Sid Lapidus Collection: Liberty and the American Revolution By 1776, Thomas Paine had become the most influential writer defending the break from Great Britain. Born in England, Paine arrived in the colonies in 1774, at age 34. His pamphlet Common Sense was published January 1776 and sold more than 150,000 copies. Paine summarized the case for separating from Great Britain, attacking hereditary privilege, and his direct argument and plain language resonated with ordinary people. This excerpt from Paine’s The American Crisis is the first of a series of articles printed in the...

The following charts are presented in the book The Ku Klux Klan in the City, 1915–1930 by Kenneth T. Jackson. The first chart represents the states with the highest recorded membership in the Klan during this time period. The approximate numbers are based on the estimates of former members, media reporters, and Klan documents. The second two charts provide a comparison between Klan members’ occupations in Winchester, IL, and Chicago, IL, during the years 1922–1923. This information comes from publication of Klan membership in an anti-Klan newspaper in Chicago called Tolerance ....

Introduction The Electoral College consists of 538 electors, who are representatives typically chosen by the candidate’s political party, though some state laws differ. Each state’s number of electors is based on its congressional delegation (one for each member in the House of Representatives and one for each member in the Senate). Currently, a total of 270 electoral votes is required to win the presidency. Before the 1804 election the first runner-up became vice president, as spelled out in the US Constitution. As a result of the Election of 1800, the method of electing the...