Clinton accepts nomination, promises to 'rise to the challenge'

Hillary Clinton has made history as the first woman to accept a major party's presidential nomination and the former First Lady told Americans that their country was "at a moment of reckoning" with "powerful forces ... threatening to pull us apart".

Addressing the Democratic National Convention on Thursday night in Philadelphia, Clinton called for unity, saying it is up to Americans "to decide whether we're going to work together so we can all rise together".

To much applause, she told supporters of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders that they shared the same cause.

In a speech that resonated with the audience, the former secretary of state and first lady rebutted many of the messages delivered by the Republican's presidential nominee Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this time last week.

"Don't let anyone tell you we don't have what it takes," Clinton said. "Most of all, don't believe anyone who says: 'I alone can fix it,'" referring to a Trump line.

“When there are no ceilings, the sky’s the limit,” she acknowledged briefly, before, eventually, the ceiling seemed to fall in, covering the floor of Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo arena in a carpet of red, white and blue balloons so thick, the candidate almost disappeared from view.

Powerful forces are threatening to pull us apart," she said.

Clinton accused her Republican opponent in November's election of sowing discord.

"He wants to divide us - from the rest of the world, and from each other."

But Trump tweeted that the speech had failed to address the threat posed by radical Islam, making the former secretary of state unfit to lead the country.

Before taking the stage, Clinton's daughter Chelsea shared personal memories of her mother.

"My wonderful, thoughtful, hilarious mother," the 36-year-old said, adding: "She was always there for me."