The Kansas-Nebraska Act sparked violence that foreshadowed the Civil War

US westward expansion—and the status of slavery in the new territories—was a major cause of the American Civil War

The addition of new western lands forced the nation to confront whether slavery would spread beyond the South. Each debate over the admission of a new state sharpened the divide between free and slaveholding regions.

The Lincoln-Douglas debates sharpened the national divide over slavery

In 1858, Abraham Lincoln and Senator Stephen Douglas debated while competing for an Illinois Senate seat. Their seven debates, reprinted nationwide, brought the question of slavery to the forefront—further polarizing the country and propelling Lincoln to national prominence.

The Compromise of 1850 tried to settle disputes over land gained from Mexico

Territory acquired in the Mexican-American War reignited fierce debates over slavery’s expansion. The Compromise of 1850 aimed to ease tensions by admitting California as a free state and letting other territories decide the issue—but the compromise ultimately failed and helped pave the way to the Civil War.

Congress descended into fistfights, duels, and violence before the Civil War

In the decades before the Civil War, members of the United States Congress carried weapons, assaulted colleagues, and, in one case, a congressman killed another in a duel. The violence was driven largely by sectional conflict over slavery and foreshadowed the nation's descent into war.

The Missouri Compromise temporarily eased tensions over slavery's expansion

Passed in 1820, the Missouri Compromise admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state—maintaining the fragile balance between proslavery and antislavery states in Congress. It also banned slavery north of latitude 36°30′.

Future President Abraham Lincoln challenged Polk’s justification for war with Mexico

As a freshman congressman, Abraham Lincoln introduced the “Spot Resolutions,” demanding President Polk prove that Mexico had attacked on US soil. This constituted Lincoln’s first major political stand and highlighted growing dissent over the war.

11 states formed the Confederacy, with 2 others claiming allegiance

Between December 1860 and June 1861, 11 Southern states officially seceded to form the Confederacy. Pro-Confederate factions in Missouri and Kentucky also declared secession, but both states remained largely under Union control throughout the war.

The abolitionist movement long predated the Civil War

Beginning in the late 18th century, abolitionists like Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, and Sojourner Truth campaigned through newspapers, lectures, and political action to end slavery.

Congress's Wade-Davis Bill demanded harsher terms for Southern reentry

Passed in 1864, the Wade-Davis Bill required 50% of white male voters to swear loyalty and guarantee emancipation before readmission. Lincoln pocket-vetoed it, rejecting Congress's stricter approach.

Southern race riots in 1866 galvanized support for more radical Reconstruction

In 1866, white mobs in Memphis and New Orleans killed dozens of Black residents and burned Black neighborhoods. The massacres horrified Northerners, convincing Congress that stronger federal action was needed to protect freedpeople's rights and enforce Reconstruction.

The Civil War lasted for 4 years, with fighting taking place in a majority of the country

Fought from 1861 to 1865, the Civil War saw battles and raids across much of the country—from Pennsylvania to Texas and New Mexico to Florida.

Experience the political intrigue that followed Lincoln's assassination in 1865

It is April 15, 1865, and Abraham Lincoln is dead. Follow Secretary of War Edwin Stanton in this historical fiction audio drama as he hunts Lincoln's killer and battles to preserve the Union's fragile legacy in the aftermath of the assassination.

The US Army massacred close to 300 Lakota men, women, and children at Wounded Knee in 1890

Fearing the Ghost Dance—a spiritual movement spreading across starving reservations—the Army surrounded a Lakota encampment at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota. When a shot was fired during an attempted disarmament, it sparked chaos, and soldiers killed nearly 300 people.

The Kent State massacre sparked a nationwide student strike

In 1970, the Ohio National Guard opened fire on Kent State University students—peacefully protesting the Vietnam War—and killed four. The tragedy led to more widespread nationwide protests, shutting down more than 200 colleges and universities. The event led to a Pulitzer Prize-winning photo of a slain and grieving student.

What led to the Vietnam War?

On the heels of gaining independence from colonizers, why did Vietnam fracture and begin its internal battle? Though the war took root during an independence movement against French colonial rule, it evolved into a Cold War confrontation with international support. This article explains six events that led to the conflict between North and South Vietnam.

Why Kansas is giving away cheap land

In Lincoln, Kansas, a housing renaissance is underway, driven by affordable real estate prices and a lower cost of living, in stark contrast to high-priced urban centers. Bradley Roberts, who previously lived in San Francisco, moved to Lincoln and...

