2016 - Page 5 of 5 - Journal of the American Revolution

Critical Thinking Posted on March 1, 2016August 28, 2016

Burnishing Revolutionary Reputations

Winston Churchill: “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.” Almost without exception present day military commanders have heeded Winston Churchill’s advice.[1] Starting with Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf’s book on the First Gulf War, successive American commanders in the Middle East have written books describing their war strategies and emphasizing positive […]

by Gene Procknow

News Posted on February 29, 2016August 28, 2016

Journal of the American Revolution Annual Volume 2016 Now Available for Pre-Order

We are pleased to introduce our newest collectible hardback, which is now available for pre-order via Amazon and will deliver in April. The Journal of the American Revolution, Annual Volume 2016, presents the journal’s best historical research and writing over the past calendar year. Articles are carefully selected by the editorial board and authors are given […]

by Editors

Reviews Posted on February 24, 2016August 31, 2016

George Washington’s Journey: The President Forges a New Nation

Book review: George Washington’s Journey: The President Forges a New Nation by T. H. Breen (Simon & Schuster, 2016). [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] George Washington’s standing as the Revolutionary Era’s “indispensable man” is virtually unchallenged. Veteran historian T.H. Breen’s new study of Washington’s tours during his first term of office can only add to that assessment. […]

by Richard F. Welch

The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on February 23, 2016August 28, 2016

Arnold, Hazen and the Mysterious Major Scott

In July 1776, Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnold brought charges against Col. Moses Hazen for disobeying orders and neglecting merchandise seized in Montréal. Hazen was a Massachusetts-born Québec landowner and merchant who commanded a small regiment of Canadians in the Continental army. In April when Arnold took command in Montréal, he called Hazen “a sensible judicious […]

by Ennis Duling

Religion Posted on February 22, 2016April 17, 2020

Why God is in the Declaration but not the Constitution

No country venerates its “Founding Fathers” like the United States. Academics, legislators, judges, and ordinary citizens all frequently seek to validate their opinions and policy prescriptions by identifying them with the statesmen who led America to nationhood. It is not surprising, therefore, that debates about the role of religion in the United States are infused […]

by Anthony J. Minna

Critical Thinking Posted on February 18, 2016January 26, 2017

Conrad Heyer Did Not Cross the Delaware

An internet search for Conrad Heyer will reveal that he was a Revolutionary War soldier who crossed the Delaware with George Washington. In fact, you’ll find a variation of this sentence repeated on page after page almost word for word: “He served in the Continental Army under George Washington during the Revolutionary War, crossing the […]

by Don N. Hagist

Places Posted on February 17, 2016August 28, 2016

Virginia Looking Westward: From Lord Dunmore’s War through the Revolution

Taxation without representation has been the traditionally accepted cause of the American Revolution. Such an understanding of the Revolution, while valid, does not give credit to its complexity. An often-neglected aspect of Virginia’s American Revolution experience is the importance of the frontier. Soil exhaustion, a recurrent problem of Virginia’s tobacco economy, turned planters into land […]

by Thomas Thorleifur Sobol

Reviews Posted on February 16, 2016February 15, 2016

Washington’s Immortals: The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution

Book review: Washington’s Immortals: The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution by Patrick K. O’Donnell (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2016). [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] The author uses the words of the actual participants to craft a powerful narrative of the American Revolution focusing on the contributions and sacrifices of […]

by Patrick H. Hannum

People Posted on February 15, 2016August 28, 2016

The Carefree and Kindhearted General George Washington

“The most unhappy man in the world,” wrote the Commissary General of Purchases at Valley Forge about Gen. George Washington.[1] On every portrait we examine, on every image we see, the commander in chief does appear burdened and preoccupied. Occasionally, though, hidden among the millions of words written by, and about, General Washington, we catch […]

by Nancy K. Loane

The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on February 11, 2016August 28, 2016

The Battle of Vigie Peninsula

When Gen. Henry Clinton was preparing the British army to leave Philadelphia, he received instructions from Lord George Germain, the British Secretary at War, to send 5,800 troops to the West Indies. When he learned that the navy was in no position to send ships to protect the transports, Clinton refused to dispatch the troops. […]

by Bob Ruppert

Reviews Posted on February 10, 2016February 15, 2016

First Entrepreneur: How George Washington Built His — and the Nation’s — Prosperity

Book Review: First Entrepreneur: How George Washington Built His — and the Nation’s — Prosperity by Edward G. Lengel (Da Capo Press, 2016). [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] When one thinks of George Washington, perhaps the first image is that of the military commander of the Revolutionary War. Next might be Washington as president. Few are likely to […]

by Hugh T. Harrington

The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on February 9, 2016August 28, 2016

George Washington Convenes a Firing Squad

In an army where men died as a matter of course, there was nonetheless something peculiarly unsettling about the business scheduled for the morning of September 23, 1776. The grim verdict of a court-martial four days before had, at least in the opinion of Connecticut’s Joseph Plumb Martin, left the troops “greatly exasperated.”[1] For his […]

by Joshua Shepherd

The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on February 8, 2016August 28, 2016

