Presents a guide to the U.S. Congress, covering its origins, development, powers, and congressional procedures, and discusses the pressures on congress from the constituency, the media, the President, the Supreme Court, and lobbyists.
More than two hundred alphabetically arranged entries offer nontechnical explanations of congressional operations, background on the development of the modern Congress, information on such subjects as the legislative process and the congressional committee system, profiles of individual committees, and short biographies of important members of Congress, past and present.
Readers will learn about the United States Capitol, from when it was built to who works there and what takes place there. The title is complete with historical and modern images, bolded glossary terms, a More Facts page, and a picture glossary.
A fictional retelling of the early life of Mary Jemison who was captured during the French and Indian War and lived for most of her life with the Seneca Indians.
People today refer to the Midwestern and prairie states as flyover country. During the Civil War, crossing those areas was the biggest obstacle in uniting the East and West Coasts of our divided nation. An act of Congress in 1862 authorized the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific railroad companies to build a railroad that would link the coasts. Seven years later, on May 10, 1869, an overwhelmingly immigrant labor force completed the task when a rail line was join in Promontory, Utah. The states had become united at last.
"Some of the literary world's most exciting writers look beyond numbers and wages to convey what it feels like to live in this divided nation. Their extraordinarily powerful stories, essays, and poems demonstrate how boundaries break down when experiences are shared, and that in sharing our stories we can help to alleviate a suffering that touches so many people."--Back cover.