Abraham Lincoln was almost assassinated weeks before his inauguration as he traveled from Illinois to DC through Baltimore in 1861; it took two independent claims for Lincoln to be convinced the threat was real

Whitman founded an antislavery newspaper in Brooklyn

In 1948, Whitman founded a “free soil” newspaper called the Brooklyn Freeman, which explicitly argued against slavery. That activism led to problems for the paper, including an attack on its headquarters after the release of its first issue.

An 1873 Supreme Court case about slaughterhouses weakened parts of the 14th Amendment

In 1873, the Supreme Court's Slaughterhouse Cases ruled that the 14th Amendment's "privileges or immunities" clause protected only federal—not state—citizenship rights, greatly limiting the amendment's power to safeguard enslaved people from state discrimination.

Shays' rebellion pitted rebel veterans against the Revolution's leaders

The Revolutionary War led to independence and significant debt for most states. In 1786, a group of veterans and farmers from western Massachusetts protested against the state government’s increased taxes. Led by Daniel Shays, the group attempted to capture an armory in Springfield but failed.

Brandenburg v. Ohio set the modern standard for when speech can be punished as incitement

A Ku Klux Klan leader's conviction for a threatening speech prompted the Supreme Court in 1969 to rule that speech is punishable as incitement only if it is directed at—and likely to produce—imminent lawless action.

'Nebraska' was a sharp pivot inspired by proto-punk band Suicide

After "Born to Run," Springsteen's songwriting turned darker on subsequent albums "Darkness on the Edge of Town" and "The River," as he began exploring the harsher realities of adulthood and working-class life, but "Nebraska" was his most gothic, featuring haunted songs partially inspired by the abrasive proto-punk duo Suicide.

The Ohio State–Michigan rivalry has roots in a 19th-century border dispute

Known simply as "The Game," Ohio State and Michigan first played in 1897. The fiercest rivalry in sports has its roots in a 19th-century border dispute—the 1835–36 Toledo War—which stoked state pride long before football intensified the feud.

Fracking originated in the American Civil War

After witnessing how artillery created fissures in narrow water channels, a Civil War veteran wondered if the process could be replicated in underground wells to extract oil. He patented an "exploding torpedo" for this purpose, which became the foundation for future fracking techniques.

The oft-cited roots of the true crime genre

The 1966 book "In Cold Blood" by American author Truman Capote is often considered the beginning of true crime as it's known today. The story details the real-life murders of a family of four in Holcomb, Kansas, using techniques that, at the time, were relegated to fictional tales. Before it was a book, the narrative was published by The New Yorker in 1965 as a four-part series. 

Hear about the Supreme Court case so divisive that it caused a justice's breakdown

This podcast episode examines Baker v. Carr, a landmark redistricting ruling that Earl Warren called the most important of his tenure. The case was so divisive it triggered a justice's breakdown and permanently reshaped American democracy.

Explore an interactive map of battles from the American Revolution, along with detailed summaries of each engagement

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

Volcanic activity may have triggered the Black Death by spewing gases that led to crop failures in Europe, thus forcing the import of grain ships with plague-infested fleas.

Before writing 'Walden,' transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau nearly burned down his hometown with a campfire that grew out of control.

The Great Salt Lake's distinct dual coloration results from high-salinity organisms that only live in the northern portion and produce a purple protein.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

View the ten deadliest tornadoes in US history.

'Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,' a work by American painter Thomas Moran, inspired Congress to establish Yellowstone National Park.

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

Fireworks make a loud booming sound after exploding due to air expanding faster than the speed of sound.

70 years ago today, city officials in Santa Cruz, California, banned rock 'n' roll to protect its youth from corruption after witnessing a 'provocative' concert the night before.

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, and became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

Georgia O'Keeffe's flower paintings are often assumed to be sexual, though the artist claimed she was simply interested in highlighting the beauty of flowers that most people neglect

The Ramones' 'Pet Sematary,' the theme song for the Stephen King novel of the same name, was written while the band was admiring the writer's collection of horror memorabilia.

The word 'jazz' evolved from 'jasm,' 19th-century American slang for 'energy'

Bone marrow (soft tissue found inside certain bones) generates roughly 500 billion new blood cells each day

Recent research found that the brain doesn't seem to massively rewire following amputation—upending earlier beliefs about the cause of phantom limb pain.