Month: July 2026

5
The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on

American Achilles: Daniel Morgan’s Resignation and Return to Service

1777 was a very good year for Daniel Morgan. He was promoted to colonel in late 1776 and received the commission in January 1777. Gen. George Washington had pushed Congress to make the promotion, having been impressed by Morgan’s performance leading three companies of riflemen in the ill-fated 1775 invasion of Canada. While the expedition […]

by David Wilson
Interviews Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Jesse Wegman on James Wilson, the “Lost Founder”

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews author Jesse Wegman about his new book, The Lost Founder: James Wilson and the Forgotten Fight for a People’s Constitution. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Sunday evening(Eastern United States Time), first on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Amazon Music, and the JAR Dispatches web site. Each […]

by Editors
3
Myths and Legends Posted on

Dumpling Pond: Legend, Folklore, and Local Memory in Greenwich, Connecticut

During the American Revolution, a defiant miller’s wife hurled freshly made dumplings into the Mianus River in Greenwich, Connecticut, rather than surrender her family’s dinner to a group of enemy Redcoats. From that moment, the section of the river where she cast her dumplings became known as Dumpling Pond. Every Greenwich elementary school student learns […]

by Lisa Figlioli
9
Reviews Posted on

The Lost Founder: James Wilson and the Forgotten Fight for a People’s Constitution

BOOK REVIEW: The Lost Founder: James Wilson and the Forgotten Fight for a People’s Constitution by Jesse Wegman (New York: Celadon Books, 2026) $30.00 hardcover  The Broadway play 1776 depicts James Wilson, a Pennsylvania delegate to the Continental Congress, as a cowardly, spineless understudy of John Dickinson, who opposed the Declaration of Independence. This portrayal […]

by Gene Procknow
1
The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on

“To sport with Long’s carcass”: An Instance of Terror, Revenge, and Retribution

Prior to the outbreak of war at Lexington and Concord in April 1775, New Jersey had not been a hotbed of revolution. With open war, however, followed by the British invasion of 1776, civil strife engulfed the rebellious province. Patriots (Whigs) struck hard and fast against Loyalists, harassing and intimidating anyone suspected of allegiance to […]

by Mark Edward Lender
Reviews Posted on

A Perfect Coincidence

BOOK REVIEW: A Perfect Coincidence: The Extraordinary Friendship and Astonishing Deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson by Jim Rasenberger (Scribner, 2026) It is an astounding bout of timing that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the two men who collaborated so closely in declaring independence, died on the same Fourth of July day on the […]

by Kelly Mielke
1
Economics Posted on

Counterfeiting with Thomas Davis in the New United States: Another American Revolution

The beginning of American Revolution was also the beginning of the golden age of counterfeiting paper money. The British Currency Act of 1764 so restricted the circulation of currency that this crime largely disappeared, as colonists listed the lack of liquid capital among their grievances. The Continental Congress and the states, however, needed to pay […]

by Robert Scott Davis
Interviews Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Ray Raphael on the First Declarations of Independence

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews historian, author, and JAR Editorial Board member Ray Raphael on statements of independence from Great Britain before the Declaration of Independence was announced in Philadelphia, July 4, 1776. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Sunday evening(Eastern United States Time), first on iTunes, Stitcher, Google […]

by Editors