U.S. History

Is Aaron Burr considered a founding father depends on how historians define that term and how they weigh his contributions against his setbacks. Burr was a capable lawyer, a ser...

The Sons of Liberty were a loose network of Patriot activists who organized resistance to British policies in the Thirteen Colonies from roughly 1765 onward. Emerging in respons...

The Battle of Shiloh was a pivotal engagement in the American Civil War, fought in April 1862 along the Tennessee River in southwestern Tennessee. It marked a major Union advanc...

After Gerald Ford left the White House on January 20, 1977, James Earl Carter Jr. became the 39th President of the United States. Ford’s presidency ended following the 1976 el...

Ulysses S. Grant impact is rooted in his role as commanding general of the Union Army, his stewardship of the federal government during Reconstruction, and his presidency from 1...

The Oregon Trail was a 19th-century migration corridor used between about 1840 and 1869, primarily by settlers, farmers, and prospectors traveling from the Missouri River toward...

Implied powers are authorities not explicitly listed in the U.S. Constitution yet considered necessary for the federal government to carry out its enumerated powers. On the APUS...

The Stamp Act of 1765 was a direct tax imposed by the British Parliament on the American colonies, requiring revenue stamps on documents and printed materials. It emerged after...

Shays’ Rebellion (1786–1787) was a farmers’ uprising in western Massachusetts led by Daniel Shays against debt, taxes, and foreclosures. In literal military terms, the reb...

In AP U.S. History (APUSH), carpetbaggers refers to Northerners who moved to the South during Reconstruction (1865–1877), often perceived as opportunistic outsiders seeking po...