Two Years Aboard the Welcome: The American Revolution on Lake Huron

In the spring of 1775, the fur trading post at the junction of Lakes Michigan and Huron looked much as it had for years. Fort Michilimackinac, significantly larger than when the French founded the site in 1715, comprised a tall stockade wall surrounding streets of privately owned row houses, a church, a soldiers’ barracks, officers’ […]

by Tyler Rudd Putman

People Posted on February 3, 2016August 28, 2016

The Stockbridge-Mohican Community, 1775-1783

On July 4, 1776, the authors of American independence declared to the world “that all men are created equal, [and] that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” However, one of the Declaration’s grievances against the English Crown was that it employed “the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose […]

by Bryan Rindfleisch

Politics During the War (1775-1783) Posted on February 2, 2016August 28, 2016

Traveling to the Second Continental Congress

On April 24, 1775, Samuel Adams and John Hancock arrived in Worcester, Massachusetts, forty miles west of Boston. They hoped to find three more men – John Adams, Thomas Cushing and Robert Treat Paine – who were the other three delegates from the colony to the upcoming second Continental Congress, but they had not been […]

by Will Monk

Religion Posted on February 1, 2016August 28, 2016

The Touro Synagogue: Peter Harrison, George Washington, and Religious Freedom in America

The Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island is the only Jewish house of worship that survives from the American colonial period. Built at the threshold of America’s Revolutionary period, it survived the war and the damaging occupation of Newport by British troops. After the war, the congregation returned and the synagogue formed the focal point […]

by Joseph Manca

News Posted on January 28, 2016August 28, 2016

Colonel Tench Tilghman: George Washington’s Eyes and Ears

In the Old Senate Chamber of the Maryland State House hangs a painting commissioned by the Maryland Legislature often called the “Annapolis Portrait” of George Washington by Charles Willson Peale. The moment portrayed in the work is after the surrender of the British Army at Yorktown in 1781. Two of the figures are easily recognized, […]

by Jeff Dacus

Food & Lifestyle Posted on January 26, 2016August 28, 2016

Struck by Lightning

Since the dawn of humanity, thunder and lightning have both terrified and awed. Protection was sought from deities like Zeus and Thor; and in later ages God and St. Barbara. By the third quarter of the eighteenth century, the Enlightenment had brought about a new sense of curiosity; reason began to replace superstition. There were […]

by Michael J. F. Sheehan

People Posted on January 25, 2016August 28, 2016

45 Genuine George Washington Quotes During the Revolutionary War

They’re everywhere now. On the pages of social media, displayed on bumper stickers, and in the speeches of political candidates, partisan factions claim a Founding Father by virtue of one of their Founding Sound Bites. But how many of those words were actually said, as written, by the person claimed? Very few, if any, one […]

by John L. Smith, Jr.

The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on January 21, 2016August 28, 2016

“Dear Rosey”: A Soldier Seeks Help from his Wife

It was November. Sergeant Williams was cold, and he knew it would be getting colder. He had no warm clothing, no money to purchase any, and he wasn’t able to get a part-time job to earn some extra cash. He needed help, and so he did the most sensible thing a man in his circumstances […]

by Don N. Hagist

Arts & Literature Posted on January 20, 2016January 16, 2016

The Seizure of the Virginia Gazette, or Norfolk Intelligencer

On April 20, 1775, John Hunter Holt announced to the public his recent acquisition of the Norfolk newspaper, the Virginia Gazette or Norfolk Intellingencer. For a newspaper that had only been in print since 1774, this sudden change in ownership was more than just a business venture, it would serve as an open act of […]

by Gerald Holland

The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on January 19, 2016August 28, 2016

A Series of Unfortunate Events: Chichester Cheyne’s Revolutionary War, 1778-1783

In March 1778, George Washington, the commander-in-chief of the Continental army, was in winter quarters with his men at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania; Capt. James Cook was exploring the Pacific northwest of North America; and Voltaire, the famous French philosopher, was crowned as a poet laureate in Paris. But Chichester Cheyne, a fifteen-year-old Virginian, gave little […]

by Nicolas Bell-Romero

People Posted on January 18, 2016August 28, 2016

Barlow Trecothick’s Role in the Repeal of the Stamp Act

Barlow Trecothick was born in Stepney, England in 1720. At seven, his family moved to Boston where he became an apprentice for six years to Charles Apthorp, a local merchant. He lived in Boston until he was 22, then he moved to Jamaica where he represented Apthorp’s firm for five years. While in the West […]

by Bob Ruppert

People Posted on January 14, 2016August 28, 2016

Major James Dunlap: Was He Murdered Twice?

