Founding Fathers of the United States: Did you mean...?

The Constitutional Convention was held at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 25 May to 17 September 1787. Spurred on by economic troubles left over from the American Revolution and compounded by the...

John Marshall (1755-1835) was an American lawyer and statesman, who served as the fourth chief justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1801 until his death in 1835. Considered one of the most influential chief justices in...

Paiyatuma and the Maidens of the Corn is a legend of the Zuni nation of the Pueblo peoples of the Southwest of the modern-day USA. Paiyatuma (also given as Paiyatamu) is a kachina spirit – an elemental entity –...

Mercy Otis Warren (1728-1814) was an American poet, playwright, and activist during the era of the American Revolution (1765-1789). Through her works of political satire, she advocated for the Patriot cause and became acquainted...

Cover of Norse America: The Story of a Founding Myth by Gordon Campbell. Published by Oxford University Press.

The Homestead Act was a policy enacted by the United States government on 20 May 1862 to encourage westward expansion. Passed during the American Civil War (1861-1865), the act offered 160 acres (65 ha) of...

A 19th-century painting by Pedro Lira Rencoret showing the foundation of Santiago de Chile in 1541 by the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia. (National History Museum, Santiago)

Photograph of a painting depicting Ingólfr Arnarson (c. 874 CE), who is considered the first historical settler of Iceland. His story is preserved in the Landnámabók and tells how, when his ship was just off the...

The XYZ Affair was a diplomatic incident that occurred in 1797-98, involving diplomats from the United States and Revolutionary France. Amidst rising tensions between the two nations, President John Adams sent envoys to Paris to negotiate...

The Quasi-War (1798-1800) or 'Half War' was a limited, undeclared naval conflict fought between the United States and the First French Republic. Hostilities arose when French privateers began attacking neutral American shipping, resulting...