1

Cobbler

Image: Enrique Briseno

What’s not to love about a cobbler? It’s the perfect mix between tart and sweet. The popular choices include peach, apple, and blueberry, but other fruits like pears, and rhubarb, also make great options.

This popular dessert can range from tart to sweet depending on how much sugar is added to the fruit. Cobblers vary from more cake-like to crunchy, especially with the addition of oats for texture instead of flour.

2

Cheesecake

Image: Kelsey Todd

All hail the cheesecake! This amazing dessert comes in many varieties and flavors, from rich double chocolate decadence to fluffier and fruitier options . The cheesecake base also pairs wonderfully with other sweet treats, like brownies and pies, for extra richness.

While it may seem like a very contemporary dessert, the first cheesecakes were created as early as the 5th century B.C. on the Greek island of Samos, where a dessert was created from cheese, honey, and nuts.

3

Banana Pudding

Image: Nicole Winchel Brayton

Few fruits are better companions to creamy desserts than bananas. Their texture and sweetness blend perfectly with many other ingredients. The Banana Pudding is a layered mix of creamy banana custard, fresh bananas, wafer cookies, and whipped cream —a fluffy, chilled delight straight from the icebox.

The recipe for banana pudding first appeared in Good Housekeeping in 1888 and has been a beloved classic ever since, with good reason.

4

S’mores

Image: Jessica Ruscello

This quintessential camping dessert is a truly American creation. The simple concept of graham crackers, toasted marshmallows, and chocolate has become home to a variety of innovations, including the addition of peanut butter, caramel, and other ingredients.

The recipe for s’mores first appeared in a cookbook in the 1920s, when it was already gaining popularity among campers in the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America. And if you’re nowhere near a campfire, you can make this classic treat in your own oven at home.

5

Lemon Squares

Image: Elena Kloppenburg

This yellow cousin of the brownie (more on that later) is perfect for anyone who loves tart and flaky treats. The most successful recipes include a buttery shortbread crust, a layer of deliciously tangy lemon curd, and a light dusting of powdered sugar.

Chilled in the fridge, lemon squares make an ideal summertime dessert to savor when the heat is overwhelming.

6

Frozen custard

Image: Tim Mossholder

Everybody knows custard, right? And, as tasty as it is, frozen custard is—even better for many people. This gourmet ice cream treat, made with eggs, cream, and sugar is specially celebrated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin—the so-called "Custard Capital of the World"—where it's sold more than anywhere else around the globe.

Because it contains much less air than other similar treats, frozen custard is thick, dense, and packed with flavor.

7

Key lime pie

Image: Nathan Lemon

Who doesn’t love key lime pie? This sweet and sour dessert originates from the Florida Keys. It consists of Key lime juice, condensed milk, and eggs, mixed into a creamy custard. The custard is poured into a buttery crust made from graham crackers and topped with sweet whipped cream. The acidic flavors of the limes provide a perfect contrast to the sweetness of the sugar and cream.

8

Gooey Butter Cake

Image: Olga Petnyunene

Gooey butter cake is an accurately descriptive name for this treat, a hallmark of the city of St. Louis. It’s a flat, dense cake made from wheat flour, butter, sugar, and eggs . The cake is traditionally garnished with powdered sugar and sometimes a few raspberries.

Sweet, rich, and firm, gooey butter cake was created in the 1930s by a baker who, while attempting to make a standard yellow cake, accidentally added too much sugar, butter, or shortening. Rather than discard the gooey, sticky batter, he decided to sell it—and customers couldn’t get enough.

9

Beignets

Image: Keesha's Kitchen

While this dish originated in France, America has made it its own. Beignets are squares of deep-fried pastry dough sprinkled with powdered sugar and traditionally served hot . These days, beignets are most commonly associated with the French Quarter of New Orleans, where they were declared the official state donut in 1986. These treats are often enjoyed alongside chocolate milk or café au lait.

10

Brownies

Image: NordWood Themes

Last but not least, another American favorite makes its entrance. These small chocolate cakes come in various forms, from thicker, fudge-like brownies to lighter, fluffier versions. Brownies are also perfect for pairing with other popular desserts, like ice cream and caramel sauce, and can include nuts or frosting. There’s even a "blonde" variation!

