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Caleb Brewster’s Spy Boat Boys
byIn researching one of the many projects I have in train, I ran across the Federal Pension Application file of Caleb Brewster. With all…
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This Week on Dispatches: Colin Zimmerman on the Prelude to Trenton
byOn this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Colin Zimmerman on the strategic contest for Burlington, New Jersey, in the run up to…
Top 20 Wartime Quotations from the Letters of Lucy and Henry Knox
byLucy and Henry Knox experienced the American Revolution at its very center. Growing up in Boston, the couple had fallen in love and married…
Revolutionary Blacks: Discovering the Frank Brothers, Freeborn Men of Color, Soldiers of Independence
byBOOK REVIEW: Revolutionary Blacks, Discovering the Frank Brothers, Freeborn Men of Color, Soldiers of Independence by Shirley L. Green (Yardley, PA: Westholme, 2023) This captivating…
This Week on Dispatches: Al Dickenson on Samuel McColloch’s “Great Leap”
byOn this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Al Dickenson on Samuel McColloch’s “Great Leap,” one of the tall tales of the American…
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Quartering British Forces on Long Island
bySubstantial numbers of British and Hessian troops needed to be housed in New York City and across Long Island during the years of the…
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Prelude to Trenton: The Strategic Contest for Burlington County
byCount Carl Emil von Donop was at the pinnacle of his military career as his corps of Hessians marched victoriously south into New Jersey…
Early Presidential Elections: The Questionable Use of Electors to Correct Voter Imbalances
byAn important issue that the Congressional delegates faced when drafting the Constitution was how to create an equitable balance in voting rights between the…
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Speculation Nation: Land Mania in the Revolutionary American Republic
byBOOK REVIEW: Speculation Nation: Land Mania in the Revolutionary American Republic by Michael A. Blaakman (Early American Studies. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2023) The mark of…
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Left Behind in History: John Adams’ Misguided Defense
byToday’s Americans revere the Founding Fathers as egalitarian exceptions within the eighteenth century’s hierarchical world. Yet, these men were neither uniform nor wholly democratic…
This Week on Dispatches: Abby Chandler on Seized with the Temper of the Times
byOn this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews historian and JAR Books author Abby Chandler on her research into the Stamp Act Riots in Rhode…
A Leap of Faith in the Historical Record: The Legend of McColloch’s Leap
byWith a group of forty cavalrymen, Maj. Samuel McColloch rode to the aid of Fort Henry, near Wheeling, Virginia. It was September 1, 1777,…
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Historical Markers, Forgotten Cemeteries, and Finding the Revolution in Your Backyard
byThe din of passing cars and semi-trucks jockeying for position as lanes converge ahead rises above the rattle of leaves clinging to the branches…
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The Lord North Conciliatory Proposal: A Case of Too Little Too Late
byJust prior to the start of hostilities in the American Revolution, and even early on in those battles, last-minute efforts were made in many…
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The Delcastle Cannonball
bySeveral years ago, I set out to understand the movements of the British army through Delaware and into Pennsylvania in early September 1777. It…
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Mercy Otis Warren: Revolutionary Propagandist
byOn March 26, 1772, The Massachusetts Spy ran an unusual item on page 3 of that day’s newspaper: an advertisement for a dramatic performance of…
A Dispatches Special: Brady Crytzer at the Fort Plain Conference
byOn this week’s Dispatches, we are broadcasting host Brady Crytzer’s presentation at the Fort Plain Museum conference on Sir William Johnson and the Wars…
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War and Conflict in the Ohio Country during the American Revolution
byThe American Revolution came as a fire storm. No section of America was untouched or unaltered. The British Colonists who were in open rebellion…
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The Earl of Dartmouth, Secretary of State for the Colonies, Second Year: November 1773 – August 1774
byDuring the three months that the Earl of Dartmouth, Secretary of State for the Colonies, was on holiday from August to November 1773, the…
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What Do Bond Prices Tell Us about the Early Republic?
byAmerica’s early finances were, in a word, messy. The states took on enormous debt to fund the Revolutionary War while the national government chartered…
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A Brief History of Benjamin Franklin’s Residences on Craven Street, London: 1757 – 1775
byIf one looked into Benjamin Franklin’s time on Craven Street, they might initially believe he lived at 36 Craven Street the entirety of his…
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How do you define “Founding Fathers”?
byHow do you define “Founding Fathers”? You can define it either broadly or narrowly. By consensus, most historians limit the narrow definition to six….
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Which side benefited the most from the Native Americans?
byWhich side do you think benefited the most from the Native American involvement in the war? Why? The British benefited the most, from one…
Hamilton: An American Musical
byReview of the Broadway musical Hamilton, now playing at the Richard Rodgers Theater on 46th Street in New York City. Let me confess at…
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9 Questions with Rick Atkinson
byLearning that one of the most acclaimed military writers of our time has turned his narrative expertise towards the American Revolution is exciting news…
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The American Vicars of Bray
byLoyalists, those Americans who openly supported the British Government during the American Revolution, have been largely assumed to have had unchanging allegiance during the…
America's Most Important History!
This Week on Dispatches: Brooke Barbier on John Hancock
byOn this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews author and JAR contributor Brooke Barbier on her new book, King Hancock: The Radical Influence of a…
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The Latest Release in the JAR Books Series and an Interview with the Author, Abby Chandler
byThe latest book in our JAR series, Seized With the Temper of the Times: Identity and Rebellion in Pre-Revolutionary America by Abby Chandler, a professor of…
The Winter of 1774–1775 in Boston
byOn June 1, 1774, in response to the Boston Tea Party, the newly appointed governor, Lt.-Gen. Thomas Gage, shut down the towns’ harbor. All…
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Commissary Notes and the Dark History of Revolutionary Financing
byFrom the outset of the American Revolution and the outbreak of hostilities with Great Britain, a lingering problem that plagued the minds of the…