November 2025 - Journal of the American Revolution

Espionage and Cryptography Posted on November 25, 2025November 24, 2025

American Spies and Sympathizers at Fort Detroit

Located far enough away from American-controlled Kentucky but enough close to the British-allied Native Americans in the Western Great Lakes region, Fort Detroit became the center for British military operations to counter American activities in present-day Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio during the American Revolutionary War. These operations included raids on American settlements as well as […]

by Geoffrey Hoerauf

Political Philosophy Posted on November 20, 2025November 19, 2025

Thomas Paine, Common Sense and a Plan for America

To the extent that historians give Thomas Paine credit for playing a significant role in the American Revolutionary Cause, it was his rousing call for independence in his widely read tract Common Sense, published January 9, 1776, that most agree was his chief contribution to America’s decision to separate from British rule. Paine turned up […]

by Jett Conner

The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on November 18, 2025November 17, 2025

The Search for Shirer’s Ferry, South Carolina

On the morning of November 18, 1780, Maj. Archibald McArthur’s troops, a battalion of the 71st and a detachment of the 63rd Regiments of Foot, were washing their clothes and bathing in the still-warm waters of the Broad River in central South Carolina. Stationed at Shirer’s Ferry, their responsibility was to guard the ferry to […]

by Stephen John Katzberg

Features Posted on November 13, 2025November 12, 2025

Working with Documentary Masters: Advising the Producers of PBS’s The American Revolution

When the request came, I was surprised, excited and flattered in equal parts. Would I be an advisor for the upcoming PBS series The American Revolution, produced by Ken Burns? Of course I said yes, despite not knowing what the project would actually entail. I had heard it was in the works, but did not […]

by Don N. Hagist

Interviews Posted on November 12, 2025

This Week on Dispatches: Brett Bannor on Gulliver’s Travels and the Founding Generation

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR Contributor Brett Bannor on the surprising influence of Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels” on members of the Founding Generation. How often did they refer back to this classic political satire? New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Sunday evening(Eastern United States Time), first on iTunes, […]

by Editors

Features Posted on November 11, 2025November 12, 2025

An interview with Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, producers of Ken Burns’ The American Revolution

The PBS documentary The American Revolution, produced by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, premiers on November 16, 2025. Producers Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt took time out of their busy schedules to talk to JAR about their experiences working on this landmark film, and some of the things they learned about the people […]

by Editors

Reviews Posted on November 10, 2025

George Washington: His Quest for Honor and Fame

BOOK REVIEW: George Washington: His Quest for Honor and Fame by Peter R. Henriques (Charlottesville, VA: University of VA Press, 2025) $24.95 hardcover Famed Washington scholar Peter R. Henriques (author of Realistic Visionary: A Portrait of George Washington) turned the content of some recent talks given at Colonial Williamsburg into a brief “interpretive biography” of […]

by Timothy Symington

The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on November 6, 2025November 5, 2025

Brickett’s Brigade: Less Infantry and More Cavalry at Saratoga

Borden H. Mills, writing on the Saratoga campaign a century ago, noted: The task of determining, with any degree of certainty, what militia units actually participated in the battles or were present at the surrender is a stupendous one. All that can be done is to present the known facts and draw certain conclusions therefrom, […]

by Sherman Lohnes

The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on November 4, 2025November 3, 2025

Moses Kirkland and the Origins of the Southern Strategy

Moses Kirkland was a man born into the unsettled margins of South Carolina, where ambition and survival often blurred together. By the mid-1770s he was a planter of modest means, a militia captain in the backcountry, and a restless figure whose loyalties shifted with the winds of opportunity. In the opening year of the Revolution, […]

by Charles Hugh Brown

Lectures and Presentations Posted on November 3, 2025

A Dispatches Special: Prof. Alexander S. Burns discusses his new book, Infantry in Battle, 1733–1783

This week Brady Crytzer’s guest is Alexander S. Burns, assistant professor of History at Franciscan University of Steubenville. Prof. Burns discussed his new book Infantry In Battle: 1733-1783, at the 2025 Braddock’s Road Preservation Association Seminar at Fort Ligonier in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Sunday evening(Eastern United States […]

by Editors

Month: November 2025