, but not directly. The minimum voting age became 18 years, by a Law passed by the Congress in 1970.  The people cast their votes for ‘Presidential  Electors’ who subsequently actually elect the President. The number of  Presidential Electors in any State, is the sum of the numbers of  Senators plus the number of Representatives in the State. The Presidential Electors  are not Members of the Congress. They are men and women elected solely as  Presidential Electors, by the concerned Party.  These are elected on the first Tuesday (after the first Monday) in November, once in four years. The National Conventions for the purpose of nominating candidates for President and Vice-President (who is solely picked up by the President as his running mate), are held by  Political Parties during the summer preceding the November election.  The total number of Presidential Electors in the entire country (who solely have the privilege and responsibility of electing the country’s  President), is the sum of the number of Members of both Houses of Congress plus three from District of Columbia in which is situated the nation’s capital, Washington. Hence it is  435 + 100 + 3  =  538.

          A person who wishes to vote for a Presidential candidate, say, Mr. X., casts his ballot for the Presidential Electors who have been nominated by the Political Party to which  Mr. X. belongs. These Electors are pledged to vote for the candidate nominated by that Political Party earlier.  In view of this, and with this expectation, it is almost known immediately after election, which candidate is likely to get a majority.  But the actual election of the President does not take place until the following month. On the Monday (after second Wednesday) in December, the Presidential Electors meet at the capitals of their respective States, and cast their votes to elect the President.

          Counting of Votes:  The Vice-President who is the Presiding Officer of the Senate, in presence of the Senators and the Congressmen, opens the lists, and the votes are counted. Whoever gets the majority, is declared elected.  If however, though rare, no

Candidate gets the majority, then, the House of Representatives elects the President, from among the top two or three in the lists. When this voting is done, the vote is by States, the representation from each State,  having one vote.

          This, in short, is a quick and brief overview of  USA.

(This is a gist of the talk which Dr. Krishna. M. Gutala  gave at the

  ICC  Cupertino, on 30^th May 2012).

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