History Content

Hawaii became a U.S. territory in 1898. Why did it take more than 60 years for it become a state?

From text-based to modern multiplayer interaction—even video games have history.

What was life like for women and girls on late 19th- and early 20th-century farms?

Discover how missionary work impacted Native Americans.

Who was Dred Scott, and what was the significance of his case?

Discover what the symbols on these flags stand for.

What were the most important battles of the American Revolution?

Who said, “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes?”

Taxes are a part of our everyday life. But was this always true in the United States?

25, 30, 35. We all know these ages are part of the requirements for elected representatives, but where did they come from?

Discover the ramifications of the Indian Removal Act of 1830.

What were the origins of this infamous controversy?

American is built upon immigration. However, attitudes about immigration varied greatly from the late 19th to the early 20th century.

Historians often consider Puritan New England a model for the development of America as a whole. Is this correct or an example of regional bias?

Why did Little Wolf, a Cheyenne leader, go to Washington in 1873?

Slavery in colonial America was not an exclusively Southern institution.

Discover the motivations fueling the 19th-century temperance movement.

Why did some colonies in the New World succeed while others faded away?

Discover how the concept of a “Manifest Destiny” shaped American perceptions prior to and throughout the 19th century.

Why is colonial written English so different from the version we use today?

In 1821, Anglo settlers migrated to Texas en masse. Discover the profound impact this movement had on the relationship between whites and hispanic Tejanos.

Religion and profit were driving motivations behind European colonization. Discover how Spanish, French, and Dutch explorers differed in their attempts to …

Discover the history behind this important Proclamation by King George III.

Discover how French Canadians reacted to the American Revolution.

How different would “the United States of America” be if the British had won the Revolutionary War?

What factors contributed to the initiation of World War II? Find out here!

Warfare always results in casualties, however, there are ways to reduce loss of life by adhering to established standards.

Is this map a primary source? Or is it secondary? How can you tell?!

History is often muddled by modern hindsight. Discover the true meaning of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Did criminals fight during the Civil War? Not exactly, but some soldiers became convicts as a result of their service.

Why were the people living in rural areas more likely to support “free silver” in 1896 than urban dwellers?

Determining the path of the Republican party.

The last operational mission of a venerable World War II airplane.

A family’s oral history intersects with larger events in U.S. history.

Go Where, Young Man?

Slavery outside of the South is often overlooked, as is Wyoming history.

Did industrialization result in more women working outside the home or in more women in domestic spheres only?

Believe it or not, the U.S. wasn’t always particularly supportive of increasing naval strength.

What does historical “greatness” mean, anyway?

Americans of the 18th century took a much dimmer view of the institution of a professional army than current views of the U.S. military.

Frederick Douglass approached the abolition of slavery from within the confines of the Constitution.

Not technically a military force, the “Regiment” proved integral to the success of the American Revolution.

Most African Americans (free or slaves) never joined the ranks of the Confederacy. Are there cases where individuals did?

Being born in the United States was not always a guaranteed path to citizenship.

The agitation among women’s rights activists over the language of the 14th Amendment.

On the record and off the record communications between Washington and Birmingham in 1963.

The work of the Civilian Conservation Corps in central New York State.

What happens when cartoon characters go to war?

When did universities start making teaching students do student teaching?

Boston abolitionists on the lookout for slave-catchers in 1851.

How emigrants traveled from Pennsylvania to Illinois in 1830.

Is it April 15 already? Discussing the recent past in context.

George Washington’s military career and reputation were not pure successes. His military losses caused some to question his ability to lead a nation.

Of all the discoveries and developments that occurred in the 19th century, two proved to be the main force behind the development of the New Age.

What we know and what we don’t about the origin of the famous line in Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address.

Common misconceptions of the classification of civilization are debunked.

How political cartoons illustrate international events and the artists beliefs.

The obstacles and restraints on disposing of one’s human “property.”

Segregation and equality in America was a case of double standards.

The Constitution states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

“Local custom” was at odds with company policy in Jackson, MS.