In January of 1781, Loyalist Maj. James Dunlap raided the Long Cane settlement in South Carolina that included the homes of notorious rebel leaders James McCall and Andrew Pickens. Among the most respected of all the Whig military men, Pickens had only renounced his parole the month before. Lord Cornwallis’s response was to send Dunlap […]

by Wayne Lynch

Techniques & Tech Posted on January 13, 2016August 28, 2016

The Organization of the Rhode Island Militia 1774–1783

The organization of the Militia in colonial Rhode Island[1] was established by law. Five county regiments and the number of companies in each town were specified.[2] Annually the General Assembly approved the locally elected officers for the trained bands (companies of militia) at its session in May or the next session in June. In 1771, […]

by John K. Robertson

News Posted on January 12, 2016January 10, 2016

The First Two Journal of the American Revolution Books: Available Now to Pre-order!

With our finger on the pulse of great research and writing about the American Revolution, it seemed natural to launch a namesake book series. Early in 2015, we were fortunate to find a partner who shared our vision for publishing microhistories with meticulous, groundbreaking research and well-written narratives about unknown or lesser-known topics. The Journal […]

by Editors

Techniques & Tech Posted on January 11, 2016August 28, 2016

Redoubt No. 4: Lynchpin of Fortress West Point

In 1775, the Continental Army was in dire need of engineers. The colonies did not have a War College or military academy like the Ecole Militaire in Paris or the Royal Military Academy in London. Gen. George Washington complained to Congress, “The Skill of those engineers we have … [is] very imperfect and confined to […]

by Bob Ruppert

News Posted on January 8, 2016August 28, 2016

Year in Review: Top 30 Articles of 2015

The year 2015 was our best ever. Online, we published 200 articles by scores of expert writers and welcomed 1.1 million unique readers. Our existing content has become an authoritative source with high search rankings, ensuring that our articles reach researchers and fact-finders around the world. In print, we published our 2015 Annual Volume and […]

by Editors

News Posted on January 6, 2016January 5, 2016

Journal of the American Revolution Announces 2015 Book of the Year Award Winners

Journal of the American Revolution, the popular online magazine and annual book, today announced its winner and runners-up for the 2015 Book of the Year Award. The annual award goes to the non-fiction volume that best mirrors the journal’s mission: to deliver passionate, creative and smart content that makes American Revolution history accessible to a […]

by Editors

People Posted on January 5, 2016August 28, 2016

Did Oliver Hazard Perry’s Father Kill a Quaker?

A Story of Resistance to the Universal Draft In Rhode Island, as in the rest of New England during the Revolutionary War, a key Patriot institution was the universal draft. Rhode Island required all white men between the ages of sixteen and sixty to serve in the militia, backed by state courts and other state […]

by Christian McBurney

Arts & Literature Posted on January 4, 2016January 10, 2016

A Brief Publication History of the “Times That Try Men’s Souls”

Thomas Paine’s sensational pamphlet Common Sense, published anonymously in January of 1776, has a singular place of importance in the literature of the American Revolutionary era. So famous was the title that Paine would adopt it as a sobriquet when authoring future works. The publication history of that wildly successful pamphlet is well established.[1] But […]

by Jett Conner

Year: 2016

Burnishing Revolutionary Reputations

Top 10 Most Popular Articles of February 2016

Journal of the American Revolution Annual Volume 2016 Now Available for Pre-Order

George Washington’s Journey: The President Forges a New Nation

Arnold, Hazen and the Mysterious Major Scott

Why God is in the Declaration but not the Constitution

Conrad Heyer Did Not Cross the Delaware

Virginia Looking Westward: From Lord Dunmore’s War through the Revolution

Washington’s Immortals: The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution

The Carefree and Kindhearted General George Washington

The Battle of Vigie Peninsula

First Entrepreneur: How George Washington Built His — and the Nation’s — Prosperity

George Washington Convenes a Firing Squad

Two Years Aboard the Welcome: The American Revolution on Lake Huron

The Stockbridge-Mohican Community, 1775-1783

Traveling to the Second Continental Congress

The Touro Synagogue: Peter Harrison, George Washington, and Religious Freedom in America

Top 10 Articles of January 2016

Colonel Tench Tilghman: George Washington’s Eyes and Ears

Struck by Lightning

45 Genuine George Washington Quotes During the Revolutionary War

“Dear Rosey”: A Soldier Seeks Help from his Wife

The Seizure of the Virginia Gazette, or Norfolk Intelligencer

A Series of Unfortunate Events: Chichester Cheyne’s Revolutionary War, 1778-1783

Barlow Trecothick’s Role in the Repeal of the Stamp Act

Major James Dunlap: Was He Murdered Twice?

The Organization of the Rhode Island Militia 1774–1783

The First Two Journal of the American Revolution Books: Available Now to Pre-order!

Redoubt No. 4: Lynchpin of Fortress West Point

Year in Review: Top 30 Articles of 2015

Journal of the American Revolution Announces 2015 Book of the Year Award Winners

Did Oliver Hazard Perry’s Father Kill a Quaker?

A Brief Publication History of the “Times That Try Men’s Souls”