After a decisive victory in New Jersey of 63% and in New Mexico of 52% Hillary Clinton claimed the Democratic presidential nomination on Tuesday night. Clinton also appealed to supporters of Senator  Bernie Sanders of Vermont to unite with her against Donald Trump. Clinton, taking the stage at the Brooklyn Navy Yard while on the cusp of winning a majority of pledged delegates, delivered a soaring speech that appealed for party unity against Donald Trump ahead of what she framed as a battle for America’s very identity as a nation.

Reaching for history, Mrs. Clinton pledged to build on the achievements of pioneers like the 19th-century leaders at Seneca Falls, N.Y., who began the fight for women’s rights in America. “Tonight caps an amazing journey — a long, long journey,” she said, nearly a century after women won the right to vote nationwide. “We all owe so much to those who came before, and tonight belongs to all of you.”

As six states voted on Tuesday, Mr. Sanders’s political lifeline frayed with each loss. He was left hoping for a long-shot victory in the California primary, where Mrs. Clinton held a wide lead, to justify staying in the race and lobbying Democratic officials to support him in a contested convention next month.