The Seventeenth Amendment to the US Constitution allowed for the popular election of US Senators. Prior to this, Senators in the US Congress were appointed by state legislatures. Allowing American...
Latest Articles
The Summer Camps of Our Youth: A Great American Tradition:
Summer camps are a slice of Americana that comes with more than 100 years of rich history. Learn more about how camps originated here!
California: American Folklore, Part 5
California has a rich history of human civilization going back thousands of years, and some of its folklore originates almost back to the first people to live in the area. There are also European...
What is Your Genealogy Vision?
Do you have a theme in mind for your genealogy research this year? What is a theme for genealogy research, anyway? Here is what you need to know about themes for genealogy research, and why they are...
Stephen Hopkins: The Signers of the Declaration of Independence
Stephen Hopkins is considered the greatest statesman in the history of Rhode Island. By the time he went to the Second Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence, he was already...
Louisa Johnson Adams: America’s First Ladies #6
Louisa Johnson Adams was the wife of John Quincy Adams, the 6th president of the United States. Born in England, she was the only First Lady to be born on foreign soil until Melania Trump. With her...
The Twelfth Amendment: The Constitutional Amendments
The Twelfth Amendment to the US Constitution gives us the modern way that presidential elections are conducted. The first four US presidential elections were conducted differently, and resulted in...
Arizona: American Folklore, Part 3
Arizona was the last continental state to be admitted to the union, though its history of human habitation goes back thousands of years. From Native Americans to Spanish priests, from the Old West to...
William Hooper: The Signers of the Declaration of Independence
William Hooper was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Born and raised in Boston, he went to Harvard at a young age, and moved to North Carolina to pursue a career in law. It was there that...
The Eleventh Amendment: The Constitutional Amendments
The Eleventh Amendment is meant to keep citizens and businesses from suing states in federal court if they do not live in the states they are suing. The US Supreme Court has broadened this...