Who rules the USA The Constitution

Who rules the USA ?

The Constitution • The Constitution is the highest law in the United States which describes the powers of the national government and the powers of the state governments. It was written in 1787 in Philadelphia. Changes in the Constitution are called amendments. The first ten amendments are called the Bill of Rights. • After the War of Independence (1775 -1783) all the states became free and independent , but they needed strong national government. That’s why in the year 1787 representatives from each state were sent to Philadelphia where they wrote the US Constitution.

The first page of the US Constitution

The US government is like a tree with three branches and a strong trunk. The branches are : the Congress , the President and his helpers and the Supreme Court. The Trunk of this tree is people.

The Congress - the first branch of government. • The first branch on this tree is the Congress. It is the meeting of representatives from all states. The Congress makes the laws. It is consists of two parts : The house of Representatives and the Senate. The Constitution gives many powers to the Congress.

The Senate. • Each state sends two people to the Senate. These people are called senators. The senator’s term is six years. There are one hundred senators in the Senate.

The House of Representatives. • Each state sends people to the House of Representatives. They are called congressmen or congresswomen. Their term is two years. The number of congressmen from each state depends on the number of people who live in this state. There are 435 congresmen in the House of Representatives.

The president - the second branch of government. • The second branch of the US government is the President and his helpers. They carry out the laws that the Congress makes. The Vice President and members of the Cabinet help the president to make decisions. A person who wants be the president must be born in the United States , must be at least 35 years old and must live in the United States for at least 14 years before becoming president. The President’s term is four years.

The Supreme Court – the third branch of government. • The Supreme Court is consists of nine judges – the most important judges in the USA. They work there as long as they live. They decide what the Constitution and the laws passed by the Congress mean when there is an argument about their meaning.