September 2019 - Journal of the American Revolution

Culture Posted on September 30, 2019September 29, 2019

Giving Thanks: John Gridley’s Prayer Bill

Housed in the Medfield Historical Society is a rare collection of prayer bills containing the prayers of thanksgiving from Massachusetts soldiers and their families during the American Revolution. These commonplace slips of paper include fascinating stories and spiritual requests of ordinary Continental soldiers. One of these late-eighteenth-century prayer notes was written by a veteran named […]

by Roberto O. Flores de Apodaca

Features Posted on September 27, 2019

This Week on Dispatches: Mark Edward Lender on the “Cabal” Against George Washington

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews distinguished historian, Mark Edward Lender, about his new book, Cabal! The Plot Against General Washington, the first modern examination of the war-time attempt to remove George Washington from command. A fascinating story that leads to an ultimate “what if?” in American history. Thousands of readers like you enjoy […]

by Editors

Critical Thinking Posted on September 26, 2019September 26, 2019

The East India Company and Parliament’s “Fateful Decision” of 1767

India, the fabled land of rubies, diamonds, gold, tigers, and mystery, captured the imagination of the British people in the mid 1700s. Robert Clive provided fodder for gossip when he returned to England in 1760 with a reported “£1,200,000 in cash, bills, and jewels. He is said to be the richest subject in the three […]

by Steven Neill

Features Posted on September 25, 2019October 21, 2019

Jefferson, Madison, and the Making of the Constitution

Jefferson, Madison, and the Making of the Constitution by Jeff Broadwater (Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 2019) Before getting into the latest book by historian and former attorney Jeff Broadwater, this reviewer had always had the impression that James Madison was essentially a protégé of Thomas Jefferson. It had always seemed that […]

by Timothy Symington

War at Sea and Waterways (1775–1783) Posted on September 24, 2019September 23, 2019

Massachusetts Privateers During the Siege of Boston

Following the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Massachusetts Grand Army surrounded Boston and began to lay siege to it. The Massachusetts Committee of Safety quickly recognized that in order to drive the British army from the town, it had to starve them out.[1] The British military had a longstanding practice of acquiring fresh provisions […]

by Alexander Cain

Arts & Literature Posted on September 23, 2019September 22, 2019

Catharine Macaulay’s Difficult Years, 1778–1787

Between 1775 and 1784 Catharine Macaulay’s social and personal life was one traumatic event after another. She accepted the invitation from Rev. Dr. James Wilson, a retired minister from London now living in Bath who admired her writing, “to share his home—No. 2 Alfred Street;” because she was twenty-eight years his junior rumors started almost […]

by Bob Ruppert

Features Posted on September 22, 2019

This Week on Dispatches: James R. Fichter on the Tea that Survived the Boston Tea Party

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews James R. Fichter, associate professor of European and American studies at the University of Hong Kong, on what happened to the tea that did not end up dumped in Boston Harbor on on December 16, 1773 . Thousands of readers like you enjoy the articles published by the Journal of […]

by Editors

Culture Posted on September 19, 2019September 18, 2019

Thomas Jefferson: Life, Liberty, and French Fries

Thomas Jefferson and Julia Child. Not two people you’d expect to be linked in history. But yet, indeed they are—as two gourmets who loved fine French cuisine. Frequently today in books, magazines, and online articles, Thomas Jefferson is “credited” with “introducing” such French foods as crème brûlée to the American appetite, as well as . […]

by John L. Smith, Jr.

Features Posted on September 18, 2019October 21, 2019

The Will of the People: The Revolutionary Birth of America

The Will of the People: The Revolutionary Birth of America by T.H. Breen (Harvard University Press, 2019) In the latest of a series of influential works from T.H. Breen, the veteran historian provides his audience with an elaborate illustration of how the ordinary colonist interpreted, experienced, and survived the American Revolution. How did the Maryland farmer […]

by Megan King

Culture Posted on September 17, 2019September 16, 2019

Monuments to the American Revolution

Along with the Civil War, the American Revolution is one of the two most iconic events in American history. The Revolution has inspired countless myths, been used as a political weapon, and is at the heart of American civic religion. Generations of Americans have honored and commemorated the Revolution by erecting monuments to various peoples, […]

