The USA

Secession

The Constitution is silent on the issue of the secession of a state from the union. However, its predecessor document, the Articles of Confederation, stated that the United States of America "shall be perpetual." The question of whether or not individual states held the right to unilateral secession remained a difficult and divisive one until the American Civil War. In 1860 and 1861, eleven southern states seceded, but following their defeat in the American Civil War were brought back into the Union during the Reconstruction Era. The federal government never recognized the secession of any of the rebellious states. Following the Civil War, the United States Supreme Court, in Texas v. White, held that states did not have the right to secede and that any act of secession was legally void. Drawing on thePreamble to the Constitution, which states that the Constitution was intended to "form a more perfect union" and speaks of the people of the United States of America in effect as a single body politic, as well as the language of the Articles of Confederation, the Supreme Court maintained that states did not have a right to secede. However, the court's reference in the same decision to the possibility of such changes occurring "through revolution, or through consent of the States," essentially means that this decision holds that no state has a right to unilaterally decide to leave the Union.^[2][3]

Commonwealths

Four of the states bear the formal title of commonwealth: Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. This is merely a legacy of all four states' history, and their formal name has no effect on their legal status as states.

Somewhat confusingly, the U.S. territories of the Northern Marianas and Puerto Rico are also referred to as commonwealths, and that designation does have a legal status different from that of the 50 states. Both of these commonwealths are unincorporated territories of the United States.

Origin of states' names

Map showing the source languages of state names

Twenty-four of the states' names originate from Native American languages. Of these, eight are from Algonquian languages, seven are from Siouan languages, one is fromUto-Aztecan languages and five others are from other indigenous languages. Hawaii's name is derived from the Polynesian Hawaiian Language.

Of the remaining names, 22 are from European languages: Seven from Latin (mainlyLatinized forms of English names), the rest are from English, Spanish and French. Eleven states are named after people, including seven named for royalty and one named after an American president. The origins of six state names are unknown or disputed.

Regional grouping

The West, The Midwest, The South and The Northeast.

States may be grouped in regions; there are endless variations and possible groupings, as most states are not defined by obvious geographic or cultural borders. For further discussion of regions of the U.S., see the list of regions of the United States.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

 

During writing the work I knew new information.

The United States of America is important English-speaking country. It consists of fifty different states and the District of Columbia joined together under one government.

The USA covers an area of almost 9400000 square kilometres and is twice as large as all the countries of Europe combined. It is placed in the middle of the North American continent and is washed by the Atlantic Ocean in the east and the Pacific Ocean in the west. Placed between two oceans, the USA has a free access to the trade routes of the world.

The USA is divided into three areas: Eastern area - a highland. Central area - a plain, and the Western area which is mountainous. The north-western part of the USA includes five lakes. The whole central plain constitutes the basin of the Mississippi River. The Mississippi is one of the longest rivers in the world.

On the whole the USA has a continental climate. It is at the same time one of the coldest and one of the hottest countries, one of the wettest and one on the driest.

The flag of the United States is called "Stars and Stripes". The 50 stars represent the 50 states and the 13 stripes represent 13 original English colonies, which in 1776 became free and independent of England.

The USA is governed by Congress and by the President. Congress consists of the Senate (100 senators - 2 from each state) and the House of Representatives (435 Congressmen). The President, who is also the head of the government and the commander-in-chief of all the armed forces, is elected every four years.

The capital of the United States is Washington. It is situated on the Potomac River not far from the Atlantic coast. Washington is not a very large city. Such cities as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia, Detroit, New Orleans and some others are more larger.

The USA is one of the most developed country in the world. It is a country of great contrasts. There are a lot of unsolved problems in the country such as unemployment and inflation, but nevertheless it is one of the greatest countries in the world.