The development of the Union cavalry forces was behind that of the Confederates which was considered, " the best Cavalry in the world." but its late formation …

It was reasoned that no colonists could fear an act that made them drink cheaper tea.

Many believed the Civil War would be a short, bloodless battle. The reality of the drawn out combat led many soldiers in the North and South to desert the …

How the cotton gin revolutionized the use of slaves and the production of cotton in the Southern United States.

Was it illegal? Was it dishonorable? Was it a duel or was it murder?

Part of a series of laws that displaced Native Americans from land allotted to them through treaties with the U.S. government.

The influence of the booming rail system on the growth and development of three political parties in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Historians studying the hidden spirits of religion in America

Websites that assist students in compiling information on WWII battles, veterans, and services for Veteran’s Day projects.

Poking fun and puncturing pomposity—how can you interpret political cartoons?

Learning about the life of a midwife in 18th-century Maine through her diary and other sources.

The direct and indirect impacts of various trade routes during the 16th through 19th centuries.

Raising “the terrible weapon of self-defense” during riots in 1917 Illinois.

Spain sent several expeditions to find the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery.

Explore the fine line between Captains of Industry and Robber Barons and how the terms has evolved over time.

How do you go back and find “the first draft of history”?

Trying to build a New Jerusalem on the coast of Massachusetts.

Hour by hour account of how Union Generals moved on the battlefield at Sharpsburg.

Examination of counterfactual questions and how they are used in historical analysis.

In an attempt to salvage a failed Confederate agenda, John Wilkes Booth swore to destroy President Abraham Lincoln’s policy of extending civil liberties to …

Where does the glory of Robert Shaw and the men of the 54th Massachusetts reside?

American Reproductions and Appropriations of Old World Monumental Architecture

The origin of the “Sherman Reservation” in Special Field Order No. 15, by which the Southern coastal low country was set aside for resettlement by ex-slaves.

“Historian” wasn’t always a career path—only in the 19th century did it become a full-time academic occupation.

What, precisely, makes a historian, and what do they do?

Mountains, coal, jugbands, pottery, quilts, feuds, flags, floods, labor strikes, Mary Todd Lincoln, moonshine, Mammoth Cave, bluegrass, tobacco, thoroughbreds, …

African Americans and Native Americans have had a long and complex relationship, often characterized by their similar exclusion from the fruits of freedom …

Can historians answer questions about alternate history? No, but they can assess a particular moment in the past.

Explorations of the body, self-reference, and the entanglement of art and politics have all been the themes of feminist art—as they have been themes of other …

The impermanence of paper money was matched by the impermanence of the bank that issued it.

Was the antebellum period the height of reform movements in U.S. history?

Historians argue over whether the Founding Fathers’ knowledge of Native American forms of confederation influenced their early plans for the government of the …

Young people in their teens were not thought of as a distinct group, but as young adults who were obliged to work for their living, whether they lived at home …

Native American women restricted their activity and took care with their diet in preparing for childbirth, then prepared a secluded spot away from the …

How do you pronounce (and spell) Conococheague and how do we know?

Their differing philosophies of government set the stage for the permanent growth of political factions.

How citizenship determines eligibility for the U.S. presidency.

What does fundamentalism mean and how has that meaning changed over time?

Were the great fires of 1845 the result of arson or accident?

Cities as olfactory factories and what, historically, humans have thought and done about it.

Domestic automotive manufacturing took a back seat to military transport needs in World War II.

The Confederate battle plan at Chancellorsville was extraordinarily daring and risky.

Neighbor against neighbor, brother against brother, father against son.

How would a 1790 Pennsylvania farmhouse have been furnished?

President Polk, the fortunes of war, territory, and the ever-present compromises of history.

What do Sears Roebuck, farming, advertising, furs, and rural America have in common?

Economic policy during the Reagan Administration

What happened to Civil War deserters after they deserted?

Looking for the Red in the Red, White, and Blue?

Gamester extraordinaire Comte de Rochambeau?

Different kinds of power in different cultures. Perceptions of dignified and proper work vary across time and place.

