Chapter 2: Introduction to the United States of

America
General information

The United States of America is a federal republic on the continent of North America.
It has an area of 9,629,047 sq km (3,717,796 sq mi) and is the third largest country in
the world after Russia and Canada.

The United States consists of 48 contiguous states and the noncontiguous states of
Alaska and Hawaii. The 50 U.S. states vary widely in size and population. The largest
states in area are Alaska at 1,593,438 sq km, followed by Texas, and California. The
smallest state is Rhode Island, with an area of 3,188 sq km. The state with the largest
population is California (33,871,648 – 2000), followed by Texas, and New York. Only
493,782 people (2000) live on the plateaus and rugged mountains of Wyoming, the
least populous state.

Each state is subdivided into countries, with the exception of Louisiana, where
comparable political units are called parishes.

2.1. National Flag and National Anthem

2.1.1. National Flag
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The official national flag of the United States consists of 13 horizontal stripes, 7 red
alternating with 6 white, and in the upper corner near the staff, a rectangular blue field,
or canton, containing 50 five-pointed white stars.

The stripes symbolize the 13 colonies

that originally constituted the United
States of America. The stars represent
the 50 states of the Union. In the
language of the Continental Congress,
which defined the symbolic meanings
of the colors red, white, and blue, as
used in the flag. “White signifies
Purity and Innocene; Red, Hardiness
and Valor, and Blue, Vigilance, The Flag of the United States of America
Perseverance, and Justice.” Because
of its stars, stripes, and colors, the
American flag is frequently called the
Star Spangled Banner, the Stars and
Stripes, or the Red, White and Blue.
Another popular, patriotic designation,
Old Glory, is of uncertain origin.
Along the history of the United States, the American flag has undergone a process of
evolution. The early flags designed for use in the American colonies reflected the Old
World origin of the colonists. In the British colonies many flags were adaptations of
the British Union Jack. As relations with Great Britain became more strained, the
colonists designed a large number of flags expressive of their political sentiments and
ideals. On June 14th 1777, in order to establish an official flag for the new nation, the
Continental Congress passed the first Flag Act” “Resolved, that the flag of the United
States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen
stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” Because Congress had
made no rule for the arrangement of the stars, they were displayed in different ways.
The most usual arrangement was a circle.

As new states joined the Union, they demanded representation in the stars and stripes
of the flag. In 1795, Congress voted to increase to 15 the number of stars and stripes.
Legislation enacted in 1818 reestablished the number of stripes at 13 and instituted the
policy, “That on the admission of every new state into the Union, one star be added to
the union of the flag…” The current flag of the United States, adopted on July 4th 1960,
is the 27th official national flag. One star was added to the 26th flag for the admission of
the 50th state – Hawaii (August 21st, 1959).

2.1.2. National Anthem

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During the night of September 13, 1814, the British fleet bombarded Fort McHenry in
the harbor at Baltimore, Maryland. Francis Scott Key, a 34-year old lawyer-poet,
watching from a deck of a British prisoner-exchange ship. He had gone to seek the
release of a friend but they were refused permission to go ashore until after the attack
had been made. As the battle ceased on the following morning, Key turned hos
telescope to the fort and saw the American flag was still waving.

The sight so inspired him that he pulled

a letter from his pocket and began to
write the poem which eventually was
adopted as the national anthem of the
United States – “The Star Spangled
Banner”. The poem was written to
match the meter of the English song,
“To Anacreon in Heaven.” (by John
Stafford Smith), ironically the anthem
of a London social club. In 1931, the
Congress of the United States of
America enacted legislation that made
“The Star Spangled Banner” the “Then, in that hour of deliverance, my
official national anthem. heart spoke. Does not such a country, and
such defenders of their country, deserve a
song?”

Francis Scott Key

2.2. National Coat of Arms

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 Congress adopted the design for the Great Seal on June 20, 1782

(The front side of the Great Seal)

On July 4th 1776, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson were given
the task of creating a seal for the United States of America. The delegates of the
Constitutional Convention believed an emblem and national coat of arms would be
evidence of an independent nation and a free people with high aspirations and grand
hope for the future.

Great Seal was finalized and approved six years later on June 20 th 1782. The seal
reflects the beliefs and values that the Founding Fathers wanted to pass on to their
descendants. In the center of the seal is a bald eagle, the national bird of the United
States. The bald eagle, an endangered species, gets its name from an old English word,
“balde” which means “white,” not “hairless.” The bird was chosen as the emblem of
the United States because of its long life, great strength and majestic looks. Another
reason is that the bald eagle is the only unique eagle found on the North America
continent. The eagle represents freedom. In the seal, it holds in its beak a scroll
inscribed E pluribus unum, which is Latin meaning “out of many, one” and stands for
one nation that was created from 13 colonies. In one claw is an olive branch while the
other holds a bundle of thirteen arrows. The olive branch and arrows “denote the
power of peace and war.”

