Year: 2016

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GONE FISHIN’: RETURNING JANUARY 2

After another busy and exciting year, Journal of the American Revolution is taking a vacation to tackle a few other projects. Look for us again on January 2, 2017. We’ll have a new group interview and the winner of the 2016 Book of the Year Award.  While we’re away, we have two important assignments for our readers and […]

by Editors
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New JAR Series Book Just Published, Next JAR Series Title Announced!

The Journal of the American Revolution Book Series officially launched in 2016 with two books, Grand Forage 1778 and The Road to Concord. Between Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Goodreads, our first two series books have already received nearly thirty perfect 5-star ratings. Continuing that momentum, we are thrilled to announce our third series title—The Burning of […]

by Editors
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Fishermen and Foxhunters: Washington’s “Gentlemen of Fortune”

Before Lexington and Concord, before there was any need for an army, and before men found themselves beholden to the dictates of military service there were the many trade, social, and sporting organizations offering them opportunities to associate together.  In Philadelphia, where before the war there were no less than seventeen private fire companies engaged […]

by Gary Shattuck
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The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on

The Revolutionary War in the south: Re-evaluations of certain revolutionary actors and events

This article provides a wide-ranging set of re-evaluations compartmentalised under the sub-headings below and placed in the context of the historiography relating to them.  Based preponderantly on The Cornwallis Papers,[1] the article crystallises my reassessment of the actors and events addressed. Re-evaluations of certain revolutionary actors Thomas Sumter While adverting to the internecine warfare waged […]

by Ian Saberton
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The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on

The “P” is for Profit: Revolutionary War Privateers and the Slave Trade

The American Revolutionary War was fought largely by armies on the North American continent, however, like waves in a pond the conflict inevitably rippled out across the Atlantic world.  The flow of people, supplies, and information was crucial to waging war across the Atlantic, and they were linked by who could control the sea. While […]

by Michael Thomin
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Reviews Posted on

Manufacturing Independence: Industrial Innovation in the American Revolution

Book review: Manufacturing Independence: Industrial Innovation in the American Revolution by Robert F. Smith (Westholme Publishing, August 2016) [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] In his 1961 Farewell Address, President Eisenhower famously warned his fellow citizens to “guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex.”  While his warning endured, he […]

by Eric Sterner
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Top 10 Articles of November 2016

As we settle in for our November recap, we pause to express our sincere gratitude. We are thankful for our many writers, readers and advertisers, who make Journal of the American Revolution a special gathering and learning place. November was another busy month with an exceptional roster of fresh articles and new writers, including Shai […]

by Editors
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Last Call! Order Deadlines for Revolutionary Gifts

December is almost here! If you’re planning to order something special from the Journal of the American Revolution gift shop, please keep these rapidly approaching order-by deadlines in mind so you get your gifts on time. Since our products are all custom printed and shipped on demand by a third-party vendor, they require a longer lead […]

by Editors
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Confounding Father: Thomas Jefferson’s Image in His Own Time

Book review: Confounding Father: Thomas Jefferson’s Image in His Own Time by Robert M.S. McDonald (University of Virginia Press, August 2016). [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] Thomas Jefferson’s contemporaries often acknowledged his quiet, meek, and at times downright awkward disposition, and yet this mild-mannered man became one of the most controversial figures of his time.  In […]

by Kelly Mielke
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War on the Middleline

Book review: War on the Middleline: The Founding of a Community In the Kayaderosseras Patent In the Midst of the American Revolution by James E. Richmond (Lulu Publishing, September 2016) [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] The schoolbook story of the American Revolution in New York State is a series of well-celebrated dramatic exclamation points: the capture of […]

by Nicholas Westbrook
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The Revolutionary War in the south: Re-evaluations of certain British and British American actors

Prefatory remarks Wide-ranging and to some degree disparate as they are, my re-evaluations are, on the one hand, compartmentalized under the sub-headings set out below and, on the other, placed in the context of the historiography relating to them.  Based preponderantly on The Cornwallis Papers,[1] they crystallize my reassessment of the persons addressed. As ever, […]

by Ian Saberton
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Benjamin Franklin and Judaism

Though not always able to offer definitive evidence of a link between the two men, since the nineteenth century Jewish scholars have affirmed that Sefer Heshbon Ha-nefesh (The Book of Spiritual Accounting) — a Hebrew work published in 1808[1] by the early Eastern European maskil (Jewish enlightener)[2] Rabbi Menahem Mendel Lefin of Satanow (1749-1826)[3] — […]

by Shai Afsai
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Rochambeau’s Arrest

The French army was returning from Yorktown, Virginia in 1782 on their way to Newport and Boston. Lt. Gen. Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur Comte de Rochambeau, preferring his duty to his comfort, always ordered his general staff to select the house closest to the camp for his headquarters. When the army reached Crompond, New […]

by Norman Desmarais
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The Winter of His Discontent: Casimir Pulaski’s Resignation as Commander of Horse

Casimir Pulaski, an exiled Polish nobleman, through the influence of well-placed individuals in the French Court and based on his experience as the de facto military leader of the rebel forces in Poland[1] was able to obtain interviews and letters of recommendation from both Silas Deane and Benjamin Franklin.[2] He arrived at Marblehead, Massachusetts, with […]

by Joseph E. Wroblewski
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American Revolutions: A Continental History

Book review: American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804 by Alan Taylor (W.W. Norton and Company, 2016). [BUY BOOK ON AMAZON] Nathaniel Hawthorne’s tale of a young Englishman seeking the favor of his wealthy relation in colonial America opens Alan Taylor’s new book on the American Revolution.[1]  Instead of encountering his prosperous relation presiding peacefully over his […]

by Alec D. Rogers
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Top Articles of October 2016

JAR had another busy few weeks welcoming three new writers — Gregory J. W. Urwin, Alex Colvin, C. E. Pippenger —and making great progress on our 2017 Annual Volume (the cover art is featured here for the first time). The annual hardback will publish in spring and feature about four dozen articles by scores of JAR contributors, including […]

by Editors
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Hector Maclean: The Writings of a Loyalist-Era Military Settler in Nova Scotia

Book review: Hector Maclean: The Writings of a Loyalist-Era Military Settler in Nova Scotia by Jo Currie, Keith Mercer, John G. Reid (Gaspereau Press, 2015) [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] Recent scholarship has placed more focus on the plight of Loyalists who were displaced from their homes and livelihoods in the United States, and the struggles they […]

by Don N. Hagist
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The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on

With Cornwallis to the Dan: Deconstructing the “Forbes Champagné Letter”

The American War of Independence produced many dramatic episodes, but none surpassed the campaign that Lt. Gen. Charles, Second Earl Cornwallis, conducted in North Carolina during the first three months of 1781 for hair-raising suspense and heartbreak. Things got off to a bad start for the British on January 17, 1781, at the Battle of […]

by Gregory J. W. Urwin