The United States of America is a country consisting of 50 states, 48 adjoining, Alaska and Hawaii, a federal district (D.C.), five major territories, and 11 other territories.
The United States of America is sometimes called the U.S. or America for short (although, America technically refers to the contents of North and South America when not used in context of the United States).
Most types of fish eaten raw have to be frozen to kill parasites before being served in the US according to the FDA. Meanwhile, “sushi grade” is fish that can be eaten raw. So most sushi grade fish is previously frozen in the US.
The Statue of Liberty is technically lighthouse, and was even at one point even under the operation of the Lighthouse Board. However, it never properly functioned as a lighthouse.
There is already a “wall” between the U.S. and Mexico. The Mexico-United States Barrier is a series of walls and fences that covers over 1/3rd of the U.S. / Mexico border.
Presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4th 1826 within five hours of each other. Their deaths in many ways marked the end of an era in American history.
The U.S. Pledge of Allegiance is an oath of allegiance written by Christian socialist minister Francis Bellamy in August 1892. It was meant to be paired with a salute.
The United States of America is the only “very highly developed country” that doesn’t have universal healthcare out of over 50 nations.
It is a myth that the estate tax hurts poor and middle class Americans, only the richest Americans (0.2% of families) pay the estate tax.
The estate tax (“death tax”) is one of the taxes preventing an unsustainable wealth gap; eliminating the estate tax would increase the wealth gap.
There is a high degree of certainty that Russia ordered an influence campaign in 2016 to undermine public faith in the US democratic process and the sway the election.
The idea that universal healthcare can’t work in the U.S. due to size alone is a myth. The U.S. has 50 states, each with populations equivalent to nations with universal coverage.
Despite the Red-State Blue-State split of the two-party system (between city and rural regions), America is rather purple politically speaking (meaning all regions have a mix of voters from both parties).
Presidents of the U.S. are granted power to create executive orders by the Constitution, but orders must be lawful, keeping in-line with the Constitution and other legal statutes.
15th President James Buchanan and Pierce’s Vice President William Rufus King, whom Jackson lovingly called “Miss Nancy” and “Aunt Fancy”, were America’s first LGBT President & VP.
The Civil war was about slavery, but it wasn’t “just about slavery”. Sectionalism, Protectionism, and States’ Rights were also factors.
Bernie Sanders says he is a Democratic Socialist, but he describes an American version of Social Democracy and not text-book Democratic Socialism.
Federalism describes a union of entities under a central government, and the different types of Federalism denote how power sharing works.
The KKK and slavery both have their roots in the Democratic party. However, the southern bloc conservatives (“the solid south”) have increasingly favored the Republican party over time. Thus, today the faction who once supported the KKK and slavery now mostly supports the Republican Party.
Trump may have had the largest inaugural crowd in 2017 if you count all sources online, on TV, and in-person, but his in-person turnout was provably smaller than Obama’s.
Reagan didn’t just say “Government is the problem,” he said, “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”
Hitler was a National Socialist (NAZI). National Socialism is a type of fascism. Although National Socialism had some socialist and left-wing planks, it is a unique authoritarian, militant, and nationalist ideology separate from socialism or liberalism that is generally considered “far-right.”
Between the 1940s and the 1970s pinball used to illegal in parts of the United States. It was thought of as a gambling “game of chance” and was caught up in the post-prohibition push-back against gambling.
William Jennings Bryan can be considered the father of modern American left-wing and right-wing populism, including progressivism, the religious right, workers’ movements like the free-silver movement, the income tax, direct elections of Senators, and more.
At the height of the spice trade, the Dutch traded Manhattan to the English for the Nutmeg-rich Run Island via the 1674 Treaty of Westminster.
Some speculate that John Lennon’s status as a vocal anti-war rock icon caused Nixon to push for his deportation… which ironically resulted in a legal case that inspired President Obama’s 2012 immigration policy DACA.
Slavery was legal when America was founded, but few founding fathers fully supported the nefarious institution. In fact, many founders fought to limit and abolish slavery.
George Washington ran without any serious opposition in 1789 and 1792 and James Monroe was re-elected without serious opposition in 1820. Thus, we can say “they ran unopposed” and be mostly correct.
Bernie Sanders can still technically be elected President by electors (who vote December 19th, 2016). This could be done by 270 electors voting for Bernie, or by Trump being deprived a 270 majority and the House electing Bernie.
Votes cast for President and Vice President in the general election are advisory votes, the President and Vice President aren’t decided until the electors’ direct votes are cast and counted.