A shield with thirteen red and white stripes covers the eagle’s breast. The shield is
supported solely by the American eagle to denote that Americans should rely on their
own virtue. The red and white stripes of the shield represent the states united under
and supporting the blue, representing the President and Congress. The color white
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signifies purity and innocence; red, hardiness and valor; and blue signifies vigilance,
perseverance, and justice. Above the eagle’s head is a cloud surrounding a blue field
containing thirteen stars, which forms a constellation. The constellation denotes that a
new State is taking its place among other nations.

There is a pattern of thirteen in the Great Seal.

 13 stars in the crest above the eagle

 13 stripes in the shield upon the eagle’s breast

 13 arrows in the eagle’s left claw

 13 olives and leaves in the eagle’s right claw

 13 letters in the motto carried by the eagle, E Pluribus Unum

Why thirteen? Thirteen represents the first thirteen states – Massachusetts,

Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

The seal’s reverse side is sometimes

referred to as the spiritual side. It
contains a 13-step pyramid with the
year1776 in Roman numerals at the
base. At the top of the pyramid is the
Eye od Providence and above is the
motto Annuit Coeptis, meaning “It [the
Eye of Providence] is favorable to our
undertakings” or “He favors our
undertakings.” Below the pyramid, a
scroll reads, Nous Ordo Seclorum,
meaning “New Order of the Ages.” It
refers to 1776 as the beginning of the
American new era. The reverse side of the Great Seal

The Great Seal can be seen on the back of a one-dollar bill. The Secretary of State is
the official custodian of the seal. It is only attacked (affixed) to certain documents,
such as foreign treaties and presidential proclamations. The Great Seal is displayed
in the Exhibit Hall of the Department of State, in Washington, DC.

2.3. Other symbols of the USA

2.3.1. Liberty (Goddess)

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Liberty (also known as Lady Liberty or the Goddess of Liberty) personifies liberty
and freedom, particularly popular in the United States. Liberty is often depicted with
the five-pointed American stars, usually on a raised hand. Another hand may hold a
sword downward. One familiar depiction of Lady Liberty is the monumental Statue of
Liberty, a huge sculpture that located on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. The
Statue of Liberty was a gift to the USA from the people of France in recognition of the
French- American alliance during the American Revolution. Standing 305 feet (93
metres) high including its pedestal, it represents a woman holding a torch in her raised
right hand and a tablet bearing the adoption date of the Declaration of Independence
(July 4th 1776) in her left.

2.3.2. Columbia

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Columbia is a name used in the English
language for many things and places. The name
is derived from that of Christopher Columbus.
The term “Pre-Columbian” is used for
American cultures before the arrival of
Columbus and other European explorers. The
name “Columbia” is a poetic name for the
United States of America, which largely fell out
of use in the early 20th century.

Columbia was also a female personification of

the USA, similar to the male Uncle Sam, often
seen in political cartoons through the early 20 th
century and still used by cColumbia Pictures.
The term Columbian has been occasionally used as an alternative word for American
when referring to someone from the United States, but has not entered general use,
not least because of its confusing similarity to Colombian.

2.3.3. Uncle Sam

Uncle Sam, a figure symbolizing the

United States, is portrayed as a tall,
white-haired man with a goatee. He is
often dressed in red, white and blue and
wears a top hat.

The exact origins of Uncle Sam as a

symbol for the United States are
unknown. But the most widely accepted
theory is that Uncle Sam was named
after Samuel Wilson.

During the War of 1812, Samuel Wilson was a businessman from Troy, NY that
supplied the U.S. Army with beef in barrels. The barrels were labeled “U.S.”. When
asked what the initials stood for, one of Wilson’s workers said it stood for Uncle
Sam Wilson. The suggestion that the meat shipments came from “Uncle Sam” led to
the idea that Uncle Sam symbolized the Federal Government and association stuck.
In 1961, Congress passed a resolution that recognized Samuel Wilson as the
inspiration for the symbol Uncle Sam.

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 But Samuel Wilson looked nothing like the Uncle Sam pictured above. Uncle Sam’s
traditional appearance, with a white goatee and star-spangled suit, is an invention of
artists and political cartoonists.

2.3.4. The Liberty Bell

Cast in London, England in 1752, the

Liberty Bell rang when the Continental
Congress signed the Declaration of
Independence and has become the symbol
of freedom in the United States. The bell
weighs about 2000 pounds and is made
mostly of copper (70%) and tin (25%).
The bell is the official bell of the
Pennsylvania State House (today caked
Independence Hall). It was originally
called the State House Bell or the
Province Bell.
The bell was first called the Liberty Bell around 1839 by abolitionist (anti-slavery)
publications. Today, the Liberty Bell us still gently rung each July 4th.