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Colonel Daniel Hitchcock of Rhode Island
byAs a collateral descendant of Daniel Hitchcock (first cousin, nine times removed), I have always been fascinated by the short but important life of…
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The Abdication(s) of King George III
byOn April 1, 2015, Queen Elizabeth II announced the creation of the Georgian Papers Programme. It is a ten-year project to transcribe, digitize, conserve,…
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Leading Like the Swamp Fox: The Leadership Lessons of Francis Marion
byBOOK REVIEW: Leading Like the Swamp Fox: The Leadership Lessons of Francis Marion by Kevin Dougherty and Steven D. Smith (Philadelphia: Casemate Publishers, 2022) The…
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The Battle of Crosswicks: Prelude to Monmouth
bySir Henry Clinton inherited an unmitigated strategic disaster when he assumed command of the Crown Forces in North America during the spring of 1778….
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Top Ten Weather Interventions
by“In war, as in medicine, natural causes not under our control, do much.” Gen. Horatio Gates wrote this about the terrain that so heavily…
This Week on Dispatches: Aaron J. Palmer on the 1775 Duel between Henry Laurens and John Faucheraud Grimké
byOn this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews historian and JAR contributor Aaron J. Palmer on the social and political significance of the 1775 duel…
Annis Boudinot Stockton: The Poet and the General
by“Permit me to thank you, in the most affectionate manner, for the kind wishes you have so happily expressed for me and the partner…
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Emergence of the French Alliance: The Beginning and Final Phases
byIt is widely acknowledged that the military alliance between the United States and France, established in 1778, was responsible not only for a number…
Liberty’s Chain: Slavery, Abolition, and the Jay Family of New York
byBOOK REVIEW: Liberty’s Chain: Slavery, Abolition, and the Jay Family of New York by David N. Gellman (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2022) America’s Founders…
This Week on Dispatches: Victor J. DiSanto on the Men Who Captured British Spy John André
byOn this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews museum professional and JAR contributor Victor J. DiSanto on his research into the men who captured British…
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The Great Hurricane(s) of 1780
byThe most common storm that the British navy and army encountered at sea and on land during the American War of Independence was the…
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The 1775 Duel Between Henry Laurens and John Faucheraud Grimké
byCharles Town, the metropolis of the South (today Charleston, South Carolina), was a leading location for duels in the late eighteenth century. One detailed…
This Week on Dispatches: Nancy Rubin Stuart on Benjamin Franklin’s Unconventional Marriage to Deborah Read
byOn this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews best-selling author and historian Nancy Rubin Stuart on what made Benjamin Franklin and Deborah Read’s marriage one…
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Insurrection and Speculation: A Farmer, Financier, and a Surprising “Sharper” Seeded the Constitution
byThe January 6, 2021 assault on the Capital rocked America, but it was by no means the largest, or even the most threatening, armed…
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Major André’s Captors Revisited: Separating Myth from Historical Reality
byFor more than 200 years, people have debated the character and motives of the three men who captured Major John André on September 23,…
Feeding Washington’s Army: Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778
byBOOK REVIEW: Feeding Washington’s Army: Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778 byRicardo A. Herrera (Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press,…
British Soldier John Ward Wins Back His Pocketbook
byWe expect writers for the Journal of the American Revolution to use primary sources—things written as close as possible to the time of the events…
Partisan Politics and the Laws Which Shaped the First Congress
byEvery ten years the United States engages in the process of re-apportionment, wherein each state with more than one House seat redraws their Congressional…
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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!
July 4 and the Declaration of Independence
byToday, July 4, Americans celebrate independence from Great Britain, independence that was proclaimed by the Declaration of Independence. This is an important thing to…
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Top Ten Quotes by Francis Lord Rawdon
byFor the past two years I have had the good fortune to be heading up a project to gather, for eventual publication, the correspondence…
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Benjamin Franklin’s Unconventional Marriage to Deborah Read
byShe was neither beautiful nor wealthy. Nor was Benjamin Franklin’s wife educated or intellectual. Nevertheless in 1724 he proposed to Deborah Read while renting…
Our Dear Bought Liberty: Catholics and Religious Toleration in Early America
byBOOK REVIEW: Our Dear Bought Liberty: Catholics and Religious Toleration in Early America by Michael D. Breidenbach (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2021) Most Americans…