Year: 2022

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Diplomacy Posted on

How the (First) West Was Won: Federalist Treaties that Reshaped the Frontier

From November 1794 to October 1795, President George Washington’s administration brokered three separate treaties with Britain, Spain, and the Confederated Tribes of the Ohio Country. Besides establishing America’s place on the global stage, these treaties served to fundamentally alter the fortunes of the nation’s western frontier. Since the era of the Seven Years War, the […]

by Brady J. Crytzer
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People Posted on

American Generals of the Revolutionary War: Who Lived Longest and Who Died Youngest

Which American generals lived the longest? Which generals died the youngest? Some generals had quite a long life while others died young and in their prime. Here’s what I discovered regarding the longevity (and lack of longevity) of some of the Revolutionary War generals on the American side. Which American Revolutionary War general lived the […]

by Daniel J. Tortora
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Clothing and Uniforms Posted on

Reframing George Washington’s Clothing at the Second Continental Congress

Dressed in defiance, Col. George Washington arrived at each session of the Second Continental Congress donning a new buff and blue uniform he helped design with fellow Virginian George Mason.[1] Washington, a staunch but cautious Whig, fully embraced the American cause and, incredibly, his military exploits from the French and Indian War roughly two decades […]

by Shawn David McGhee
Historic Sites Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Michael Cecere on the French Army in Williamsburg

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews author, historian, and JAR contributor Michael Cecere on the French occupation of Williamsburg, Virginia, after the British abandoned the city in 1781. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Amazon Music, and the JAR Dispatches web site. Dispatches […]

by Editors
10
Frontier Posted on

A Misguided Attempt to Populate Upper Canada with Loyalists after the Revolution

Following the American Revolution, and to achieve a more appropriate governing climate, the British Parliament issued the Constitutional Act of 1791 which created, out of a single province, “two separate Canadas, each having a representative government with an elected assembly of its own.” The French-speaking sector became known as Lower Canada while the English-speaking sector […]

by Marvin L. Simner
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Autobiography and Biography Posted on

The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams

BOOK REVIEW: The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams by Stacy Schiff (Little, Brown and Company, 2022) Stacy Schiff, who previously authored an acclaimed book on the Salem witch trials, The Witches: Salem, 1692 (2015), has written an excellent biography of who Thomas Jefferson referred to as the “man of the Revolution,” Samuel Adams. The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams focuses on the activities […]

by Timothy Symington
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Conflict & War Posted on

The First Four Days at Valley Forge

The following timeline narrative attempts to unite previously disjointed events and occurrences regarding the first four days of the Continental army’s six-month stay at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania. For clarification purposes, all references to “Valley Forge” are for the winter cantonment and not the iron forge on Valley Creek for which the encampment was named. Temperatures […]

by Gary Ecelbarger
Memorials Posted on

The Benedict Family of Salem, New York

David Williams was one of the three New York State Militiamen who captured Major John André on September 23, 1780.[1] In June 1780, Williams left his father’s farm in Tarrytown, crossed the Croton River, and moved out of the neutral zone between British and American forces into the northern part of Westchester County. By this time […]

by Victor J. DiSanto
Books and Publications Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Jett Conner on the Evolution of Thomas Paine’s Thoughts on Democracy

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews  political scientist and JAR contributor Jett Conner on how Thomas Paine, once opposed to some of John Adams’s criticisms of his ideas about democracy, ultimately came to agree with Adams on some key points. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States […]

by Editors
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Books and Publications Posted on

Charles Lee—The Continental Army’s Most Prolific Essayist General

Maj. Gen. Charles Lee’s substantial literary contributions to the American independence movement have been overshadowed by his challenging Gen. George Washington for Continental Army leadership and the 1860 discovery of a potentially treasonous document.[1] Initially, Revolutionary Era Americans viewed Charles Lee as a highly accomplished military officer and a learned scholar and admired his ardently-argued […]

by Gene Procknow
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Books and Publications Posted on

Thomas Paine on Popular Government in America: Evolution of a Radical’s Thinking

It would be hard to find a more strident, vocal supporter of popular government during America’s founding period than Thomas Paine. The proposals put forth in his January 1776 pamphlet Common Sense for an “unmixed” and unchecked democratic scheme for America, designed to replace the British arrangement of balanced and mixed powers of King, Lords […]

by Jett Conner
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Arts & Literature Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: John E. Happ on Benjamin Franklin and the American Legacy in Paris

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor John E. Happ on the commemorations to Benjamin Franklin and the American Revolution that can be seen in Paris. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Amazon Music, and the JAR Dispatches web site. Dispatches can […]

by Editors
Features Posted on

Days of Thanksgiving

Days of Thanksgiving were frequently declared in colonial and early America. We asked our contributors for their favorite proclamation of Thanksgiving between 1765 and 1805? Jane Hampton Cook The Stamp Act caused conflict at Thanksgiving dinner tables in Massachusetts in 1765. Newlyweds John and Abigail Adams dined with her father, William Smith, a minister who […]

by Editors
Autobiography and Biography Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Chip Langston on Captain James Morris