Brownies hold a special place in American culture, often associated with home-baked goods, school bake sales, and family gatherings. Everyone has a favorite type of brownie. What’s yours?

1

Independence National Historical Park

A historic district in Philadelphia, this 55-acre national park—established in 1956—preserves several sites related to American Independence and the Revolutionary War. Among the main sites of this park, we can find Independence Hall—originally the Pennsylvania State House—where the Declaration of Independence was signed and proclaimed, the Liberty Bell, the Carpenters' Hall—the location of the First Continental Congress—and Congress Hall, the place of reunion of the U.S. Congress before its relocation to Washington, D.C.

2

National Mall

Located in Washington, D.C., this park, often called ‘America's Front Yard’, stretches from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial , and has been the location of many historical events. Across and around it, we can find several museums, art galleries, cultural institutions, and memorials, sculptures, and statues, including the Washington Monument, Union Square, the Botanic Garden, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

3

Freedom Trail

This 2.5-mile-long path stretches across Boston, linking 16 sites related to American history and the American Revolutionary War. Starting in the Boston Common, down to the Bunker Hill Monument in Charleston, this trail will lead you to sites such as the Massachusetts State House, the Boston Massacre Site, Paul Revere’s House, and the Old North Church.

4

Taos Pueblo

Located near the city of Taos, New Mexico, this settlement is believed to have been established around the 13th century, making it the oldest continuously inhabited place in U.S. territory . Famous for its red adobe, multi-storied buildings, the settlement has been home to the Puebloan people for nearly a thousand years. The site has been declared a National Historic Landmark and a UNESCO Heritage Site.

5

Ellis Island

Out of all the historic immigrant inspection and processing stations in America, Ellis Island is certainly the most well-known. Located in the New York Harbor, this station processed about 12 million immigrants in six decades before its closure in 1954. A source of territorial conflict between New York and New Jersey, the island is now part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument, and works as a museum of immigrant history.

6

Gettysburg National Military Park

The Battle of Gettysburg, fought over three days across Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, is widely considered to have been a turning point in the American Civil War and the key to the Union’s victory . The site of the conflict, as well as Gettysburg National Cemetery—the location of President Lincoln’s famous address—is preserved by the Gettysburg National Military Park—established in 1966—alongside thousands of war artifacts.

7

Cape Canaveral

One of NASA’s main space centers, Cape Canaveral has been the starting point of several history-changing space missions like the Apollo, Skylab, and Space Shuttle programs since the 1940s. Home to two different installations—the Kennedy Space Center and the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station—several firsts in space history were launched from Cape Canaveral, such as the first U.S. Earth satellite, the first U.S. astronaut in orbit, the first U.S. uncrewed lunar landing, and the Apollo 11 moon landing.

8

Pearl Harbor National Memorial

This memorial, included in the National Park System, commemorates the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 , an event that resulted in 2,400 American casualties and the subsequent involvement of the U.S. in the Second World War. The memorial, located at the site of the attack in O’ahu, Hawaii, and dedicated in 1962, includes memorials for three ships lost alongside their crews, a visitor center with information about the Pacific theater of World War II, and the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum.

9

The Alamo

Known as the ‘Shrine of Texas Liberty’, the Alamo Mission was the site of key events of the Texan Revolution and of Southern history . Initially a Spanish Catholic mission and later used as a military fortress, the compound was sieged by the Mexican Army in 1836. The nearly 250 Texan soldiers garrisoned at the complex resisted the siege for 13 days before being defeated and slain by the much more numerous Mexican army, a resistance that fuelled Texan patriotism and its fight for independence.

10

Tombstone

A flourishing Arizona town during the silver mining boom of the late 19th century, Tombstone gained its place in history books as the location of the famous ‘Gunfight at the O.K. Corral’ . An archetype of the Wild West, this confrontation was the result of a long feud between U.S. marshals—Town Marshal Virgil Earp and his deputees Wyatt Earp, Morgan Earp, and Doc Holliday—and an outlaw group known as the Cochise County Cowboys. Though the shootout lasted less than a minute, it remains one of the most famous events of the Old West, with the town of Tombstone designated a National Historic Landmark.

