Preamble: We the People of the United
States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice,
insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote
the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves
and out Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the
United States of America.
Article IV, Section 2: The Citizens of each State shall be
entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several
States. A person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other
Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State,
shall on Demand of the Executive Authority of the State from which he
fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction
of the Crime.
Article IV, Section 3: The Congress shall have Power to
dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the
Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and
nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice
any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.
Article IV, Section 4: The United States shall guarantee to
every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall
protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the
Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be
convened) against domestic Violence.
Article VI: This Constitution, and the Laws of the United
Stateds which shall be made in Pursuance thereof, and all Treaties
made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United
States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every
State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws
of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding. The Senators and
Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several
State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of
the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath
or Affirmation, to support this Constitution...
Amendment 4: The right of the people to be secure in their
persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches
and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but
upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and
particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or
things to be seized.
Amendments 5: No person shall be held to answer for a capital,
or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of
a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or
in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public
danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be
twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any
criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of
life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall
private property be taken for public use, without just
compensation.
Amendment 6: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall
enjoy the right toa speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of
the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed,
which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to
be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be
confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory
processd for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the
Assistance of Counsel for his defense.
Amendment 9: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain
rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained
by the people. (People have other rights, not found in the
Constitution).
Amendment 10: The powers not delegated to the United States
byt he Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved
to the States respectively, or to the people.
T F 1. The U.S. Government is made up of 2 main branches.
T F 2. The branches of our government include the
executive, the legislative, and the
judicial.
T F 3. The President of the United States is a part of the judicial branch.
T F 4. If you were a judge in a federal court, you would be a member of the legislative branch.
T F 5. The legislative branch includes Congress, which consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
T F 6. The armed forces of the United States are part of the executive branch, and are commanded by the President of the United States.
T F 7. As one of 100 members of the United States Senate, a senator is an important part of the legislative branch.
T F 8. The Supreme Court is a small court in the state of Alabama.
T F 9. The Supreme Court, federal courts, and circuit courts all make up the judicial branch of the United States Government.
Economic news often dominates newspaper headlines
and radio and television newscasts. This news is almost always about
things going up and down. Perhaps some things are going up--prices,
and unemployment. Other things may be going down--profits, or the
stock market. A depression can be described as a time when all
of these things are moving in the wrong direction.
Why do depressions occur? Experts who study depressions closely do
not understand all the reasons why they occur. During a depression,
unemployment is very high, incomes fall dramatically, and many
businesses fail. Usually, depressions are followed quickly by a rise
in the economy. Like a yo-yo, it's up and down. But the Great
Depression of the 1930's did not fit this pattern.
In October of 1929, the United States' stock market crashed. The
stock market crash occurred when a great number of people decided to
sell stock at the same time. Stock prices fell dramatically. This
caused a panic. More people tried to sell their stocks before the
value fell again. The great fall in stock prices caused some banks to
fail because they had invested in the stock market and because people
who had lost money in the stock market could not repay the money they
had borrowed from banks.
The depression that started with the 1929 stock market crash was so
severe that it is called the Great Depression. This was a time
of great hardship for many people. Money was tight for the people,
but the prices of food, clothing, and shelter were high. Most people
barely got by, and any extra "nice" things were rare. This was such a
terrible time that economists and the government have done all they
can to avoid having it happen again.