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The phrase “United We Stand, Divided We Fall” has been invoked countless times in United States history. Often shortened to simply “United We Stand,” the phrase is sometimes used as a kind of catch-all reference to the country’s long history of patriotism. It’s also sometimes used as a rallying cry when the United States faces difficult times. But, likely, few Americans have ever given much thought to the origins of the expression. So, where did it come from? The first use of the phrase in American history, as far as anyone knows, was likely by John Dickinson, one of the...

In the patriotic fervor that swept the colonies during the American Revolution, several flags and emblems were designed to express the colonists’ growing desire for independence. One of these was known as the Gadsden flag, a yellow banner featuring a coiled rattlesnake and the ominous phrase, “Don’t Tread on Me.” It’s a well-known image, but few Americans know the history behind it.   A native of South Carolina, Christopher Gadsden was a delegate to the Continental Congress and would later serve as a brigadier general in the Continental Army. He was a fiery defender of the colonies with an explosive...

It’s difficult now to imagine a time when the United States was not the world’s most significant power, but in the late 1800s and early 1900s, it was an emerging world power that was only beginning to look beyond its borders. In the 1890s, the United States became involved in foreign conflicts, notably the Spanish-American War, in which the US intervened on behalf of Cuban rebels who wanted independence from Spain.In 1901, shortly after the war, Theodore Roosevelt became President following the assassination of William McKinley. Roosevelt had long been an advocate of American expansionism and had become widely popular...