Today in History–November 15–the Library of Congress features the Articles of Confederation, adopted by the Second Continental Congress on this day in 1777. Although Congress urged prompt action, it took more than three years for all thirteen states to ratify the articles that supported a loose confederation of sovereign states and a weak central government. Find out more…
Today in History–October 27–the Library of Congress features the Federalist Papers, the first of which was published on this day in 1787. This series of essays, 85 in all, were published in newspapers under the name of Publius but were actually written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. Their purpose, in essence, was to argue for the…
Today in History–August 26–the Library of Congress features the awarding of a federal patent for the steamboat on this day in 1791 to two (!) men—John Fitch and James Rumsey—each who had devised different systems. Find out whose sketch of what is featured above and uncover more fascinating facts by visiting the Today in History section. Then, if you haven’t run out of…