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews  JAR contributor Chip Langston on the life of Captain James Morris of the Connecticut Light Infantry who wrote a compelling memoir about his experience during the American Revolution, from the Battle of Long Island and his capture at the Battle of Germantown to his parole and participation in […]

by Editors
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Battles Posted on

Eleven Patriot Company Commanders at Great Bridge, December 9, 1775

During August 1775, the Third Virginia Convention replaced the Volunteer Militia Companies, authorized in March 1775 by the Second Virginia Convention, with a new more robust defensive military structure. This new structure included two regular regiments recruited for one year of service, the 1st and 2nd Virginia Regiments, made up of fifteen, sixty-eight-man companies, one […]

by Patrick H. Hannum
Autobiography and Biography Posted on

“No Man Knows the Country Better”: The Frontier Life of John Gibson

BOOK REVIEW: No Man Knows This Country Better”: The Frontier Life of John Gibson by Gary S. Williams (University of Akron Press, 2022) The Founders with whom most Americans are familiar were all on the eastern seaboard: Washington, Adams, Madison, Jefferson, Franklin, and Hamilton. Librarian Gary S. Williams has delivered a thorough and extensive biography […]

by Timothy Symington
Books and Publications Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: David Otersen on Algernon Sidney and the American Revolution

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews  JAR contributor David Otersen on the influence of political philosopher Alergnon Sidney on Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and others. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Amazon Music, and the JAR Dispatches web site. Dispatches can now be […]

by Editors
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Critical Thinking Posted on

Algernon Sidney and the American Revolution

Algernon Sidney was a seventeenth-century British political theorist, Member of Parliament, and Whig politician who was executed for treason on December 7, 1683, during the reign of Charles II. At his trial, the most incriminating evidence presented by the prosecution was a series of anti-monarchical passages from a seized manuscript of Sidney’s reformist treatise, Discourses […]

by David Otersen
Economics Posted on

Dark Voyage: An American Privateer’s War on Britain’s Slave Trade

BOOK REVIEW: Dark Voyage: An American Privateer’s War on Britain’s African Slave Trade by Christian McBurney (Yardley, PA: Westholme, 2022) In Dark Voyage: An American Privateer’s War on Britain’s African Slave Trade, author Christian McBurney recounts the voyage of a Rhode Island merchant’s privateer ship Marlborough to the West Coast of Africa to attack and disrupt British […]

by Kelly Mielke
Diplomacy Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Eric Sterner on Britain, Russia, and the Armed Neutrality of 1780

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews author and JAR contributor Eric Sterner about an important international repercussion of the British war in America: the organization of neutral states led by Russia to counter with force if necessary British attempts to control international trade on the seas. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free […]

by Editors
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Illness and Disease Posted on

One Man’s Campaign against Smallpox: James Thacher, M.D., Continental Army Physician

James Thacher’s contribution to the history of smallpox and to the Revolutionary War has not been fully appreciated. In the historical scholarship, his tireless efforts against the disease have been acknowledged but only in passing.[1] Under extremely trying conditions, Thacher and his colleagues cared for those stricken with the virus and inoculated both combatants and […]

by Charles DePaolo
Constitutional Debate Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Shawn David McGhee on the First Partisan Application of the Electoral College

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews historian and JAR contributor Shawn David McGhee explains how a plot was devised to unseat Vice President John Adams on partisan lines during the 1792 election. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Amazon Music, and […]

by Editors
Primary Sources Posted on

The British Entry Into, and Occupation of Charlotte, September 26 to October 14, 1780

The first objective in Lt. Gen. Earl Cornwallis’s first invasion of North Carolina was the capture of Charlotte. He intended to establish a post there, not only to control adjacent territory, but also to facilitate his communication with the south as he advanced farther. At daybreak on September 7, 1780, accompanied by two 3-pounders, Cornwallis […]

by Ian Saberton
Interviews Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Patrick H. Hannum on Virginia’s 1775 Regular Company-Level Military Structure

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Patrick H. Hannum on his research to determine the leadership and deployment of Virginia’s military companies in 1775, as dictated by the Third Virginia Convention force structure. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, […]

by Editors
Critical Thinking Posted on

“Characters Pre-eminent for Virtue and Ability”: The First Partisan Application of the Electoral College

Scholars typically cast the outcome of the second presidential election as either a forgone conclusion or a non-event.[1] After all, George Washington ran unchallenged and once again received unanimous support from the Electoral College.[2] Shifting academic focus from the first magistrate to the second, however, reframes the 1792 contest as a struggle for the soul […]

by Shawn David McGhee