Giving Thanks: John Gridley’s Prayer Bill
byHoused in the Medfield Historical Society is a rare collection of prayer bills containing the prayers of thanksgiving from Massachusetts soldiers and their families…
September, 2019
This Week on Dispatches: Mark Edward Lender on the “Cabal” Against George Washington
byOn 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…
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The East India Company and Parliament’s “Fateful Decision” of 1767
byIndia, the fabled land of rubies, diamonds, gold, tigers, and mystery, captured the imagination of the British people in the mid 1700s. Robert Clive…
8
Jefferson, Madison, and the Making of the Constitution
byJefferson, Madison, and the Making of the Constitution by Jeff Broadwater (Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 2019) Before getting into the…
10
Massachusetts Privateers During the Siege of Boston
byFollowing the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Massachusetts Grand Army surrounded Boston and began to lay siege to it. The Massachusetts Committee of…
Catharine Macaulay’s Difficult Years, 1778–1787
byBetween 1775 and 1784 Catharine Macaulay’s social and personal life was one traumatic event after another. She accepted the invitation from Rev. Dr. James…
This Week on Dispatches: James R. Fichter on the Tea that Survived the Boston Tea Party
byOn 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…
6
Thomas Jefferson: Life, Liberty, and French Fries
byThomas 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…
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The Will of the People: The Revolutionary Birth of America
byThe 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…
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Monuments to the American Revolution
byAlong with the Civil War, the American Revolution is one of the two most iconic events in American history. The Revolution has inspired countless…
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Officers Who Never Saw Combat
byWe asked our contributors, “Who is your favorite military officer that never saw any combat?” The intent was to showcase officers who saw no…
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This Week on Dispatches: Gene Procknow on Benedict Arnold and James Wemyss
byOn 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…
A French “King of America”?
byIn the chaos of war, there are, and have always been, schemers who will try to take advantage of disorder to enrich themselves, either…
Fire-Hunting by Night in South Carolina: A Pursuit of British Officers
byWhile George Hanger was for a time in limbo, waiting in mid May 1780 for a decision on his part in the British arrangements for…
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The Court Martial of Major Henry Lee
byAside from Gen. Anthony Wayne’s successful assault upon a British garrison at Stony Point in July, military activity in the first eight months of…
The Exception to “No Taxation Without Representation”
by“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…
This Week on Dispatches: Jason Yonce on the Annapolis Convention of 1786
byOn 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…
5
A Plan for a British “Female Corps”
byThe thought of allowing women to serve in combat was considered ridiculous only a few decades ago in most western nations; it was an…
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James Moore’s Commission in the East Florida Rangers
byUnder the leadership of Royal Governor Patrick Tonyn, East Florida remained in the hands of the British Crown during the Imperial Crisis, not an…
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Top 5 Explosions of the Revolutionary War
byDuring the era of the American Revolution, cannons did not fire exploding projectiles, so the image of explosions on the battlefield doesn’t apply. Mortars…
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America’s Revolution Against Toleration: The Rise of True Religious Liberty
byIn 1793, a widely circulated American editorial observed, “A few years ago, to say of any man that he was ‘a friend to toleration,’…