An Introduction to American History

Discover the people, events, and philosophies that forged the America of today.

  • LDS temple in Washington, DC
    List of Major Utopian Movements in American History
  • New Hampshire Settled
    Learn About New Hampshire Colony
  • President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
    Top 10 New Deal Programs of the 1930s
  • Peter Cartwright and his wife Francis Gaines
    The Second Great Awakening
  • Engraved portrait of President Andrew Jackson
    Kitchen Cabinet—Origin of the Political Term
  • Portrait of John C. Calhoun
    Nullification Crisis of 1832: Precursor to Civil War
  • A printed map of Savannah, Georgia, circa 1734
    Facts About the Colony of Georgia
  • 14th July 1789: French troops storming the Bastille during the French Revolution.
    American Reaction to the French Revolution
  • Illustration of the Bessemer steel production process
    The Bessemer Steel Process
  • Illustration of slaves harvesting cotton on a southern plantation
    King Cotton and the Economy of the Old South
  • Engraved portrait of General William Tecumseh Sherman
    Forty Acres and a Mule
  • "The Pequot War"
    Founding of the Connecticut Colony
  • Vintage print of the first twenty-one Presidents seated together in The White House
    12th Amendment: Fixing the Electoral College
  • John Winthrop Landing in Massachusetts
    The Founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
  • Political cartoon depicting 19th century robber barons.
    Meaning and History of the Term Robber Baron
  • President Andrew Jackson seated with his legs crossed
    The Bank War Waged by President Andrew Jackson
  • Parchment Replica the Magna Carta of King John
    Importance of the Magna Carta to the US Constitution
  • Engraved portrait of John Quincy Adams
    Monroe Doctrine
  • A statue of Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island
    How Rhode Island Colony Was Founded
  • Battle of New Orleans, War of 1812
    War Hawks and the War of 1812
  • Daguerreotype image of John Quincy Adams
    History of the US Congressional Gag Rule
  • Congressman Preston Brooks attacking Senator Charles Sumner
    Violence Over Enslavement on the Floor of the U.S. Senate
  • Engraved portrait of Salmon Chase
    Definition of Greenbacks
  • Painting of surveyors mapping the Gadsden Purchase.
    Gadsden Purchase
  • The statue of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial
    The Wade-Davis Bill and Reconstruction
  • Gerrit Smith
    The Secret Six
  • Free Soil Party banner from 1848 presidential campaign.
    The History and Legacy of the Free Soil Party
  • Engraved print of Lincoln reading the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet.
    Border States During the Civil War
  • Pride of Baltimore II, replica of Baltimore clipper
    Privateers in the War of 1812
  • Sen. Henry Clay addressing his Senate colleagues
    Henry Clay's American System of Economics
  • George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore
    Facts About the Maryland Colony
  • Engraved portrait of President James Monroe
    Era of Good Feelings
  • Photograph of a restored textile mill in Lowell, Massachusetts
    Lowell Mill Girls
  • The site where Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations
    Mercantilism and Its Effect on Colonial America
  • Engraving of the fortified settlement of Charleston, South Carolina, 1673
    Essential Facts About the South Carolina Colony
  • Map Of Camden, New Jersey, & Environs
    Founding and History of the New Jersey Colony
  • Scott's Anaconda Plan
    Overview of the Anaconda Plan of 1861
  • The Castello Plan, the earliest known plan of New Amsterdam in New Netherland, ca. 1660
    A Brief History of New Amsterdam
  • A black and white illustration of men in front of a tree with the word "Croatoan" carved on it
    The Founding of North Carolina Colony and Its Role in the Revolution
  • New Amsterdam
    Founding and History of the New York Colony
  • Black and white photo of the cracked Liberty Bell.
    The Declaration of Independence
  • Rutherford B. Hayes
    The Compromise of 1877 Set the Stage for the Jim Crow Era
  • Reconstruction Panorama: Reconstruction post-Civil War scene advertising poster
    The Reconstruction Era (1865–1877)
  • Engraved portrait of John C. Calhoun
    The Tariff of Abominations of 1828
  • Illustration of Commodore Petty meeting Japanese officials
    Treaty of Kanagawa
  • President Harry Truman holding up a newspaper with headline proclaiming, ‘Dewey Defeats Truman.’
    All About President Truman's Fair Deal of 1949
  • Portrait of Thomas Jefferson
    The Full Story of Thomas Jefferson's Embargo Act of 1807
  • Photograph of New Orleans streetcars
    Plessy v. Ferguson
  • Working on assignment
    Top 10 Tips for Passing the AP US History Exam
  • Old Style Printing Press
    History of Newspapers In America
  • Painting of Native Americans Greeting Swedish Settlers by Christian Von Schneidau
    A Brief History of the Delaware Colony
  • Painting of officers of the East India Company being entertained in India.
    East India Company
  • Engraved portrait of John Quincy Adams
    The Adams-Onis Treaty
  • President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act
    Lyndon Johnson's Great Society
  • Illustration depicting impressment of American sailors
    Impressment of Sailors
  • Engraved portrait of Frederick Douglass
    The Abolitionists
  • Photograph of Dunker Church at Antietam shot by Alexander Gardner
    Wet Plate Collodion Photography
  • Political cartoon from 1840s depicting Barnburner faction of the Democratic Party
    Barnburners and Hunkers
  • The trial of Peter Zenger in New York, 1734. The printer of the New York Weekly Journal was accused of libel. Defended by Andrew Hamilton, he was acquitted and this precedent established freedom of the press in the United States. Undated engraving.
    The John Peter Zenger Trial
  • Engraved illustration of young Henry David Thoreau
    American Lyceum Movement
  • Engraved portrait of Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, and John C. Calhoun
    The Great Triumvirate
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