Ch. 1Section 1

I. What is Civics?

• A) Civics is the study of the rights and duties of citizens.

• 1) So, what’s a citizen?• A citizen is 1) a member of the community who 2)owes

loyalty to the government and 3) is entitled to protection from it.

• 2) Is citizenship new?• a) No!! Ancient Greece created the first citizens 2,500 years ago!!

• B) Who can be a citizen?• 1) Lots of People!!!• a) America has 300 million people• b) Everyone’s ancestors came from somewhere else• c) IMMIGRANT---a person who moves permanently to a

new country

• 1) Native Americans came here 10,000 years ago

• 2) English and Dutch arrived in America 200-400 years ago

• African Americans came here as slaves 300-400 years ago.

•Most immigrants came to America 100 years ago from Europe

• Hispanics and Asians are biggest immigrant groups today

• C) Working in America• 1) Native Americans were hunters and gatherers---you got

paid in food!

• 2) The American colonists were mostly farmers in 1600-1800s.

• 3) Late 1800s workers lived in cities and worked in factories (called BLUE COLLAR WORKERS)

• 4) Today we have SERVICE ECONOMY—we earn money by providing a service such as lawyers, accountants etc. (called WHITE COLLAR WORKERS)• Can you name some service jobs?

II. American Values and Institutions

• A) What are VALUES? Big ideas about what is good/bad that most people agree with?

• 2) Americans share many of the same values• a) freedom• b) tolerance• c) Democracy• d) equality• e) pizza

• 3) Popular Sovereignty• a) Americans believe that government rules with the

consent of the people• b) Wait, how do we give our consent????• 1) ELECTIONS-we vote for who we want to lead us.• 2) MAJORITY RULE---Whoever has the most votes gets

to lead.

• Homework:• Page 12 Number 1. • Page 12 Number 5