The Strange Affair of the King and the Repeal of the Stamp Act
by“The King had evidently consented to the repeal, and then disavowed his Ministers.”—Horace Walpole, Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Third In…
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Searching for Samuel’s Service: Stories of the Revolution Revealed Through One Man
byThe American Revolution was perhaps America’s first civil war—a dispute that forced neighbors to choose between country and King; to declare themselves Patriots or…
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The Sewing Girl’s Tale: A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America
byBOOK REVIEW: The Sewing Girl’s Tale: A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America by John Wood Sweet (New York: Henry Holt and Company,…
This Week on Dispatches: William W. Reynolds on the Yorktown Surrender Documents
byOn this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor William W. Reynolds on his examination of the surrender documents from Yorktown discovering differences between…
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The Significance of John Cadwalader
byIn 1776, John Cadwalader was a thirty-four-year-old merchant and prominent member of the Philadelphia gentry who had risen to command the volunteer militia known…
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Marinus Willett: The Exploits of an Unheralded War Hero
byMarinus Willett was born the son of a Quaker, Edward Willett, on July 31, 1740, in Jamaica, Long Island (now part of Queens). After…
James Colbert and His Chickasaw Legacy
byBOOK REVIEW: James Colbert and his Chickasaw Legacy by Stephen L. Kling, Jr. and Guy B. Braden (St. Louis, MO: THGC Publishing, 2022) The history…
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Virginia’s 1775 Regular Company-level Military Force Structure
byThe graphic below outlines the force structure created by the Third Virginia Convention in August 1775 and identifies the district and county or counties…
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John Cadwalader, Twice Refuses to be a General
byDuring the Revolutionary War, several men refused commissions as generals in the Continental Army. Seth Pomeroy and John Whitcomb were unable to accept the…
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The Battle of Gloucester, 1777
byBOOK REVIEW: The Battle of Gloucester 1777 by Garry Wheeler Stone and Paul W. Schopp (Yardley, PA: Westhome Publishing, 2022) Garry Wheeler Stone’s and…
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Observations Concerning the Yorktown Surrender Documents
byThe surrender of the British Army at Yorktown in 1781 was implemented by the three-party Articles of Capitulation (“the Articles”), one of the most…
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The Rise and Fall of John André’s Captors in Popular Culture
byDavid Williams, John Paulding, and Isaac Van Wart were celebrated as heroes during their lifetime, vaulted to fame by George Washington and Alexander Hamilton,…
Should the War Continue? The Motion in the House of Commons, December 12, 1781
byFollowing the surrender of General Cornwallis at Yorktown on October 19, 1781, the House of Commons began to debate whether or not the war…
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One of the “Powers for Good in the World:” Mercy Otis Warren
byStudents of history will no doubt have John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Benjamin Franklin at the top of their mind when recalling…
American Revolutionary War in the South
byBOOK REVIEW: American Revolutionary War in the South: Further Reflections from a British Perspective in the Light of the Cornwallis Papers. Vol. 2 by Ian…
This Week on Dispatches: Louis Arthur Norton on Justice, Deterrence, and Revenge during the American Revolution
byOn this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews emeritus professor of history and JAR contributor Louis Arthur Norton on the use of capital punishment and…
Walter Butler—The Dastardly Loyalist
byDuring the American Revolution, some of the hardest-fought and most bitter battles occurred in the land of the Six Nations, the Iroquois lands stretching…
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On the Road Again: En Train De Marcher—Frenchmen Travel Through Delaware
byIf you ask an outsider about the State of Delaware, they are likely to respond, “Dela-where?” “Do you mean Delaware County???” A few may…
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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!
Hessians: German Soldiers in the American Revolutionary War
byBOOK REVIEW: Hessians: German Soldiers in the American Revolutionary War by Friederike Baer (New York: Oxford University Press, 2022) Writing a detailed, authoritative account of the…
This Week on Dispatches: Damien Cregeau on Colonel Daniel Hitchcock of Rhode Island
byOn this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Damien Cregeau on the contributions of Daniel Hitchcock, a Rhode Island officer who led New…
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Justice, Deterrence, and Fitful Revenge During the Revolutionary War
by“War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it.”[1] The application of justice during the Revolutionary War deserves scrutiny. Historic records related to people condemned…
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Alexander Hamilton was Right: True Liberty Demands Economic Independence
byOne of the most insightful monologues in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton musical comes from King George, who raps to the following effect: Well, now that…