James K. Polk

In a momentous couple of years, the young United States added more than a million square miles of territory, including Texas and California. 

James K. Polk is considered one of the most successful presidents, even though he did not seek reelection.

Trampling rights, imposing tariffs, gobbling up others’ territories. Trump is imitating his role models to a T.

Trump's foreign policy is not as unprecedented as it seems.

American democracy has been haunted by the spectre of a Caesar-type figure since the birth of the republic. Have such fears ever been justified?

Joe Biden is hardly the first president who has decided not to seek a second term—but the circumstances this time are unique.

Exploring the homes of two presidents, the birthplace of another, and a natural wonder that once drew visitors from far and wide.

Ed Ayers heads south in search of stories from two centuries ago. Traces are there, but larger meanings remain elusive.

The NPS is working with Cayuse historians and students to correct a historical lie that shaped the West.

Learning the history of Mexico can help Americans better understand themselves.

This document is the rarest of items in the Library of Congress's manuscript collections: a letter written by an enslaved person.

As the new administration seeks to fill a vacancy on the Court, a look back at the forgotten mid-19th century battles over the judiciary.

What America’s last major party crack-up in the 1850s tells us about the 2010s.

In a new book, the Pulitzer Prize winner Greg Grandin tells the history of the hemisphere from south of the border.

It may sound counterintuitive, but Ken Burns’ version of U.S. history actually has quite a bit in common with Trump’s version.

How Trump's migration-as-invasion theory might serve as a pretext for claiming vast presidential powers and upending constitutional norms.

Attempts to add Canada to the U.S. have gone poorly since the 1770s. Trump's rhetoric threatens a repeat.

What the President’s confrontations with Panama, Greenland, Canada, and Colombia suggest about his expansionist vision.

Drawn to communities of German socialist expatriates in the area, Marx once considered making his way to Texas.

It’s difficult to see how these profound antipathies and fears will dissipate soon through any normal political processes.