The Greatest Moments in American History

A chronology of the nation’s 10 most important achievements

1The Worst Moments in American History

2The Greatest Moments in American History

3And the Conservatives Say ...

Declaration of IndependenceThe one that started it all—the reason we’re celebrating a semiquincentennial. The Founders “embrace[d] a world-quaking creed that values individual freedom and the rights of man over heredity, might, or wealth,” writer and historian John A. Farrell noted.

The ConstitutionAn imperfect document (both because the framers tacked on 10 Amendments soon after and because of its slavery compromises), it was the result of a host of compromises that produced some epic arguments at the Constitutional Convention. Still, it created a flexible........

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