In 1994, Republicans swept the midterms and Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the House. His “Contract with America” was both polarizing and transformative.

The U.S.A.'s founders focused on the rights of white men to vote, own property, and govern. The idea that women should have similar rights came later.

A new film tells the story of Ron Stallworth, a black police officer who infiltrated the KKK in 1972. What was the context for this odd moment in history?

In 1968 violent events at home and aboard were broadcast in color on the television news, creating impacts that may have swayed the presidential election.

In the 19th century, students at American medical schools stole the corpses of recently-buried African Americans to be used for dissection.

How New York City's tabloids sensationalized the murder case that inspired the classic film noir Double Indemnity.

The feared gang MS-13 was born out of conditions resulting from U.S. policies in El Salvador in the early 1980s.

Many abolitionists seeking to end slavery in the British West Indies were concerned less with human rights, more with the preponderance of what they saw as "interracial sex."

The things travelers bring home reflect their worldviews. In 19th c. Niagara Falls, souvenirs revealed problematic stereotypes about Native Americans.

For many immigrants to the U.S. in the late 19th century, July 4th was deeply significant: Their own home countries were fighting for independence.