Month: August 2023

8
Critical Thinking Posted on

Black Soldiers of Liberty

Estimates have appeared in print for generations that 3,000 to 5,000 Black soldiers served in the American military in the Revolution. These claims seldom offer documentation, being instead what historian Michael Lanning defined as only a “general consensus” of the number of African American patriots. Lack of records, reliance on anecdotal evidence, and other factors […]

by Robert Scott Davis
Constitutional Debate Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Eric Wiser on the Abraham Clark and William Livingston Rivalry

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Eric Wiser on the bitter political rivalry between Abraham Clark and William Livingston. 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 the […]

by Editors
4
Exhibits Posted on

The Fidelity Medallion

The Fidelity Medallion awarded to Isaac Van Wart has been donated to the New York State Museum in Albany by the estate of Rae Faith Van Wart Robinson, late of Westchester County and a direct descendant of Van Wart, in accordance with Robinson’s stated wishes.[1] Ms. Robinson passed away on October 19, 2020 at the […]

by Victor J. DiSanto
3
Constitutional Debate Posted on

“Those Noble Qualities”: Classical Pseudonyms as Reflections of Divergent Republican Value Systems

During the trial years under the Federal Constitution, some political observers contributed to the national discourse by employing one of the period’s most ambitious and creative ornaments: the classical pseudonym. Cloaked behind these ancient disguises, commenters added a historically nuanced layer to their arguments that enlisted the ubiquitous gravity of the classical past.[1] These signatures […]

by Shawn David McGhee
Espionage and Cryptography Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Benjamin George on George Washington’s Information War

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Benjamin George on how George Washington used information tactically and strategically to manipulate the course of the war. 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 […]

by Editors
2
Letters and Correspondence Posted on

Thomas Hutchinson and His Letters

We often remember the controversy surrounding the Hutchinson Letters, which inspired many colonists to oppose the provincial government in Massachusetts, by talking about Benjamin Franklin (who found and sent the letters) and Samuel Adams (who helped publish them). Our memory of the letters’ author, Thomas Hutchinson, is often colored by a 1774 print by Paul Revere, […]

by Will Monk