Hillary Clinton won the national popular vote, but Donald Trump won the 2016 election by electoral vote due to the way the electoral college works.
In the U.S., the President and Vice President are elected by getting a majority of electoral college votes, they are not elected by popular vote.
Despite misconceptions, the United States is not a corporation. This can be confirmed by its lack of incorporating acts, its sovereign immunity, and past court cases, among other things.
The song “Hail, Columbia” is one of several songs once considered an unofficial national anthem of the United States.
In Spanish, double letter usage indicates a plural. For example, the U.S. (United States) is EE. UU., or E.E.U.U., or simply EEUU (Estados Unidos) in Spanish.
Voter fraud is real and so is voter suppression. However, widespread voter fraud is very unlikely to occur, and convicted voter fraud in the United States is very uncommon.
About half of American families pay little to no federal income tax after tax credits and deductions. Payroll taxes, excise taxes, and sales taxes hit the average American family the hardest.
Despite two parties dominating politics due to a majority being needed to win elections, the United States doesn’t officially have a two-party system. Parties aren’t even mentioned in the Constitution.
While the term Columbia sometimes refers to the whole New World (all the Americas), historically the United States of America was referred to as Columbia.
One might assume James Monroe wrote the 1823 Monroe Doctrine, but its primary author was future-President and then secretary-of-state John Quincy Adams.
As James Madison said when discussing special interest factions and liberty in the Federalist #10, “Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires”.
Mark Twain is a pen name, his real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens. “Mark” “Twain” is a riverboat term for measuring two fathoms (12 feet): mark (measure) twain (two).
In 1602, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) became the first publicly traded company when it sold shares on its own Amsterdam Stock Exchange (the first stock market).
Madison drafted both the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, but he wasn’t the sole author of either, both were debated and approved by committees.
Today we think of Republicans as Red and Democrats as Blue, but that specific color scheme only came into use in the 2000’s. Neither party has an official color.
Shirley Chisholm became the first black Congresswoman in 1968. In 1972 Chisholm ran for President as a Democrat, making her both the first female, or black, major party Presidential candidate.
Hillary Clinton became the first woman nominee of a major U.S. political party at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
Some claim the Second Amendment, like the Three-Fifths Compromise, was ratified to preserve slavery. This is only partially true.
Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and other Barons of Industry freely gave away most of their fortunes to charitable and philanthropic causes.
The Declaration of Independence was voted on July 2nd, 1776 and signed July 4th, 1776, but independence wasn’t officially gained until the signing of the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783.
Alexander Hamilton founded the Federalist Party, the world’s first voter-based political party, which helped shape America’s economic policy and power structure.
Thomas Jefferson never said, “every generation needs a new revolution”, but he did say, “a little rebellion now and then is a good thing.”
Switzerland doesn’t require its citizens to own guns. Guns are regulated in three classes and there is mandatory military service for able-bodied men.
Victoria Woodhull, an American leader of the woman’s suffrage movement, became the first female candidate for President of the United States in 1872.
The point of the Second Amendment is to secure a free-state via a well-regulated state-run militia. Thus, people have the right to keep and bear arms.
When the plutonium bomb to be dropped on Nagasaki was tested, the Manhattan Project scientists made a bet on whether or not it would destroy the world.
Memorial Day originated as “Decoration Day” after the American Civil War (there is debate over whether it started in the North or South, but today it honors all Americans who served their country).
James Madison can be considered the father of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Madison drafted the Constitution, drafted and sponsored the Bill of Rights, and co-wrote the Federalist Papers.
It is a myth that your vote doesn’t count. Despite the electoral college electing the President directly, every vote counts. It just counts in complex ways that differ by election, state, and region.
The Hundred Years’ War lasted from 1337 to 1453, 116 years. The Second Hundred Years’ War lasted from 1688–1815, 137 years.
You have the right to remain silent and not make any self-incriminating statements in police custody, as granted by the Fifth Amendment and confirmed by Miranda v. Arizona.
America’s founding fathers were classical liberals, this means they favored liberty, private property, capitalism, freedom of religion, and a limited Republican style of government.
America’s economic system meets the definition of capitalism, but not pure free market capitalism. America has a mixed-market economy.
America is not “a Christian nation” in terms of having a national religion. Despite a majority of Americans being Christian, the Bill of Rights ensures religious liberty for all.
The United States National Security Agency (NSA) monitors, collects, and processes data from a number of sources world-wide for foreign intelligence and counter intelligence.
A progressive tax (those who make more pay more) is generally “more fair” than a flat tax (everyone pays the same rate).
Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican President. Lincoln, a former Whig (and then “moderate” “anti-slavery” Republican), favored social justice and federal power over states’ rights regarding slavery.
The United States is both a Republic and a Democracy. Specifically, the United States is a Constitutional FederalRepublic with a strong Democratic tradition and many democratic elements especially on a local level. Despite the democratic elements and traditions, the U.S. is not however a “Direct Democracy” (where people vote on laws directly*).
Adam Smith can be considered the father of modern economics due to his influential works which explore the mechanics of morality, markets, and capitalism in an industrialized society.
“Being gay” (same-sex activity and partnership) used to be illegal in the U.S. and the U.K., and being gay is still illegal in many parts of the world. The details are complex.
The Common Core works in theory, in that it should teach all kids key critical thinking skills, but the implementation has been under-supported leading to real issues.
The US political parties, now called Democrats and Republicans, switched platform planks, ideologies, and members many times in American history.
A series of social and legislative changes in the 60’s ended an era of tuition-free state universities in the US and started the current student loan crisis.
Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a social movement that began as a stand against racial violence and discrimination toward black people by the US criminal justice system.
Single payer isn’t “government run healthcare,” single payer only describes funding, not who manages the fund or how healthcare is delivered.
The U.S. is connected by one power grid consisting of three interconnected grids: the Eastern Grid, the Western Grid, and the Texas (ERCOT) Grid.
Apple pie wasn’t invented in America. Pie was eaten by ancient Egyptians and recipes for dutch apple pie go back centuries.
Competitive sports became popular in the United States from 1850 – 1950 because of lighting technology, mass media, and developing labor and education laws.
US public state universities used to be tuition-free from the early 1800’s to the late 1960’s, although they still charged fees, but college has never been free in the US.
The US spends far more on its military than any other country (but not when compared to GDP). In 2015 America spent about $600 billion on U.S. defense spending.
The first income tax in the U.S. was part of the Revenue Act of 1861, the first permanent income tax was in 1913 as part of the 16th Amendment.
Before the Married Women’s Property Acts of the 1800s, a married woman’s money (and sometimes property) was automatically the property of her husband.
At sea, a typical U.S. submarine day is 18 hours long, not 24. Crews are separated into 3 different watch sections with 6 hours on watch and 12 off.
The United States of America consists of 50 states, 1 federal district, 1 incorporated territory, and 15 unincorporated territories.
Electricity was written about and experimented with for at least a century, if not more, about before Franklin flew his kite in 1752. Franklin was trying to understand the nature of electricity and lightening.
While the majority of Americans don’t switch religions, but it is common to switch religions. As many as 42% of U.S. adults have assumed a different religious identity from the one in which they were raised, according to a 2014 Pew Research Center study.
George Washington didn’t have wooden teeth, but he did have dentures (made of materials such as ivory) that may have appeared “wooden” from staining.
In the US, a Government Shutdown is when funding isn’t secured to keep parts of the government running.
Steve Bannon eluded to a “National Populist” “Deconstruction” agenda in a recent speech. We take a look at the historic meaning of those terms.
The New Deal Coalition and Conservative Coalition are two coalitions that are emblematic of both the 20th century party switches and the modern parties.
We explain the “vast-right wing conspiracy” (or right-wing strategy) that Hillary talked about in the 90s (and the left-wing equivalent).
Conservatism is the ideology of governmental, cultural, and economic order, tradition, hierarchy, and authority that generally comes in classical, social, and economic forms.
We discuss Republics in general including the philosophy of republics, classical and modern republicanism, and real Republics in-action.
The problem with unsubstantiated information is that it is unverified as true, and often leaked by sources with plausible deniability, which is confusing.
The modern Tea Party is a progressively conservative nativist protectionist populist movement that represent a response to globalism and progressive social liberalism.
The United States can be thought of as a union of diverse and sovereign regions, of sovereign people, who agree on the basic principles of democracy, republicanism, federalism, and liberalism in general.
Thomas Jefferson is credited with having said, “equal rights for all, special privileges for none,” a slogan that other progressive Democrats like Williams Jennings Bryan embraced.
We explain the meaning of Democrat, Republican, Whig, Federalist, Anti-Federalist, Union, and Confederacy the political terms the major parties used for their party names.
We explain three different types of Republicans found in America during Civil War Reconstruction: moderate, conservative, and radical Republicans.
We explain the different types of American progressivism from the founders, to the Reform movements, to Bryan and the Roosevelts, to the progressives and populists of today.
