State of the Union History

 In 1839, Secretary of War Joel R. Poinsett was trying to solve a problem the United States had struggled with since the War of 1812. On pap...

Tariffs, South Carolina, and the Compromise of 1833 In the late 1820s, a protective movement in America had taken a strong hold in the agric...

In 1838, President Van Buren forcefully cautioned Congress in 1839 against rising debt, insisting that both the United States and the wider ...

If you’ve ever hiked Isle Royale and thought, “This feels like Canada,” you’re not wrong — the island sits just 15 miles from the Canadian ...

  By 1830, Martin Van Buren was serving as vice president under Andrew Jackson . The country was changing fast: canals and railroads were c...

In 1838, the U.S. Post Office Department found itself in a tight financial spot. With expenses outpacing revenue by over $417,000—a deficit ...

Robert Fulton, the American engineer and inventor often credited with launching the age of the steamboat, never lived to see just how far hi...