The complete online text of History of the United States by Mary Ritter Beard.

Mary Ritter Beard (1876-1958) was active in the struggles for women's suffrage and for trade union reform. With her husband Charles Austin Beard she wrote several books, including the multivolume The Rise of American Civilization. On her own she wrote se...

Politics: Ted Kennedy attaches hate crime legislation to a needed defense authorization bill. Is he more interested in defending the U.S. or the gay rights agenda?Knowing that President Bush would veto it as a stand-alone bill, Sen. Kennedy attached to the recently passed bill authorizing...

A leading Iraq war opponent threatened Thursday to try prohibiting any U.S. military action against Iran without congressional sanction as House Republicans used military veterans within their ranks to oppose a resolution renouncing President Bush's Iraq troop buildup.Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said he would seek...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that President Bush lacks the authority to invade Iran without specific approval from Congress, a fresh challenge to the commander in chief on the eve of a symbolic vote critical of his troop buildup in Iraq.Pelosi, D-Calif., noted that...

Though Janet Reno is credited as the executive producer of "Song of America," a three-disc boxed set that chronicles the history of the United States in song, she is quick to downplay her role."I had the easy way," Reno, the former U.S. attorney general, told...