Notable political factions, politicians, and platform planks switched between the major U.S. political parties throughout U.S. history leading to a number of complex changes. Here are some different ways to look at “the party switches” and different “party systems” the changes resulted in.
Populism is a broad term that generally describes popular sentiment felt by the working class against the elites. It can look like social conservative nativist right-wing populism or social liberal progressive left-wing populism.
We explain the American political left-wing and right-wing by looking at the different factions that make up American liberalism and American conservatism.
“Civil Religion” is the civic “religion” of a nation. It doesn’t describe the theological religion of a nation, but rather a quasi-religious shared identity built around national symbolism and customs.
Separation of Powers describes the way in which government is divided into different branches (ex. in the U.S., the legislative, executive, and judicial). Checks and balances describe the powers each branch has to “check” the other branches and ensure a balance of power.
In America we have a Progressive Federal Income Tax system broken down into “tax brackets”. Tax Filers pay the “marginal tax rate” on each dollar of income in a given bracket (after most deductions, but before tax credits).
Below we explain how currency gets into circulation via the Treasury, Federal Reserve, and banks, and the role Congress, banks, businesses, and you play in the process.
We list the U.S. Presidents, their political parties, and their political ideologies alongside descriptions of their Presidency to examine U.S. history.
We explain the Financial Crisis / Great Recession of 2007 – 2009 that began with the 2006 housing bubble, led to a recession in the U.S. by December 2007, and became a global crisis by 2009.
Below we present an annotated version of Andrew Carnegie’s 1889 essay Wealth (better known as the Gospel of Wealth).
We examine the historical effects of social, political, and economic inequality on society to see how it has led to social unrest and events like revolutions and populist uprisings.
The exact origin of the term politically correct isn’t known, although the earliest usage we could find was from 1793 Supreme Court Case Chisholm v. Georgia.
We explain liberalism and conservatism, including the different social and classical types of liberalism and conservatism.
We explain the political terms conservative, moderate, liberal, progressive, and radical and how they are used in different contexts.
Collectivism describes ideology (political or otherwise) that favors the collective, like-wise Individualism describes ideology that favors the individual.
We explain populism, globalization, nativism, nationalism, neoliberalism, modernization, and other terms important for understanding modern world politics.
The Federalists and Anti-Federalists were the first political factions of the U.S.. They arose out of a debate over the ratification of the 1787 Constitution and went on to form the basis of our current two-party system.
The modern usage of the political terms left and right comes from the French Revolution of 1789 when supporters of the king stood to the president’s right, and supporters of the revolution to his left.
We present a summary of the history of human rights documents including the Bill of Rights, Magna Carta, Declaration of Rights and Man, and English Bill of Rights.
Classical liberalism arose in opposition to state-imposed religion and aristocracy in the 1600 – 1700’s during the Age of Enlightenment in Europe and America.
On this page, we look at political parties from a historical perspective to better understand the underlying left-right politics all political parties are based on.
Most groups, bound by class, race, religion, socioeconomic status, or some other force have faced oppression with rebellion. Here are tips on avoiding common pitfalls.
We explain paradoxes related to tolerance and Politically Correctness (PC), including “the paradox of tolerance” and “tolerance as a form of intolerance.”
America’s founding fathers intended the U.S. to be a Republic (elected officials vote on laws), rather than a Direct Democracy (everyone votes on laws).
The United States is a Federal Republic with democratic values that some claim contains a growing oligarchy (or corporatocracy). We look at those claims.
Special interests describe interests that are not purely public interests. Factions (special interest groups) are groups formed around shared interests (special interests).
Political Correctness (politically correct or PC), describes how much tolerance, sensitivity, censorship, and freedom of expression “is correct” in a given setting.
A simple explanation of American politics including an overview of US history, the political parties, and the political system.
We explain economic inequality from a historical perspective, and then consider the effects of wealth inequality and income inequality in America today.
“Useful Idiot” is a political insult that describes a person who, through manipulation or not, is useful to a political cause that is not their own despite not fully realizing their role.
The left-right political spectrum is used to create a model that shows a spectrum of political positions. Traditionally there is a 2-axis spectrum of left and right, but there are also many widely adopted 4-axis model.
Below is the Federalist #10, written by James Madison, and reprinted in full. We explain, annotate, and offer context on the Federalist #10.
Below we present an annotated version of Andrew Carnegie’s 1889 essay Wealth (better known as the Gospel of Wealth).
We explain and annotate a letter Abraham Lincoln sent to Joshua Speed which shows how Lincoln opposed the Know-Nothings and Slavery.
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