John Quincy Adams

Greg Grandin’s new book charts the past and present of American expansionism and its high human costs.

He never denounced slavery and was brutal towards American Indians, but remains a popular figure. Why?

Why the statesmen of the Roman Republic had such an influence on the patriots of the Revolutionary era.

Trump and other peddlers of angry rhetoric may reap short-term gains, but history suggests they will provoke a fearsome backlash.

Islam in America dates to the founding fathers, says Smithsonian’s religion curator Peter Manseau.

The resurgence of the debate over the Sage of Monticello's legacy: Is Jefferson the ultimate patriot or ultimate hypocrite?

The Alamo supposedly honors the courage of Anglos pitted against Mexican brutality. In fact, it is about slavery and emancipation.

James Monroe’s 1817 goodwill tour kicked off a decade of party-less government – but he couldn’t stop the nation from dividing again.

Twenty-one historians explain which moments in history are closest to the Trump election - and what we can learn.

On the origins of racial exclusion in the society that would become the United States of America.

The most important third party in the history of American politics is one you may never have heard of before.

Andrew Jackson deserves nothing but contempt from modern America, not a place on our currency.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the age of surveillance.

Who were Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln, and the rest of the first 16 US presidents, what did they do, and what do they hope history has forgotten?

The author's half-forgotten masterpiece, Benito Cereno, provides fascinating insight into issues of slavery, freedom, individualism—and Islamophobia.

American legislators have been trying – and failing – to achieve universal health coverage for more than a century now.