Chapter Seven Activities Reading an Election Map

PRACTICING THE SKILL DIRECTIONS: In a book or on the Internet, find election maps for the elections of 1976 and 1980. Then answer the following questions.

1. What do these maps illustrate? These maps show that the Republicans, between the years of 1976 and 1980, became extremely popular. The '76 map shows about half for each party; '80s map shows Republican votes overwhelmed the country. 2. Which candidates ran in this election? In '76 it was Jimmy Carter vs Gerald Ford; in '80 it was Ronald Reagan vs Jimmy Carter. 3. Which candidate won the election? In '76 Carter won. In '80 Reagan won. 4. How many states did each candidate win in the popular vote? Carter had 24 states in '76 and 7 in '80. Ford had 26 states, in '80 Reagan had 43 states. 5. How many electoral votes did each candidate win? In '76 Carter had 297 votes, in '80 he had 49; In '76 Gerald Ford had 240, Reagan had 1; In '80 Carter had 489 votes. 6. Which parts of the country tended to vote for the losing candidates? There's really no pattern. Minnesota, Georgia, Maryland, Florida, Wyoming, Hawaii, and D.C remained with the Democratic party. 7. Write a brief paragraph that summarizes the results. In 1976 Jimmy Carter, a democrat, ran against two republicans, mainly Gerald Ford. Jimmy Carter won by only a 50 electoral vote difference. In 1980, it seems as though the Republicans gained hellish momentum and made up for the '76 election loss by completely sweeping the nation with Reagan's win of 289 votes to Carter's 49.

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Chapter Seven Activities

Roosevelt and the Great Depression

1. How did the Great Depression affect the lives of many Americans? The Depression started officially in 1929 and millions of people lost their jobs, went homeless, went hungry. It was severe. America had never experienced anything like the Depression and it took a while for the government to find a solution. People lost savings, businesses, land, family trophies and sentiments. 2. Why did the national debt grow during the Great Depression? The national debt grew during the Depression because Americans were not making any money. There was no manufacturing, or production happening, so the American government had to borrow from other countries in order to jump start the economy and initiate programs that would help Americans sustain the new economy. 3. Look at the graph. In terms of GDP, what were the worst years of the Great Depression? From 1930 to 1935; the economy steadily declined. 4. When did business activity begin to improve? Business activity began to improve when the WWII started. There was a demand for military uniforms, food, weapons, and, as soldiers, the millions of citizens now had an occupation. 5. In what year did the GDP finally return to its 1929 level? In 1940. 6. CRITICAL THINKING ACTIVITY

The national debt as of January 1, 2011: $14,025,215,218,708.52 Why do you think a large national debt is a problem?

Large national debt is a problem because if a country, mainly China, decides to cash in on their debt America owes them, the country will collapse. If America's GDP is not sufficient, and the country is not producing enough to maintain debt, or at least knock it off piece by piece the country will be no better than the people who's checks they are confiscating. Other countries will seize all of America's holdings... their situation may end up being much worse then the Depression.

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Chapter Seven Activities

The President and the Executive Branch
The president of the United States is widely considered to hold the most important job in the world. The Constitution gives the president and the executive branch the important job of carrying out the laws passed by Congress. The president must fill various roles including the following: Chief Executive, foreign policy leader, commander in chief, chief legislator, head of state, and economic leader. The Executive Office of the President (EOP) consists of highly trained specialists that work and advise the president on various issues. The federal bureaucracy consists of about 3 million civilians who work in agencies and departments that support the executive branch. DIRECTIONS: Making a Chart Use the chart below to classify the different departments and agencies into the EOP or federal bureaucracy. Write each name under the appropriate heading

The Executive Branch

Executive Office of the President (EOP) White House Staff Council of Economic Advisers National Security Council President's Administration Civil Service Workers Federal Bureaucracy USPS NASA Office of Homeland Security FOC Office of Management and Budget Regulatory Boards and Commissions Government Corporations

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