The Internal Revenue Service is the government agency that collects federal taxes. The IRS traces its origins back to the Lincoln presidency when the position of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue was created in 1862. The commissioner assessed the nation's first income tax, which was implemented to raise funds to cover war expenses. Without federal taxes, many people would not have access to different types of monetary assistance for services like...

A history of taxation in America, including taxes and revolution, tariffs, income tax, social security tax, tax revolts, and changing purposes and goals of taxes.

Recounts the evolution of our Constitution from the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and discusses the changes that have come about in the ensuing 200 years.

"Our Documents tells the story of the American nation through a collection of 100 history-changing documents. Together, these landmark documents chronicle the centuries of social and political upheaval as the country struggled to define itself as a new nation and then to assume its place as a global power. Judged by the National Archives to be the most essential in the development of the United States, the documents collected here include such milestones...