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American History

In the 1800 election, Thomas Jefferson, left, and Aaron Burr each received 73 electoral votes, but public opinion sided with Jefferson.

Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr and the Election of 1800

For seven days, as the two presidential candidates maneuvered and schemed, the fate of the young republic hung in the ballots

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Four Fateful Elections

What if Lincoln had lost, or if Theodore Roosevelt had won? How did Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan emerge to lead a dispirited nation?

Francis Scott Key looks out on the namesake of his poem, the Star-Spangled Banner.

Francis Scott Key, the Reluctant Patriot

The Washington lawyer was an unlikely candidate to write the national anthem; he was against America’s entry into the War of 1812 from the outset

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Off to the Races

Before the American Revolution, no Thoroughbred did more for racing’s growing popularity than a plucky mare named Selima

Today, visitors to downtown San Antonio find a weathered limestone church—63 feet wide and 33 feet tall at its hallowed hump. Says historian Stephen L. Hardin, "The first impression of so many who come here is, 'This is it?'"

Remembering the Alamo

John Lee Hancock’s epic re-creation of the 1836 battle between Mexican forces and Texas insurgents casts the massacre in a more historically accurate light

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Maine’s Lost Colony

Archeologists uncover an early American settlement that history forgot

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Variety Show

Off and running in the new year

Britannia offers solace and a promise of compensation for her exiled American-born Loyalists

Divided Loyalties

Descended from American Colonists who fled north rather than join the revolution, Canada’s Tories still raise their tankards to King George

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The Man Who Wrote the Pledge of Allegiance

The schoolroom staple didn’t originally include “under God,” even though it was created by an ordained minister

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Flashbacks

Reconsidering JFK and Sylvia Plath

In the summer of 1776, Franklin (left, seated with Adams in a c. 1921 painting) advised Jefferson on the drafting of the nation's founding document.

Benjamin Franklin Joins the Revolution

Returning to Philadelphia from England in 1775, the “wisest American” kept his political leanings to himself. But not for long

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dream Assignment

Photographer Bob Adelman’s picture of Martin Luther King, Jr., taken 40 years ago, captures one of the greatest speeches in American history

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Heroes of the Underground Railroad

A groundbreaking chronicle sheds new light on one of the most dramatic chapters in American history

Vancouver firemen turning out for a fire alarm

April Anniversaries

Momentous or merely memorable

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Stanley Meisler Hits a Stand-Up Double

George Washington, shown here in an 1853 lithograph, oversees his slaves at Mount Vernon.

Founding Fathers and Slaveholders

To what degree do the attitudes of Washington and Jefferson toward slavery diminish their achievements?

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Soviet warheads on Cuban soil could have attacked many major U.S. cities.

Learning from the Missile Crisis

What Really Happened on Those Thirteen Fateful Days in October

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Joyous View

A biographer and his subject, William Clark, meet in St. Louis

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Gods and Moguls

After the events of September 11, even historical fiction takes on new meaning. Just ask Ted Turner

Norman Rockwell's "Four Freedoms" theme was rejected at first, but the posters became classics.

Any Bonds Today?

When Uncle Sam passed the hat in World War II, Americans came up with $185 billion to buy U.S. bonds

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