by Kieran J. O'Keefe

Critical Thinking Posted on September 16, 2019September 16, 2019

Officers Who Never Saw Combat

We asked our contributors, “Who is your favorite military officer that never saw any combat?” The intent was to showcase officers who saw no combat during their lives, but some respondents took it to mean only during the American Revolution. William M. Welsch I offer John Dickinson of Delaware and Pennsylvania. Known primarily as a […]

by Editors

Features Posted on September 14, 2019

This Week on Dispatches: Gene Procknow on Benedict Arnold and James Wemyss

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews long-time JAR contributor Gene Procknow on the fascinating parallel lives of Continental officer Benedict Arnold and British officer James Wemyss. Thousands of readers like you enjoy the articles published by the Journal of the American Revolution. Dispatches is a free podcast that puts a voice to the writing […]

by Editors

Diplomacy Posted on September 12, 2019September 11, 2019

A French “King of America”?

In the chaos of war, there are, and have always been, schemers who will try to take advantage of disorder to enrich themselves, either with power, financial gain, or both. In the turbulence of the outset of the American Revolution, especially the period in which the colonies were trying to form an alliance with France, […]

by Richard J. Werther

Culture Posted on September 11, 2019September 10, 2019

Fire-Hunting by Night in South Carolina: A Pursuit of British Officers

While George Hanger was for a time in limbo, waiting in mid May 1780 for a decision on his part in the British arrangements for administering South Carolina, he took time out to go fire-hunting for deer by night.[1] “I was,” he tells us, “an eyewitness to this amusement when I first went about 30 miles […]

by Ian Saberton

Battles Posted on September 10, 2019September 11, 2019

The Court Martial of Major Henry Lee

Aside from Gen. Anthony Wayne’s successful assault upon a British garrison at Stony Point in July, military activity in the first eight months of 1779 had been rather limited. Major Henry Lee, known as Light Horse Harry Lee to future generations, sought to change this in mid-August with a raid upon a British post less […]

by Michael Cecere

Economics Posted on September 9, 2019

The Exception to “No Taxation Without Representation”

“I know not why we should blush to confess that molasses was an essential ingredient in American independence.”— John Adams[1] A one penny per gallon import duty on molasses was the only important exception to the American demand for “no taxation without representation.” The duty was a tax, levied by Parliament in 1766, and collected […]

by Ken Shumate

Constitutional Debate Posted on September 6, 2019

This Week on Dispatches: Jason Yonce on the Annapolis Convention of 1786

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews historian Jason Yonce about the Annapolis Convention of 1786, one of the most fascinating political meetings in the run-up to Constitutional Convention in 1787. Thousands of readers like you enjoy the articles published by the Journal of the American Revolution. Dispatches is a free podcast that puts a […]

by Editors

Culture Posted on September 5, 2019September 4, 2019

A Plan for a British “Female Corps”

The thought of allowing women to serve in combat was considered ridiculous only a few decades ago in most western nations; it was an even more bizarre concept during the American Revolution. Although both the British and Continental armies accepted the presence of female camp followers—usually the wives of soldiers—and issued them rations as compensation […]

by Jim Piecuch

Conflict & War Posted on September 4, 2019September 5, 2019

James Moore’s Commission in the East Florida Rangers

Under the leadership of Royal Governor Patrick Tonyn, East Florida remained in the hands of the British Crown during the Imperial Crisis, not an easy feat to achieve considering the political climate of the colonies in the 1760s and 1770s. This impressive achievement was accomplished through Tonyn’s effective use of Tory refugees, mostly from Georgia […]

by George Kotlik

Conflict & War Posted on September 3, 2019September 3, 2019

Top 5 Explosions of the Revolutionary War

During the era of the American Revolution, cannons did not fire exploding projectiles, so the image of explosions on the battlefield doesn’t apply. Mortars and howitzers did loft exploding shells in high arcs, but these were used almost exclusively against fixed positions like forts and towns. Sieges and a few other actions included a fair […]

by Don N. Hagist

Constitutional Debate Posted on September 2, 2019

America’s Revolution Against Toleration: The Rise of True Religious Liberty

In 1793, a widely circulated American editorial observed, “A few years ago, to say of any man that he was ‘a friend to toleration,’ was to place his temper in the fairest point of view.” By the 1790s, people knew better. “Now every friend to the rights of man perceives that toleration was founded on […]

by Brian Patrick O'Malley

Month: September 2019