There is a gap in most histories of the United States Navy. The blank space lies between the end of the American Revolution and the re-establishment of the Navy in the 1790s. This is not the product of poor research; it is difficult to write about a Navy that did not exist. After the standing […]
The Journal of the American Revolution reaches a wide audience and is regularly cited on other web sites, in scholarly books and articles, newspapers, and in social media. We are all making a difference toward a greater understanding and appreciation of our founding era. We thought our readers would appreciate some of the recent news about […]
No British officer was more reviled by Patriots in the South during the American Revolution than Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton. Based partly on fact and partly on myth, Tarleton’s name became synonymous with brutality to many Americans. Another British officer, although less infamous, earned a similar reputation for his actions in South Carolina in 1780. […]
Valley Forge by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2018) Americans refer to many of their nation’s most iconic events by simple reference. The Alamo. Pearl Harbor. The Fourth of July. They are etched in our collective memories and once invoked are still capable of unleashing emotion and memory. Valley Forge, […]
When the American Revolution became a shooting war, it was left to the Continental Congress to become the body of state for the thirteen colonies. They had to build a functioning central government, build an economy, find allies and build a military force that would help them stand up to Great Britain. Over the course […]
Television series and popular books such as TURN: Washington’s Spies and Alexander Rose’s Washington’s Spies: The Story of America’s First Spy Ring recreate and immortalize the exploits of intelligence officers and spymasters such as Maj. Benjamin Tallmadge, Lt. Caleb Brewster, and Maj. John André. In the late summer of 1778, Washington’s intelligence services did provide him with reports […]
Stephen Fried, Rush: Revolution, Madness, and the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father (New York: Crown, 2018) BUY THIS BOOK FROM AMAZON When asked by a few non-historian friends why I was reading a new biography titled Rush, their assumption was that this book was about Rush Limbaugh. No, not that Rush, rather one […]
One of our readers, an educator, asked the JAR editors a question that we chose to put before our contributors: What is the best audiovisual material for use in the classroom to teach K-12 students about the American Revolution or the Founding Era (approximately 1765–1805)? Geoff Smock The only real choice for this is the […]
As the Revolutionary War was coming to an end, financial problems came to the forefront: to name a few, the country’s debts to France, Spain, and Holland, the payment of war reparations, the establishment of public credit, the states’ inability to meet their financial requisitions, and the most immanent, back pay to the disbanding Continental […]
Book Review: The American Revolution: A World War, edited by David K. Allison and Larrie D. Ferreiro, (Smithsonian Books, 2018). BUY THIS BOOK FROM AMAZON For most students of the American Revolution, the dispute between England and the thirteen colonies occupies center stage. International involvement, such as alliance with France, is similarly viewed through the […]
In early 2017, the Washington Post debuted a new masthead with the motto “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” At about the same time, the New York Times announced a new advertising slogan: “The truth is more important now than ever.” With their new slogans, these papers hoped to renew their commitments to the value of truth and […]
On the first Friday of each month those who have Sirius XM radio can listen to “Revolution Road with the Journal of the American Revolution,” during the Dave Nemo Show, 7–11 AM Eastern on Sirius/XM146. This Friday, November 9, at 10 AM, Todd Braisted will be discussing the military role played by Loyalists supporting the […]
Coming up rapidly from behind the British privateer, the frigate suddenly lowered one national flag and raised another, the customary ruse of switching colors, swung about and unleashed a fury of cannon fire directly at the stern of the enemy ship. Although it had done its best to prepare for just such an attack, the […]
JAR: In a nutshell, can you give us a basic overview of The General’s Cook? RG: The General’s Cook is about George Washington’s enslaved chef, Hercules, a man who was known in his own time for his skills in the kitchen. I often call him America’s first celebrity chef. By period accounts, he was something like an […]
For the last two years or more I have been searching for written evidence from the life of Daniel Morgan—who in the twists, turns, and revolutions of his life was variously a homeless boy, teamster, rifleman, landowner, brigadier general, and U.S. congressman. As I track him, I have been following a trail blazed through the […]
