NC General Curriculum for Elementary Educator License Help Site: History and Social Science

  1. Home
  2. Indigenous Peoples Before the Arrival of Europeans
  3. European Exploration
  4. Colonization
  5. The Revolutionary War
  6. Key Developments in the Formation of the National Government (including Founding Documents)
    1. Founding Documents
    2. Types of U.S. Government
      1. Three Branches of Government
        1. Legislative Branch (Federal, State)
        2. Judicial Branch (Federal, State)
        3. Executive Branch (Federal, State)
    3. Responsibilities of U.S. Citizenship
  7. Settlement of the West and Overseas Expansion
  8. The Civil War and Reconstruction
  9. The Industrial Revolution
  10. The Progressive Era, Depression, and the New Deal
  11. Emergence of U.S. as a world power
  12. Civil Rights
  13. U.S. world leadership (collapse of Soviet Union to the present)
  14. World History (Major Developments and Key People)
  15. Geography
  16. Economics (Basic Terms and Issues)
  17. Interactive Sites (Survey Sites that Cover Multiple Time Periods)

Legislative Branch (Federal, State)

GENERAL CURRICULUM TEST OBJECTIVE : 0007  Understand the founding documents and governmental systems of the United States; the principles, ideals, rights, and responsiblities of U.S. Citizenship

  • Demonstrate knowledge of the three branches of the U.S. government and analyze their roles and functions.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of how laws are enacted and enforced.

The legislative branch makes laws and has the power to declare war. It is made up of a Senate and House of Representatives. At the federal level, there are 100 Senators who serve 6 year terms. Each state also elects representatives based the state's population. These representatives serve two year terms and currently there are 435 Representatives.

Laws exist to provide rules and promote equality in terms of following them. It is the duty of all Americans to understand and follow the law. It is important that the law be carefully conceived and written. This process includes a complex series of steps and is primarily conducted by the Congress.

  • The process begins when a representative writes and introduces a bill.
  • The bill then goes to an assigned committee to be discussed and edited.
  • Then the entire House of Representatives votes on the bill, and then it goes to the Senate for voting.
  • After that point, it goes to a conference committee made up of representatives from both parts who combine the House and Senate versions of the bill.
  • The resulting bill then is approved by both sets of representative bodies (House and Senate) and then the bill goes to the President of the United States to be signed into law.
  • When the President receives the bill, there are 3 choices: sign it into law; veto or reject it; or ignore it (do nothing). If he does nothing and a period fo 10 days passes the bill will become a law if the Congress has remained in session during that period. If the Congress has adjourned during that period, the bill is rejected and does not become a law

There is also a legislative branch at the state level responsible for making state laws. The names of the parts are the same. For example, each state has a state Senate and a state House of Representatives, who come from districts within that state.

Resources:

https://youtu.be/W_qyumAbRpc

http://youtu.be/mfEwakoSJ68

https://www.icivics.org/curriculum/legislative-branch
Author: Janet Painter
Last modified: 10/3/2016 10:56 AM (EDT)