1

A secret convention

The Constitutional Convention gathered between May 25 and September 17, 1787, in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, at that moment the seat of the U.S. government. Although the initial intention had been to "fix" the government delineated in the Articles of the Confederation, the constituents, also known as the "Framers", decided to write a new document altogether. For nearly five months, delegates from 12 states (Rhode Island had refused to participate) deliberated in secret , wanting to avoid external pressure but also any leak or rumor that could lead to mass panic.

2

A controversial document

While James Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for his role in shaping our government, the document as we know it was mainly drafted by Pennsylvania delegate Gouverneur Morris. Although the convention had reluctantly agreed on 23 points, the final draft only contained seven, plus a preamble and a closing endorsement . This result, caused by several necessary compromises, disappointed many delegates, including Benjamin Franklin, who still voted in favor because they believed that they couldn’t reach a better agreement.

3

Spelling errors

The text for the Constitution had been drafted by Gouverneur Morris, but the document to be signed was penned on five parchment pages by Jacob Shallus, an assistant clerk to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Shallus received $30 for his work (equivalent to about $750 today). The document was written quite hastily, which led to misspellings in the text , although some of them might have been common alternative spellings at that time, such as "chuse" instead of "choose". The most famous error is "Pensylvania" in the list of signatory states, a list written by Alexander Hamilton, not by Shallus.

4

The compromises

The heated debates about the new government forced the delegates to reach a series of compromises. The most significant concerned state representation (larger states wanted proportional votes, smaller states demanded equal representation), whether enslaved people counted towards state population, and the executive government’s election method. As a result, the Convention decided on a Bicameral legislature (the House of Representatives with proportional representation and the Senate with equal representation), counted three-fifths of the enslaved population towards representation and taxation, and decided on an electoral college to balance popular votes and state electors.

5

The constituents

The convention, presided over by George Washington, was comprised of delegates from 12 states, a mix of lawyers, merchants, landowners, physicians, and public officials. All of them had political experience, having served in the Continental Congress, the Confederation Congress, or as signers of the Declaration of Independence , although their ages varied. New Jersey delegate Jonathan Dayton was the youngest constituent, at 26 years old, while Pennsylvania delegate Benjamin Franklin was the oldest, at 81 years old.

6

The men who refused

The Constitutional Convention had 55 delegates in total, but not all of them signed the Constitution or were even present at the signing. Thirteen of them had returned to their states due to professional or personal reasons, or as a form of protest. George Mason, Elbridge Gerry, and Edmund Randolph remained at the convention, but refused to sign the Constitution without a Bill of Rights. In the end, only 39 out of 55 delegates signed the final document.

7

Delaware, the First State

Although Delaware is traditionally regarded as the 13th colony, and it functioned as such with its own assembly, it had always been part of Pennsylvania, only becoming an independent state with the start of the Revolutionary War. The second-smallest state beside Rhode Island, Delaware was the first to unanimously ratify the new U.S. Constitution , less than three months after it was signed, making it the first state to join the Union and earning it the nickname of "The First State".

8

The Bill of Rights

The inclusion of a Bill of Rights had been debated during the Constitutional Convention, but it had been rejected under the argument that it could imply that any right not mentioned did not exist. However, this posed a later issue, as some states flat-out refused to ratify a Constitution that lacked protection of individual rights. To ensure ratification, these states were promised that a bill of rights would be added. The Constitution was fully ratified on May 29, 1790, and the Bill of Rights, composed of ten amendments, was added on December 15, 1791.

9

What about slavery?

The terms "slave" or "slavery" do not appear in the original text of the Constitution, but this doesn’t mean the institution was not contemplated or protected in the document. The text spoke of people "bound to service", counted three-fifths of them towards a state’s population, prevented Congress from banning the import of enslaved people until 1808, and included a clause to return fugitives to their enslavers. It was not until 1865, with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, that the text of the Constitution formally addressed slavery, abolishing it across the U.S.

10

Amendments

Article V of the original text delineated the mechanism to amend the Constitution, contemplating that the government should be able to change as the nation changed. Any amendment requires a majority vote (two-thirds) of both chambers of Congress, plus the ratification of three-fourths of the states. Since the inception of the Constitution, more than 11,000 amendments have been proposed to Congress, but only 33 have been approved and sent to be ratified by the states. Of those, only 27 have been effectively ratified, the last one, concerning changes in congressional pay, fully ratified in 1992.