Results of the elections in the USA

Source: http://ingenia-pro.com/2012/08/diario-de-campana-usa-2012-quedan-12-semanas/

As some of you have showed interest on this topic, here you have the link to a website that offers complete information about the Presidential election, the future composition of the two Chambers, the elections to governors in some States and the results of ballot propositions. The Ballot Measures´ section is very interesting, because you can see what most of the voters of every State think about some burning topics: marijuana legalization, same-sex marriage, taxes on tobacco or gambling, funds for abortion and education, mandatory healthcare system...

http://www.politico.com/2012-election/map/#/President/2012/

One last piece of information about 2012 elections voter turnout: less than 50% of the eligible voters  participated in the elections yesterday. Barack Obama has had 10 million votes less than 4 years ago and Mitt Romney has collected 3 million votes less than John McCain in 2008. Here you have a link to a website with information about voter turnout in presidentials election since 1828. Figures show that little more than 50% of the eligible voters participate in the elections since the 70´s of the last century: 

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/data/turnout.php

Some videos to understand the American Revolution

Here you have some videos that explain the reasons for discontent of the North American colonists, the first protests, the Declaraction of Independence during the Second Continetal Congress of Philadelphia and the war against Great Britain. Some of them belong to an old TV series for kids called Schoolhouse Rock! and one is featured by the Muppets

This song is called No more kings! and it explains why the uprising against the British begun. The lyrics are on the following link: 

http://www.schoolhouserock.tv/No.html

On this video the Muppets reenact the SEcond Continental Congress, where the representatives of the 13 colonies decided to declare independence from Great Britain

Another song about the Declaration of Independence on the 4th July 1776. It´s called Fireworks and here you have the lyrics: http://www.schoolhouserock.tv/Fireworks.html

The last song explains the main facts of the American Independence War. It´s called Shot heard ´round the world and here you have the lyrics: http://www.schoolhouserock.tv/Shot.html

Some information about the USA presidential election

Next Tuesday there will be presidential election in the USA. The process is a little different from the elections in Spain, but there are also some similar aspects, such as the fact that the people don´t elect the president. In Spain, the Cortes (Parliament) do it. In the USA, this is a task of the Electoral College, formed by the electors of every federal State. The electors (Congress members and Senators) are chosen by the people, but the party which gets more votes on a State gets all the electors of that State. For example, if Barack Obama gets 99,000 votes in Oklahoma and Mitt Romney gets 89,999 votes there, the 7 electors of the State will go to the Democrats.

Here you have a list of the electoral votes every State has: 

http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/allocation.html

On the following videos you will understand the role of this Electoral College in the final results of the elections. That´s why the main candidates calculate the States where they can win and focus all their attention on the so called "swing States", the ones where the results are still not decided or change everytime there are elections. Those swing States are the ones where the candidates can attract undecided voters. The main candidates have spent most of their time and money there and they have campaigned very little in the States where they consider the results are decided yet. 

And this is a historical review of the results of all the presidential elections since the foundation of the USA:

If you want to learn more about elections in the USA, click on the following link:

http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/

You probably think that Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are the only candidates to the USA Presidency, but there are more. The mass media use to focus their attention only on the cadidates of the two main parties (Democrats and Republicans), but there are other political options. Here you have a link where you can learn more about all the candidates:

http://www.politics1.com/p2012.htm

And finally, next Tuesday elections will also serve to choose the governors of 12 States and decide on other topics, such as marijuana legalization, same-sex marriage, healthcare, tax increases, gambling, public employees´ unions or death penalty. For example, California voters will have the opportunity of deciding on the abolition of  death penalty. On the following map of the USA you can click on every State to learn more about the ballot propositions citizens will have to vote: 

http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Portal:Ballot_measures

P.S: Here you have the links to an article in Spanish about the reasons to ask people for the abolition of death penalty in California and the same information in English:

http://blogs.elpais.com/the-american-way-of-life/2012/11/la-pena-de-muerte-es-cara.html

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/public-opinion-new-poll-shows-dramatic-jump-support-repealing-californias-death-penalty

And this is a link to another article which shows that there is no relation between the existence and use of death penalty and the decrease number of violent crimes:

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/editorials-evidence-does-not-support-death-penalty-deterrent

Roaring crisis

Just in case you want to sing ;)

And here you have the original song: American idiot, by Green Day

Some cartoons about the Great Depression during Hoover´s presidency

Yesterday we studied that the USA government followed the liberal othodoxy at the beginning of the economic crisis. They expected that the "invisible hand of the market" would solve the problems without any political intervention. But the evidence showed that things wouldn´t work if reforms were not done. President Hoover's government followed a deflationist policy, increased tariffs to protect the USA production and started some emergency programs to help the poor, but the intervention of the government in economy didn´t start until Franklin D. Roosevelt started ruling in March 1933. 

Here you have some political cartoons about the Great Depression during Hoover´s presidency: 

Source: http://www.mindfulmoney.co.uk/9472/economic-impact/are-we-in-another-great-depression-not-yet.html

Source: http://apus-b.wikispaces.com/depression-political+cartoons

Source: http://socialstudiesliteracytechnology.blogspot.com.es/2011/04/great-depression.html

Source: http://superitch.com/?p=9882

Source: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/history/21h-126-america-in-depression-and-war-spring-2003/related-resources/lec1images/

Source: http://classprojects.cornellcollege.edu/HIS240_2009/Hoover1/Hoover_1/Home.html

Source: http://blsciblogs.baruch.cuny.edu/his1005fall2010/tag/hoover/

Something more about Ellis Island and immigration

Yesterday we talked about Ellis Island, the gateway to the USA for millions of immigrants at the beginning of the 20th century. Here you have some more information about this small island, located in New York harbor, very close to the Statue of Liberty. 

Its name comes from Samuel Ellis, the man who bought it at the end of the 18th century. Ellis sold it to the New York state at the beginning of the 19th. A fort was built there, but at the end of the 19th century the federal government decided to create there an immigrant centre to control the access to the USA. Around 12 million immigrants entered in the USA through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954. The island was used as customs, medical examinations centre and also as a detention station for the immigrants who were rejected and later deported (around 2% of the total number of immigrants arrived).

Today Ellis Island hosts the  Immigration Museum and belongs to the Statue of Liberty National Monument. The website of the island allows the descendants of the immigrants to know their origins. Estimates say that the ancestors of around 100 million current citizens of the USA arrived in the USA through Ellis Island. 

Liberty Island in the foreground and Ellis  Island in the background to the left

Source: http://www.pateappliance.com/2011/10/22/family-owned-and-operated-since-1954/

In green, the original extension of the island, which was enlarged to build different facilities 

Source: http://www.theawl.com/2011/06/fun-with-maps-seven-peculiar-u-s-borders

Aerial view

Source: http://www.ettc.net/njarts/details.cfm?ID=330

An old image of Ellis Island

Source:http://www.gjenvick.com/Immigration/ImmigrantDocumentation/1923-EllisIslandHistoricalDocuments.html 

A Family of Russian immigrants arrived in Ellis Island in 1905

Source: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAErussia.htm

Ellis Island website, to learn more about the history of this place and look for immigrant ancestors: 

http://www.ellisisland.org/default.asp

Presentation about the USA during the 20s-30s

Here you have it. Have a look on it. It includes a lot of images and cartoons about this period. Please, use it to ccomplete your schemes and exercises.