American history

History of and information about the flag of the United States, from the Federal Citizen Information Center.

April 19, 2007 -- California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. sued the Tulare County Board of Supervisors on Thursday to overturn the board's approval of two mega-dairies housing more than 12,000 cattle near Allensworth State Park, a nationally registered historic site honoring a pioneering black settlement founded by a former slave.    » read more »

ROE v. WADE

Opinion of the United States Supreme Court
Decided January 22, 1973

MR. JUSTICE BLACKMUN delivered the opinion of the Court.

MR. JUSTICE REHNQUIST, dissenting.

MR. JUSTICE STEWART, concurring.    » read more »

"(The Voting Rights Act) was signed into law on August 6, 1965, by President Lyndon Johnson. It outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting." - ourdocuments.gov

Transcript of Voting Rights Act (1965)

AN ACT To enforce the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and for other purposes.    » read more »

This act was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 30, 1965, in Independence, MO. It established Medicare, a health insurance program for the elderly, and Medicaid, a health insurance program for the poor.    » read more »

This joint resolution of Congress (H.J. RES 1145) dated August 7, 1964, gave President Lyndon B. Johnson authority to increase U.S. involvement in the war between North and South Vietnam.    » read more »

This act, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 2, 1964, prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination illegal. This document was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction.    » read more »

The "I Have a Dream" speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963, during the occasion of the March on Washington.

I am happy to join with you today, in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.    » read more »

This program listed the events scheduled at the Lincoln Memorial during the August 28, 1963, March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The highlight of the march, which attracted 250,000 people, was Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech.    » read more »

On August 5, 1963, the Limited Test Ban Treaty was signed by the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union. After Senate approval, the treaty that went into effect on October 11, 1963, banned nuclear weapons testing in the atmosphere, in outer space, and under water.

In August of 1945, when the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, World War II came to a conclusion.    » read more »

John Glenn conducted the first manned space orbit of the earth on February 20, 1962. This is the transcription of his in-flight communication with Mission Control in Florida.    » read more »

On March 1, 1961, President Kennedy signed this executive order establishing the Peace Corps. On September 22, 1961, Congress approved the legislation that formally authorized the Peace Corps. Goals of the Peace Corps included: 1) helping the people of interested countries and areas meet their needs for trained workers; 2) helping promote a better understanding of Americans in countries where volunteers served; and 3) helping promote a better understanding of peoples of other nations on the part of Americans.    » read more »

Transcript of President John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address (1961)

Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, Reverend Clergy, fellow citizens:

We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom--symbolizing an end as well as a beginning--signifying renewal as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forbears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago.    » read more »

On January 17, 1961, in this farewell address, President Dwight Eisenhower warned against the establishment of a "military-industrial complex."    » read more »

This executive order of September 23, 1957, signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, sent Federal troops to maintain order and peace while the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, AR, took place.    » read more »