Prologue: Pieces of History

We here at the National Archives noticed that many politicians these days use Twitter to deliver messages. Often this involves using numbers instead of letters, and symbols to convey a complex point in just a few words. So we asked our readers: “what if the authors of the Bill of Rights only had 140 characters [...]

You may have noticed that things look a little different on our website today. That’s because the National Archives just received a digital makeover, streamlining our look and feel and moving some items around on the back end too. While overhauling our website may be our most visible change here, we’ve been making improvements all [...]

It’s not all downhill for you, Jodi! In fact, things are looking up since you won last week’s photo caption contest earning you 30% off at the National Archives eStore. The original caption? “Party ‘nature sliding’ on the perpetual snow slopes below Paradise Glacier.” Yes, folks back in ’17 really knew how to cut loose. [...]

Sixty-nine years ago today, the Congress of the United States declared war following the delivery of a speech by Franklin Delano Roosevelt that included these words:  “Yesterday … a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked … With confidence in our armed forces–with the unbounding [...]

The year 1861 was a dire one for the United States. In its opening months, five southern states joined South Carolina in seceding from the Union. In the recent 1860 election, the victor Abraham Lincoln hadn’t even appeared on the ballots of a third of the states in the Union. A bloody civil war loomed. [...]