Democracy

The advantages of gear-and-lever voting machine, c. 1898, over the ballot box were many, including that it kept a running count, thus speeding up the reporting of results.

When Pulling a Lever Tallied the Vote

An innovative 1890s gear-and-lever voting machine mechanized the counting of the ballots so they could be tallied in minutes, not hours or days

An American flag sits atop a gravestone in the cemetery of Oak Mountain Baptist Church in Shelby County, Alabama.

The Wild Road Trip That Launched the Populist Conservative Movement

How a fiery preacher and a maverick Army general took the nation by storm

The rediscovered 1857 “Laws of Base Ball,” dubbed the sport’s Magna Carta, (above, with a 1911 image of the Brooklyn Baseball Club) makes its first appearance in a major exhibition at the Library of Congress.

This Crackerjack Lineup of Baseball Memorabilia Drives Home the Game’s American Essence

A new Library of Congress exhibition includes such treasures as the original 1857 “Magna Carta of Baseball”

Robert F. Kennedy accepts the Democratic nomination as a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1964.

Why Robert Kennedy Transformed From a Conservative Into a Liberal Champion of Civil Rights

A professor of political history looks at how RFK, assassinated 50 years ago this week, was an improbable hero to the left

Theodore Roosevelt and his Big Stick in the Caribbean (1904)

Why Teddy Roosevelt Is Popular on Both Sides of the Political Aisle

A historian considers the forces that have shaped the Rough Rider's presidential legacy in the decades since his death more than 100 years ago

Scene from the 1967 Detroit riot.

Study Shows Little Change Since Kerner Commission Reported on Racism 50 Years Ago

An update to the landmark study finds there is now more poverty and segregation in America

A voting sign from the 2008 election.

For a Few Decades in the 18th Century, Women and African-Americans Could Vote in New Jersey

Then some politicians got angry

This cartoon was published on November 7, 1874, in 'Harper's Weekly.'

The Third-Term Controversy That Gave the Republican Party Its Symbol

The elephant and the donkey as symbols for America's biggest political parties date back to the 1800s and this controversy

Vinnie Ream was not even 20 when she was commissioned by the U.S. government to create the statue of Lincoln that still stands in the Capitol today.

This Ambitious Young Sculptor Gave Us A Lincoln For the Capitol

Vinnie Ream was the first female artist commissioned to create a work of art for the U.S. government

How JFK's Clever TV Strategies Helped Him Win the Election

Seventy million people tuned in to watch America's first televised presidential debate in 1960. They were met with a well-prepared, well-dressed JFK

The Whiskey Rebellion

The First Presidential Pardon Pitted Alexander Hamilton Against George Washington

How to handle the Whiskey Rebellion was the first major crisis faced by the new government

How Many Ways Can Snake Venom Kill You and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

Where Did the Term “Gerrymander” Come From?

Elbridge Gerry was a powerful voice in the founding of the nation, but today he's best known for the political practice with an amphibious origin

The anti-Chinese cap pistol carries the phrase “The Chinese Must Go” and shows a presumably white man kicking a Chinese man.

Artifacts Show the Sometimes-Violent Nature of American Democracy

From a KKK hood to an anti-Chinese pistol, a new exhibition shows America’s fraught history of deciding who to include in democracy

At the top of the Great Historical Clock, amid decorative flourishes,George Washington reviews his troops.

This Towering 19th-Century Mechanical Clock Was the Smartwatch of Its Era

With hundreds of moving parts, the Great Historical Clock of America has been revived

Horatio Greenough’s 12-ton marble statue of George Washington heralds the newly reopened west wing gallery.

Renovated Museum Wing Delves Into Untold Chapters of American History

“The Nation We Build Together” questions American ideals through exhibits on democracy, religion, diversity and more

Petitioning with your feet display

New Exhibition Asks “What Kind of Nation Do We Want to Be?”

The American History Museum opens a trio of timely new shows on democracy, religion and immigration

Leibstadt Nuclear Power Plant in Switzerland

Switzerland Votes to Phase Out Nuclear Power

The nation plans to decommission its five nuclear plants and invest in renewables

Students for a Democratic Society was the largest – and arguably most successful – student activist organization in U.S. history.

What Was the Protest Group Students for a Democratic Society? Five Questions Answered

Todd Gitlin, former president of Students for a Democratic Society, shares his perspective on protest in the 60s and now

Hugo La Fayette Black was a Supreme Court justice for over three decades, and is remembered as a defender of civil rights.

This Supreme Court Justice Was a KKK Member

Even after the story came out in 1937, Hugo Black went on to serve as a member of the Supreme Court into the 1970s

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