Shaping the Political Landscape

"America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand." -Harry S. Truman

Stories of shaping the political landscape include tribal, local, state, and federal political and governmental institutions that create public policy and those groups that seek to shape both policies and institutions. Places associated with political leaders, theorists, organizations, movements, campaigns, and grassroots political activities all illustrate aspects of the political environment. Independence Hall, for example, is an example of democratic aspirations and reflects political ideas.

Places include battlefields and forts, such as Saratoga National Historical Park in New York and Fort Sumter National Monument in South Carolina, as well as sites such as Appomattox Court House National Historical Park in Virginia that commemorate watershed events in the life of the nation.

Military events and decisions, movements and protests, political parties, and more have all shaped our political landscape. Places associated with leaders in the development of the American constitutional system such as Abraham Lincoln's home in Illinois and the birthplace of Martin Luther King, Jr., in Atlanta -- both National Historic Sites -- embody key aspects of the political landscape.

Read more on how Americans Shaped the Political Landscape.