American History

The United States has a rich history, full of tumult and transformation. Explore the people, events, and movements that shaped the America of today.

  • Robert Hanssen
    Robert Hanssen, FBI Agent Who Became a Soviet Mole
  • A Bonus Army veterans’ encampment in Washington, D.C. being burned in 1932
    The 1932 March of the Veterans Bonus Army
  • St. Patrick's Day parade in New York City in the 1890s
    The Colorful History of the St. Patrick's Day Parade
  • Portrait of Charles Darwin
    Biography of Charles Darwin, Originator of the Theory of Evolution
  • Archival newspaper illustration related to the passage of the Civil Rights Bill
    The Civil Rights Act of 1866: History and Impact
  • From October 1 through 16, 2013, the United States federal government entered a shutdown
    Causes and Effects of Government Shutdowns
  • Full color drawing of the Louisiana Purchase map.
    Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase
  • Illustration of the disaster on the Brooklyn Bridge
    Brooklyn Bridge Disaster
  • President Hoover with Reconstruction Finance Corporation Members
    Reconstruction Finance Corporation: Definition and Legacy
  • Party scene from the movie “The Great Gatsby”
    The Lost Generation and the Writers Who Described Their World
  • Men holding a Soil Conservation District sign
    7 New Deal Programs That Still Exist Today
  • Painting of large white rectangular mansion with burned out windows but largely with an in tact exterior
    8 of the Scariest Days in America
  • George Washington on dollar bill
    George Washington's First Inauguration
  • Aaron Burr, who nearly won the deadlocked election of 1800
    Presidential Election of 1800 Ended in a Tie
  • Man wearing sandwich sign looking for a job during the Great Depression\
    How the Great Depression Altered US Foreign Policy
  • Engraving of English Puritans
    Puritanism for Beginners
  • Engraved portrait of President James Madison
    Many Americans Opposed the War of 1812
  • Nation of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan
    Biography of Louis Farrakhan, Nation of Islam Leader
  • Heritage Steam Train Passing By Landscape Against Sky
    Effect of Railroads on the United States
  • Cartoon of Theodore Roosevelt reforming the New York Police
    Theodore Roosevelt and the New York Police Department
  • Engraving of Edwards by R Babson & J Andrews
    The Great Awakening of the Early 18th Century
  • Lithograph of the SS Great Western
    Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Steamships
  • Two servicemen stand beside the Pullman Building and train cars with locked arms and a bottle of liquor during the 1894 Chicago Pullman Strike
    The Pullman Strike of 1894
  • Immigrant Poverty
    Who Were the Muckrakers in the Journalism Industry?
  • Causes of the Great Depression
    Top 5 Causes of the Great Depression
  • Increase Mather
    Spectral Evidence and the Salem Witch Trials
  • Pen and ink drawing of the HMS Beagle on the water.
    Charles Darwin and His Voyage Aboard H.M.S. Beagle
  • Devil making sign, engraving from Compendium Maleficarum, by Francesco Maria Guazzo, 1626, Italy
    History of Witches Signing the Devil's Book
  • The Boston Tea Party, 1773
    The History of British Taxation in the American Colonies
  • Painting of a whaling ship boiling blubber.
    Objects Made From the Whaling Industry
  • Zebulon Pike's Mysterious Western Expeditions
  • Victorian Christmas scene, ca. 1895.
    The History of Christmas Traditions
  • Golden Spike National Monument.
    5 Facts About the Transcontinental Railroad
  • Sutter's Mill
    The 49ers and the California Gold Rush
  • Emma Lazarus, author of "The New Colossus"
    A Poem by Emma Lazarus Changed the Meaning of Lady Liberty
  • Native American soldiers on the ground during battle
    Pontiac's Rebellion and Smallpox as a Weapon
  • Casselman Bridge Cumberland Maryland
    The National Road, America's First Major Highway
  • Painting of Lewis and Clark Expedition
    York, the Enslaved Member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
  • Lithograph of The Express Train by Currier and Ives
    Why We Have Time Zones
  • Coxey's Army
    Coxey's Army: 1894 March of Unemployed Workers
  • A black and white photo of two men in 1920s business suits
    The Protectionist Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930
  • A pencil sketch of starving Irish people in the 1840s.
    The Great Irish Famine Was a Turning Point for Ireland and America
  • Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen sitting in front of the national debt clock
    History of the US Federal Budget Deficit
  • The history of the Brooklyn Bridge. Designed by John Roebling, construction lasted 14 years, cost $15 million to build, 20-30 lives lost during construction, grand opening: May 24, 1883.
    Building the Brooklyn Bridge
  • Hindenburg Airship Exploding
    The Hindenburg Disaster
  • Political Cartoon of a Robber Baron, Edward H. Harriman, with the railroads of America all heading toward his mouth. The caption reads 'Design for a Union Station.'
    6 Robber Barons From America's Past
  • Election procession in the 1840 presidential campaign
    The Election of 1840
  • US President Reagan and Soviet president Gorbachev shake hands
    Successes and Failures of Détente in the Cold War
  • Map showing the eight counties that made up the State of Franklin in 1786.
    The Failed State of Franklin
  • A political cartoon depicting the candidates in the 1824 election
    The Election of 1824 Was Decided in the House of Representatives
  • Engraved portrait of President James Madison
    Not Only About Impressment: Causes of the War of 1812
  • Salem Witch Trial
    The Role of Witch's Cake in Salem
  • Engraved portrait of Andrew Jackson
    The Election of 1828 Was Marked By Dirty Tactics
  • Color illustration of 1886 Haymarket Square Riot
    The Haymarket Riot
  • Profile portrait of Joseph Pulitzer
    Who Paid for the Statue of Liberty?
  • Public slave auction, 1965.
    What Was the Triangle Trade?
  • The old Supreme Court Room in the U. S. Capitol. Washington D. C., ca. 1890.
    About the Civil Rights Cases of 1883
  • Man Standing Against Newspapers On Wall
    Magazines of the 19th Century
  • LBJ hands pen to MLK
    What Is a Literacy Test?
  • Photo of George Washington’s signed copy of the US Constitution
    The Annapolis Convention of 1786
  • Depicition of mythical Luddite leader
    Labor History of the 19th Century
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