February 2019 - Journal of the American Revolution

Critical Thinking Posted on February 28, 2019February 18, 2019

The Fort Wilson Riot and Pennsylvania’s Republican Formation

“There has been hell to pay in Philadelphia,” exclaimed Samuel Shaw, referring to the Fort Wilson Riot of October 4, 1779 in a letter to Winthrop Sargent.[1] The riot was the culmination of three years of factional political tension within the city of Philadelphia. Members of the city’s “lower sort,” nominally backed by politically powerful men […]

by Kevin Diestelow

Interviews Posted on February 27, 2019February 28, 2019

Public Radio interviews Todd Braisted about Bernard E. Griffiths

Word got around fast about Todd Braisted’s amazing detective work in identifying Bernard E. Griffiths and his remarkable journey from slave to Chelsea Pensioner published on February 21! On February 27, Todd appeared as a guest on The World, a Public Radio International Program produced with the BBC and WGBH Boston. You can listen to the […]

by Editors

Arts & Literature Posted on February 26, 2019February 24, 2019

Catharine Macaulay, England’s First Female Whig Historian, 1773–1774

By the end of 1772, Catharine Macaulay had completed and published the first five volumes of her History of England from the Accession of James I to that of the Brunswick Line. The effort had taken a toll on her health. Instead of continuing to write her History at a feverish pace, she turned her […]

by Bob Ruppert

Strategy Posted on February 25, 2019February 25, 2019

“To Huts”: British Winter Cantonments around New York City

The British Occupation of the New York City region during the Revolutionary War was the longest continuous occupation of any area of the entire war. After the fall of New York in 1776 and the British retreat from Philadelphia in 1778 the British and American armies surrounding the New York region were at a stalemate. […]

by David M. Griffin

Conflict & War Posted on February 21, 2019February 21, 2019

Bernard E. Griffiths: Trumpeter Barney of the Queen’s Rangers, Chelsea Pensioner—and Freed Slave

The period of the American Revolution does not afford many accounts of individual rank and file soldiers’ exploits, particularly on the side British side. The filing of some 80,000 pension applications in the United States makes it much easier to learn of a soldier’s activities during the war, whether it be the mundane task of […]

by Todd W. Braisted

Features Posted on February 20, 2019October 21, 2019

Young Benjamin Franklin: The Birth of Ingenuity

Young Benjamin Franklin: The Birth of Ingenuity by Nick Bunker. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2018) This is a tome that, as Gordon S. Wood is quoted on the dust jacket, attempts “the nearly impossible—to say anything new about Benjamin Franklin.” Young Benjamin Franklin is by Nick Bunker, a British journalist and businessman turned historian of […]

by Jonathan Carriel

Arts & Literature Posted on February 19, 2019February 24, 2019

Catharine Macaulay, England’s First Female Whig Historian, 1763–1772

Catharine Sawbridge was born in Wye, Kent, England to John Sawbridge and Elizabeth Wanley on April 2, 1731. Her father was a landed proprietor; her mother was an heiress. She was the their second child. She had an older sister Mary and two younger brothers, John and Wanley. Catharine’s education was left to a governess […]

by Bob Ruppert

Diaries and Journals Posted on February 18, 2019February 18, 2019

Loyalist James Allen’s Reflection on the State of the Colonies

A councilman by profession, James Allen, esquire, lived in Philadelphia during the early years of the American Revolution. A man of considerable social prominence and stature within the colony, Allen held much influence. Indeed, the entire Allen family was held in high esteem, particularly since most of its members enjoyed positions of privilege and respect. […]

by George Kotlik

Features Posted on February 15, 2019February 12, 2019

This Week on Dispatches: Michael Barbieri and the Case for the Champlain Corridor

Thank you to all of those who listened to the inaugural episode of our podcast, Dispatches. On this week’s show, host Brady Crytzer interviews long-time JAR contributor and Vermont native Michael Barbieri about the history of his state and the importance of the Champlain Corridor to the course of the American Revolution. Brady poses the […]

by Editors

Conflict & War Posted on February 14, 2019February 11, 2019

Caught Between the Lines: Eastchester, New York, During the American Revolution

When one thinks of the American Revolution, the places that most quickly come to mind are Lexington, Concord, Bunker Hill, Valley Forge, Yorktown. Yet during the War for Independence, Eastchester, New York, located only a few miles north of Manhattan, experienced with few exceptions calamitous depredations more constant and severe than any other area of […]

by Edna Gabler

Critical Thinking Posted on February 13, 2019February 13, 2019

Contributor Question: What Scene Do You Wish Had been Depicted Accurately by an Artist?

We asked our contributors what seemed like a simple question: What scene from the American Revolution or the Founding Era (1765–1805, approximately) do you wish had been depicted accurately by an artist? Quite unintentionally, the wording was ambiguous. Some described scenes that they’d like to see an artist render, while others offered events that they […]

by Editors

Diplomacy Posted on February 12, 2019February 15, 2019

The “Hynson Business”—The Story of a Double Agent

Wars have a way of creating strange alliances, and the American Revolution was no exception. I encountered one such unusual relationship while researching my article on American naval officer Lambert Wickes, who completed many daring privateering captures in European waters in 1776-77 before relinquishing the stage to John Paul Jones. By all accounts, Wickes was […]

by Richard J. Werther

Constitutional Debate Posted on February 11, 2019February 9, 2019

The Dark and Heroic Histories of Georgia’s Signers

Revolutions are complex multi-sided economic, political, social, and technological events. They begin as conservative movements. As each side fears losing, all of these different interests radicalize but when the struggle is over, as historian Robert Calhoon points out, each side will adopt constructive compromise to find a way to govern together.[1] In the American Revolution […]

by Robert Scott Davis

Features Posted on February 7, 2019February 6, 2019

Dispatches: The Podcast of the Journal of the American Revolution

We are pleased to announce that the Journal of the American Revolution has launched a new podcast, Dispatches. Each week Dispatches will feature interviews with contributors to the journal as well as authors and other persons of interest to the JAR community, highlighting the latest in scholarship, news, and opinions regarding the Revolutionary and Founding Eras. Hosted […]

by Editors

Features Posted on February 5, 2019February 4, 2019

Casualty of Revolution: The Sad Case of Betty Smith

On October 1, 1768, two regiments of British infantry with an artillery detachment—witnesses estimated 700 to 800 men in all—disembarked from transports in Boston Harbor and formed up on Long Wharf. Then, in a procession lasting several hours, they marched “with muskets charged, bayonets fixed, colours flying, drums beating and fifes . . . playing” […]

by Len Travers

Historiography Posted on February 4, 2019February 3, 2019

Henry Knox’s “Noble Train of Artillery:” No Ox for Knox

The best-known scene of Col. Henry Knox’s train of artillery in the winter of 1775-1776 is Tom Lovell’s painting The Noble Train of Artillery. It shows a caravan of ox-drawn artillery that the Continental Army moved from the recently conquered Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York (pictured near the top left of the painting) through […]

by Derek W. Beck

Month: February 2019