John Adams was making his way from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania for a convening of the delegates tasked to craft a response to the Coercive Acts when he and his entourage arrived in Manhattan on the morning of Saturday August 20, 1774. He met that day with numerous dignitaries and dined late into the evening at […]
Each spring for the past nine years we have published the Journal of the American Revolution Annual volume. Each book represents those articles selected by JAR’s editorial staff that best represent the in-depth and cutting edge original research that is the journal’s hallmark. This year’s volume is no exception and contains articles ranging from a […]
On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Mike Matheny on the highs and lows of General Horatio Gates’s career and reputation. 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 easily accessed on […]
France officially joined the American colonies in their struggle for independence on February 6, 1778. On this day two treaties were signed: the first was the Treaty of Alliance and the second was the Treaty of Amity and Commerce.[1] The American Commissioners who signed the treaties were Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee. There was […]
BOOK REVIEW: Revolutionary War Defenses in Rhode Island by John K. Robertson (Providence: Rhode Island Publications Society, 2022) Mention Rhode Island during the American Revolution, and two things come to mind: the 1772 burning of the Gaspee, and the famous 1st Rhode Island Regiment initially composed largely of African-Americans and Native Americans. Those with more […]
It is axiomatic that the American victory at Saratoga was, aside from events at Yorktown, the pivotal military event of the American Revolution. The victory set in motion several actions by various parties with self-serving agendas, but it was the manner in which word of the victory was communicated, something today might well be called […]
On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR Associate Editor and historian, J. L. Bell on Samuel Dyer, a person few have heard of, but whose experiences could have changed history. This is part 2 of a 2-part exploration of this fascinating figure. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern […]
Col. Abraham Buford is most famous for his defeat at Waxhaws, South Carolina, on May 29, 1780. His defiant message to Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton, his order for his men to hold their fire until it was too late, and the subsequent chaos and bloodshed that was later called the Waxhaws Massacre is well-known. What is […]
BOOK REVIEW: The Battle of Musgrove’s Mill, 1780 by John Buchanan (Yardley, PA: Westholme, 2022) British victory in the Revolution required one thing above all: the ability of American Loyalists to retake and hold the civil and military functions of government. Then as now, occupying armies are expensive and cannot stay forever. In this light, […]
After the outbreak of hostilities Lexington and Concord in April 1775, Congress met at Philadelphia to address issues of the new war. Initially the decisions made were not made for independence, but to compel the British Parliament to change its policy toward America. Congress took legislative and executive authority into its hands and was an […]
On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR Associate Editor and historian, J. L. Bell on Samuel Dyer, a person few have heard of, but whose experiences could have changed history. This is part 1 of a 2-part exploration of this fascinating figure. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern […]
Between heroes like George Washington and villains like Benedict Arnold, the Revolutionary War was full of historical actors of all stripes. But one man in particular defies an easy sorting between hero and villain. Washington’s first adjutant general, Horatio Gates, does not have a secure place in historical memory as either hero or villain. In […]
BOOK REVIEW: The Sugar Act and the American Revolution by Ken Shumate (Yardley, Pa.: Westholme, 2023) In the leadup to the Revolution, several Parliamentary laws evoked the enmity of Americans and pushed them to declare independence. Usually the Stamp Act, Townshend duties, and Tea Act tower over the other laws as they elicited the most dramatic […]
As recounted in a previous article, in October 1774 a sailor named Samuel Dyer returned to Boston, accusing high officers of the British army of holding him captive, interrogating him about the Boston Tea Party, and shipping him off to London in irons. Unable to file a lawsuit for damages, Dyer attacked two army officers […]
On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Mark R. Anderson on an accidental shooting at Fort Anne and its consequences that he uncovered while researching the Canadian campaign. 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 […]
On October 10, 1774, the brigantine Charlotte arrived at Newport, Rhode Island, from London. On board was a sailor named Samuel Dyer, and he told a shocking story, soon reported in the local newspapers. Three months earlier, on July 6, soldiers of the 4th or King’s Own Regiment had grabbed him off the streets of Boston and […]
BOOK REVIEW: Captain John Peck Rathbun, Revolutionary War Naval Hero & Man of the Sea by Frank H. Rathbun (privately published, 2022) John Paul Jones understandably dominates the field when it comes to full-length biographies of Continental Navy commanders. However, there is an excellent biography of the very worthy John Barry by Tim McGrath, and a […]
