Missouri Statehood and the Missouri Compromise of 1820

On August 10, 1821, Missouri became the 24th state. Getting there required one of the most consequential — and fragile — political bargains in American history.

America’s First Income Tax: A Civil War Turning Point

Signed into law on August 5, 1861, America’s first federal income tax was enacted as part of Congress’s effort to finance the Civil War and established an important precedent in American fiscal history.