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In the summer of 1776, the Continental Army was already fighting the British Empire around Boston, New York, and in scattered frontier campaigns. On June 7th, 1776, Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee put into words what that fighting increasingly implied, offering a resolution that the united colonies “are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states.” Debate over his proposal forced Congress to confront t
In his annual message to Congress on December 2nd, 1823, President James Monroe drew a bold line through the map of the Western Hemisphere.
Decades later, the United States stood on the edge of another conflict as patrols clashed along the disputed border with Mexico. On May 11th, 1846, President James K. Polk addressed Congress and described these incidents as Mexican forces invading American soil and spilling American blood. His message framed the fighting not as a limited frontier skirmish but as a clear act of aggression, urging Congress to recognize
When Congress passed legislation on July 11th, 1798 to create a Marine Corps under the Department of the Navy, it gave the new republic a permanent naval infantry force. The Continental Marines of the Revolution had been disbanded after the war, but the growing threat of conflict at sea with European powers pushed leaders to rebuild that capability.
After years of war and months of negotiation, delegates of the Confederation Congress gathered in Annapolis to ratify the peace treaty that had been signed in Paris the previous year. By approving the agreement on January 14th, 1784, the United States formally ended the Revolutionary War in the eyes of European powers and secured recognition of its independence and new borders.
Two days after the invasion began, President Harry Truman announced that he had ordered American air and naval forces to support South Korea and directed the Seventh Fleet to the waters near Taiwan. The decision, made without a formal congressional declaration of war, marked one of the earliest and most consequential uses of presidential authority to commit U.S. forces in the emerging Cold War.
On February 2nd, 1901, Congress created the United States Army Nurse Corps as a permanent part of the regular Army. The Spanish-American War and campaigns in the Philippines had highlighted how crucial trained nursing was to survival, not only in battle but also against disease. Before the Corps, the Army relied heavily on contract nurses and ad hoc arrangements that made it difficult to build experience and enforce
Four days after Wilson’s address, Congress approved the declaration of war, formally bringing the United States into World War I on the side of the Allies. The decision triggered a sweeping mobilization effort at home, including the enactment of the Selective Service system to raise a large national army. The American Expeditionary Forces, under General John J.
Nearly four decades after independence, the United States again found itself in conflict with its old imperial rival. On June 18th, 1812, after months of debate over British interference with American trade, the impressment of American sailors into the Royal Navy, and tensions along the frontier, Congress passed and President James Madison signed a declaration of war.
The day after Japanese aircraft and submarines attacked Pearl Harbor and other Pacific outposts, President Franklin Roosevelt addressed Congress in a joint session that would be remembered for its “day of infamy” language.
On this date, the Continental Congress resolved that the “United Colonies” would henceforth be known as the “United States of America.” It was a decision made in the middle of a war whose outcome was far from certain, but it gave the rebellion a clearer political…
On May 13th, 1846, Congress responds to President James K. Polk’s war message and formally declares that a state of war exists with Mexico. Skirmishes along the Rio Grande have already led to American and Mexican casualties, and the vote unlocks the use of the regular Army and newly raised volunteers on multiple fronts. Over the next two years, United States forces will fight along the border, across northern Mexico,
On this day, George Washington formally accepted the appointment that Congress had offered him to serve as commander in chief of the Continental Army. The colonies had already seen bloodshed at Lexington, Concord, and around Boston, but until this point there had been no single figure responsible for coordinating their military effort. Washington’s acceptance signaled that the rebellion would not be a loose collectio
In the final winter of the Revolutionary War, Continental Army officers encamped at Newburgh, New York seethed over unpaid wages and uncertain futures. An anonymous circular dated March 10th, 1783 urged them to consider a more forceful stand against Congress, raising the specter of a military challenge to civilian authority. On March 15th, George Washington appeared unannounced at their meeting and asked permission t
With the Revolutionary War effectively over and peace in sight, George Washington appeared before Congress in Annapolis on December 23rd, 1783 to resign his commission as commander in chief.
The same week on the calendar, but in a different year, brought one of the most searing dates in United States military history: December 7th, 1941.
A story of a grinding hill assault, exhausted rifle companies, and a single ridge that reshaped the war back home.
In the turbulence of the Mexican Revolution, the United States undertook a controversial intervention that highlighted both its naval reach and the risks of limited operations ashore. A diplomatic clash known as the Tampico Affair, combined with concerns over an incoming arms shipment to the regime of Victoriano Huerta, led Washington to order a seizure of the port of Veracruz.