1. The United States Government
NEXT

2. Democracy
• Democracy comes from the Greek word for
“Power of the people”.
• After being under the rule of the English
Monarchy, the American Colonists decided to
adopt democracy as their new form of
government.
• The Founding Fathers started this idea by
creating the Declaration of Independence.
NEXT 

3. Other Types of Government
• Monarchy • Oligarchy
– Greek for “rule by one”. – Greek for “rule by a few”.
– Can also be known as Tyranny – Similar to democracy in many
or Dictatorship. respects
– Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany is – Can be argued how to decide
a strong example of a democracy from oligarchy
dictatorship. based on “how many is a
few?”
– Oligarchies were seen often
along with democracies in
early Greece.
NEXT 

4. Declaration of Independence
• The Declaration of Independence was an
official document written by Thomas
Jefferson, among others, declaring the United
States of America to be of foreign rule.
Click HERE to read the
full Declaration of
Independence in PDF
Format.
NEXT 

5. The Constitution
• The Constitution of the United States of America is
the oldest constitution which is still in use in the
entire world!
• The Constitution, written by the Founding Fathers,
lists all basic rights of the citizens of this country and
has essentially made our government what it is
today.
Click HERE for a link to
view the full Constitution
of the United States on
the internet.
NEXT 

6. Checks and Balances
• The Constitution also sets up the idea of Checks
and Balances amongst the three branches of our
government.
• The three branches are: Click HERE to view a chart of
the checks and balances of
– Legislative Branch the United States
Government in a PDF
• Makes laws document.
– Judicial Branch
• Interprets laws
– Executive Branch
• Enforces laws
NEXT 

7. Checks and Balances Continued
• The Legislative branch consists of the House of
Representatives and Congress.
• The Judicial branch is made up of the Supreme Court
Justices.
• The Executive Branch in headed by the President.
Click HERE to
watch a video
about checks
and balances
via youtube.
NEXT 

8. Government Today
• Today the United States still upholds the
values set forth by the Founding Fathers.
• Some interpretations of the specific parts of
the Constitution have changed over time and
are constantly debated.
NEXT 

9. Sources
• http://dnewell1.wordpress.com/2008/07/03/the-declaration-of-independence-the-birth-of-
wite-out/ (picture)
• http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2007/02/the-us-founding-fathers-who-were-these-guys/
• http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/
• http://bargainprofessor.wordpress.com/2009/11/01/1023/ (picture)
• http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html
• http://www.congressforkids.net/Constitution_threebranches.htm
• http://www.uen.org/utahlink/activities/view_activity.cgi?activity_id=20942 (picture)
• http://missmax.netfirms.com/8th_grade/check_balances.jpg (checks & balances link page 6)
• http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ac42
• http://hs.riverdale.k12.or.us/~hfinnert/exhib_06/wesc/ (picture)
• http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/SSGLCE_218368_7.pdf (Michigan GLCS)