Focus on the USA

Cultural Studies 2016

The United States of America

The USA is not the same thing as

America!. America refers to the
whole continent and includes
North, South and Central America.
The United States is a huge
country. It is 40 times the size of
the United Kingdom! It is bounded
to the north by Canada; to south
by Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico;
to the west by the Pacific Ocean,
and to the east by the Atlantic
Ocean.

The States

The United States of America has a

Federal Government , it has 50 states,
and one Federal District- the District of
Columbia where Washington, the
capital is situated. Fourty of the states
are joined together between Canada
and Mexico, but Alaska is separated
from the rest of the states by Canada,
and Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean,
over 3,700 km west of California.
Each state has its own special flag,
song, animal, bird and motto. It has its
own Governor, laws, holidays,
customs, schools, universities, taxes,
police, etc. Even accents can vary
from region to region. Despite all these
differences, each of the 250 millon
people in the USA is an American.

The National Symbol

The USAs national symbol is

the bald eagle. It is a symbol of
freedom, strength and victory.
The National Symbol of the
USA, the bald eagle is the only
eagle unique to North
America.. The bald eagle was
chosen June 20, 1782 as the
emblem of the United States of
American, because of its long
life, great strength and
majestic looks, and also
because it was then believed
to exist only on this continent.
The eagle represents freedom.

The First Inhabitants

The firsts inhabitants of the USA

were the Native American.
LONG BEFORE the white man set
foot on American soil, the American
Indians, or rather the Native
Americans, had been living in
America. When the Europeans came
here, there were probably about 10
million Indians populating America
north of present-day Mexico. And
they had been living in America for
quite some time. It is believed that
the first Native Americans arrived
during the last ice-age,
approximately 20,000 - 30,000 years
ago through a land-bridge across
the Bering Sound, from
northeastern Siberia into Alaska.
The oldest documented Indian
cultures in North America are
Sandia (15000 BC), Clovis (12000
BC) and Folsom (8000 BC).

The USAs Flag

The USAs flag is called the Stars and Stripes.

There are 50 stars on it, one for each state in the
union, and 13 stripes which symbolize the original
13 states.
The stars and stripes of the American flag
originated as a result of a resolution adopted by
the Marine Committee of the Second Continental
Congress at Philadelphia on June 14, 1777. The
resolution read:
Resolved, that the flag of the United States be
thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the
union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field
representing a new constellation.
With the 50-star flag came a new design and
arrangement of the stars in the union, a
requirement met by President Eisenhower in
Executive Order No. 10834, issued August 21,
1959. To conform with this, a national banner with
50 stars became the official flag of the United
States. The flag was raised for the first time at
12:01 a.m. on July 4, 1960, at the Fort McHenry
National Monument in Baltimore, Maryland.

The USAs Motto

The USAs national motto is In God

We Trust.But ,every state has a motto
that reflects some of its history and
ethnic heritage.

"In God We Trust:"

And this be our motto: 'In

God is our trust.'
And the Star Spangled
Banner in triumph shall wave
Oer the land of the free and
the home of the brave."

The National Anthem

The Star Spangled Banner is the

national anthem of the USA, but most
of the states have at least one state
have at least one state song.
In 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote new
words for a well-known drinking song,
"To Anacreon in Heaven," to celebrate
America's recent victory over the
British. However, only in 1931,
following a twenty-year effort during
which more than forty bills and joint
resolutions were introduced in
Congress, was a law finally signed
proclaiming "The Star Spangled
Banner" to be the national anthem of
the United States.

Food

Hamburgers and Hot Dogs are the

favourite food in the USA. On average,
every American eats more than 200
hamburgers each day.On average
Americans spend 17% of their income
on food.Thats a very high percentage,
but then the variety of products and
dishes available in the States really is
staggering. You want junk food, health
food, fast food, take-away food or
snack food? No problem.You want to
eat Italian, Vietnamese,
Russian,French,Mexican,Japanese or
Spanish? Also no problem.these are
some of the USAs most popular and
best-loved dishes:

Clam Chowder; Tortillas; Popcorn;

Jambalaya; Waldorf Salad; Hamburgers;
Pumpkin Pie; Brownies; Hot-dogs;
Pancakes

American Data

Date of Independence:The United

States of America became an
independent country on 4th July, 1776.
Form of Government: Federal
Republic
Capital:Washington D.C.(the letters
D.C. stand for District of Columbia)
Number of States:50
Major Languages:American English
and Spanish.
Currency:US Dollar($)=100 cents.(c)
Coins include 1c(a penny) 5c(a
nickel)10c(a dime)25c(a quarter)
Area:9,363,130 square kilometres.
Highest Mountain:Mount Mc Kinley(in
Alaska)=6,194 metres high.
Lowest Point:Death Valley(in
California)=80 m below sea level.

Longest river:the MississippiMissouri=6,019 kilometres long.

Largest lake:Lake Superior covers
83,270 square kilometres
Major Cities:Atlanta,Boston,Chicago,
Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles,
Miami,New Orleans, New York,
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh,San
Francisco,washington D.C.
Time Zones:most Americans live within
four time zones. From west to east
these are called Pacific, Mountain,
Central and Eastern Standard.
There is a one-hour difference
between each zone, so when its 9am
in Los Angeles(Pacific Zone), its
already mid-day in New York(Eastern
Standard zone)

American Data

Major religious groups:the US has a

Christian majority-roughly half of whom
are Protestant and half Catholic-and a
Jewish minority.
Major Industries include:aerospace,
agriculture,arms,banking, cars,
chemicals,electronics,
entertainment,insurance,oil, steel,
textiles, tourism.

Major Public Holidays

New York:1st January
Martin Luther Kings Birthday:15th
January
Washingtons Birthday:22nd
February
Memorial Day:the last Monday in May
Independence Day:4th July
Labor Day:the first Monday in
September
Columbus day:the second Monday in
October
Veterans Day:11th November
Thanksgiving Day:the fourth
Thursday in November
Christmas Day:25th December