A large group of people in an area organized under one government is a nation.
The group of people who makes rules for a nation is called a government.
A member of a nation is called a citizen.
A U.S. citizen may be either a natural or a naturalized citizen.
Any person born in the United States is a natural U.S. citizen.
Any person whose parents are U.S. citizens is a natural U.S. citizen.
Certain requirements must be met in order to become a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Hundreds of American Indian tribes had sovereign nations on the continent of North America when Europeans “discovered” this continent.
In the 1600s and early 1700s, Great Britain established 13 colonies along the Atlantic coast of North America.
Great Britain was too far away to govern the colonies properly.
The Founding Fathers believed that all people are born with natural rights—the right to life, the right to liberty (freedom), and the right to own property.
The Founding Fathers thought that their rights were not being protected by the British government.
The Declaration of Independence stated that the colonies would unite and form a new sovereign nation.
The Revolutionary War was fought for freedom from the government of Great Britain.
A government ruled by the people is a democracy.
The United States is a republic with a President, and the citizens elect people to speak for them in the government.
The Founding Fathers wrote a plan of government for the new nation. This plan was called “The Constitution of the United States.”