Creating political blowback in the Middle East

How many children were at work on the eve of World War II? What types of jobs did they hold?

What were the primary concerns of English colonists in early 17th-century America?

A Congressional balance of power between North and South on slavery

The secret life of Lincoln? Gettysburg-era pride?

Flinging the first American flag to the breeze.

Lives dedicated to teaching and nursing.

“She had outwitted the British and oh how they hated her.”

Wandering through time into our ancestors’ attic.

Isolated and expansive at the same time.

The peculiar power of the press in America . . . what is the role of the media?

Fratricide and allied questions. In the heat of battle, mistakes happen.

Forcing the issue in Bleeding Kansas. The Lecompton Constitution, slavery, and children born to slaves.

How many presidents have applied for and received patents?

T Roosevelt: “Let us pay with our bodies for our souls’ desire.”

How did the Alamo happen?

How did women suffer no suffrage through the 14th Amendment?

Old Hickory’s hard currency—what are useful focal points in Jacksonian-era economic history?

Playing the game of alternative history—do what-ifs and if-onlys have a place in historical inquiry?

A struggle over naming a struggle—when and where did the Boston Massacre gain the name?

In Flanders fields the poppies blow. . . Why did trench warfare characterize World War I?

Spain pursuing its own goals against Great Britain.

Ads that were revolutionary … or not. What products could be sold during the American Revolution?

On the trail of French Calvinists—apocryphal stories and actual immigrant populations.

Olive branches from the North? Did the United States ever negotiate possible Union troop withdrawal in order to gain support from regions within the …

Standardization is a fairly new concept in education.

Headlines and deadlines. Where was the line between muckraking and professional ethics?

History lessons on the founding documents invariably include the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend—what was Spain’s role (and motivation) in the American Revolution?

Japanese treatment of American prisoners of war.

Accounting for the counters.

The history of the invention of the telephone is as clear as a Bell . . . or is it?

How many “yeas” and “nays” on the path to being a Supreme Court justice?

Protestant or not?

The pronunciation devil is in the historical details.

Historians endeavor to uncover Native American perspectives.

During the 1840s, Manifest Destiny remained an effusive spirit rather than an agenda for empire.

Sifting through books for college courses about historical inquiry.

Apportionment in the House of Representatives and pay raises for Congress fell by the wayside—at least temporarily.

Building an edifice of statistics—where can you learn about the real estate market during the Depression?

Three significant changes affect how we teach history and who is teaching it.

Is it all right to make up stories about real people to teach children about honesty? In the 19th century, some people thought so.

From South Carolina to Maine, colonists protested the Tea Act of 1773.

Almost two million dollars allocated to feed prisoners was returned to the U.S. Treasury.

Just before the Revolution, between 2,000 and 3,000 Jews lived in the colonies.

Unforeseen events and potential crises forced politicians and lawmakers to devise backup plans for presidential and vice-presidential elections.

Schooling and transportation of goods were of greater concern to most than flight.

In Hawaii today, a large number of people might be considered heirs or pretenders to the Hawaiian throne, were it ever to be revived.

To some extent, the Boston Tea Party was the result of unintended consequences.

Historians cannot claim to prove beyond doubt that occurrences in the past did or did not happen.

Ireland’s revolutionary struggle against Britain played out in North America as well as in Europe.

Milton Friedman and Herbert Hoover are excellent sources.

Historians have attempted to account for the great admiration that whites had for Tecumseh.

The 1850s were a time of rapid industrialization and urbanization in the Northeastern states.

What do Presidents Ulysses Grant and Franklin Roosevelt have in common? Both were accused of packing the Supreme Court.

Linear battle formations date at least to the early 17th century.

Find out how this battle flag came into being.

Accounts of Abraham Lincoln’s dream of a presidential assassination vary, and so do the interpretations.

Only two eyewitness accounts of that first Thanksgiving remain.

Think the “Join or Die” snake first appeared during the American Revolution? Think again!

A panel of judges enlisted by the New York World’s Fair Corporation looked to Texas to find this family.

The roots of the Grand Ole Opry extend deep into radio broadcasting history.