*** All JAR Articles ***

 Reviews Posted on

The Loyalist Experience and Aftermath in Revolutionary Philadelphia

BOOK REVIEW: The Loyalist Experience and Aftermath in Revolutionary Philadelphia by Kimberly Nath (Brookline, 2026) $32.95 hardcover. In an 1813 letter to his former congressional colleague Thomas McKean, John Adams provided his own conjecture as to what percentage of the American population actively supported the American Revolution. Clarifying McKean’s own inexact claim that “the great […]

by Kevin Diestelow
Economics Posted on

America’s Original Stimulus Package: A Catalytic, Consequential Fishing Policy

The heady days of the Declaration of Independence, struggle, victory, and a new Constitution were all behind him. Now, within weeks of taking office as President of the United States, George Washington presided over a toxic political atmosphere. Despite initial hopes for national unity, a vicious partisan press had emerged. Mobs on the frontier flirted […]

by James Workman
Reviews Posted on

Closing the Ring: George Washington’s War in the North, 1778–1781

BOOK REVIEW: Closing the Ring: George Washington’s War in the North 1778–1781 by Jeffrey A Denman (Havertown, PA: Casemate, 2026) $34.95 hardcover. When historians and the general public consider the more prominent moments of the American Revolution, they surely think of Lexington and Concord, the battles of Bunker Hill, Trenton, Saratoga, and the Siege of […]

by Sam Short
War at Sea and Waterways (1775–1783) Posted on

The Long, Sad Life of the Continental Frigate Delaware

On October 13, 1775, Congress resolved to buy four merchant ships and convert them to warships. Three more ships were soon acquired. A naval committee was established. The Continental Navy was created. On December 11 Congress authorized a new committee to devise ways and means of developing the navy. A member of the congress from […]

by William H. J. Manthorpe, Jr.
Political Philosophy Posted on

James Wilson and Popular Sovereignty: Recovering the Democratic Foundations of the American Constitution

Recovering James Wilson’s Constitutional Vision Few figures of the American founding exhibit a greater disparity between historical significance and public recognition than James Wilson. A signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution, one of the Constitutional Convention’s most influential delegates, and an original Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Wilson […]

by Kelly Coats
Music Posted on

From Roxbury to Exeter: The Evolution of a Revolutionary Song

Revolutionary patriotic songs did not always remain fixed after entering circulation. Soldiers, civilians, and families copied and performed them in manuscripts and other informal settings, allowing their wording and content to change over time.[1] A small manuscript ledger kept in rural Exeter, Rhode Island, between approximately 1793 and 1798 preserves evidence of this process. Amid […]

by Marc Lee
Interviews Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Davis Richardson on Lafayette, Jefferson, and Revolutionary Ideas

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor and historian Davis Richardson about the correspondence between the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in the wake of the American Revolution and the coming French Revolution. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Sunday evening(Eastern United States Time), first on iTunes, Stitcher, […]

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

Washington’s Invalid Corps: Wounded Warriors Still Served the Revolutionary Cause

Although some readers may be familiar with the Civil War’s Invalid Corps, which wrought value and service from even grievously wounded men during that conflict, few probably know that America’s first such organization appeared during the Revolutionary War. Like its later counterpart, Washington’s Corps of Invalids provided the nation valuable service and roles for men […]

by David A. Welker
Reviews Posted on

One Nation Under Law: The Meaning of the Declaration of Independence

BOOK REVIEW: One Nation Under Law: The Meaning of the Declaration of Independence by Carlton F.W. Larson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2026. $33.00 paperback) Carlton F.W. Larson’s monograph One Nation Under Law: The Meaning of the Declaration of Independence published by Cambridge University Press, discusses the origins of the Declaration of Independence. Through looking at […]

by Bridget Donahue Farrell
1
Postwar Politics (>1783) Posted on

A Tale of Two Revolutions: Jefferson, Lafayette, and the Empire of Liberty

When Thomas Jefferson arrived in Paris in 1784, he carried with him the ideals of the American Revolution. Buoyed by the success of a revolution against the British empire, the soon-to-be appointed Minister to France found himself attempting to reconcile Republican principles with the complex political realities of Paris. It marked an intriguing reversal for […]

by Davis Richardson
Critical Thinking Posted on

The Swap Not Heard ’Round the World: Ordering the Declaration’s Grievances

After two hundred and fifty years, there couldn’t possibly be any more stories hiding away in the Declaration of Independence, right? The shelves groan with the collective weight of all the books written about it, not to mention the untold gallons of ink expended by social commentators, historians, political scientists, cultural critics, activists, radicals, and […]

by Robert G. Parkinson
1
Reviews Posted on

Revolutionary War Soldiers of the Southern States

BOOK REVIEW: Revolutionary War Soldiers of the Southern States, A Demographic View by Douglas R. Dorney Jr. (JAR Books Series/Westholme, 2026, $34.95 cloth) This text represents seven years of research, analysis and writing involving the examination and study of 8,579 Revolutionary War pension applications from four southern states, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. […]

by Patrick H. Hannum
Autobiography and Biography Posted on

Philip Mazzei and the American Revolution—An Italian in Virginia

Beyond the most familiar Founding Fathers, the Revolutionary era included a wider circle of contributors whose ideas, actions, and relationships shaped the American cause. Among them was Filippo (Philip) Mazzei, an Italian-born writer, entrepreneur, and political thinker whose engagement with American leaders and Enlightenment ideals influenced the revolutionary generation. Born in the Grand Duchy of […]

by Matteo Giuliani
Interviews Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Robert Swanson on Canadian Whigs and the American Revolution

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Robert Swanson on Canadians who wanted to join the other colonies in their break from English rule. 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 episode […]

by Editors
Travel Posted on

The 21-Mile Circle: American Revolution Heritage Sites in the English Midlands

For the American Revolution enthusiast visiting England, the English Midlands offers a remarkable concentration of sites directly connected to the founding era. Within a twenty-one mile radius centred on the village of Ecton, Northamptonshire, stand the ancestral home of George Washington, the church where Benjamin Franklin’s family worshipped for five generations, the hall from which […]

by Steve Willis
Reviews Posted on

Our Story: The Revolutionary War of Colonel Robert and Mary Ouldfield Heriot

BOOK REVIEW: Our Story: The Revolutionary War of Colonel Robert and Mary Ouldfield Heriot by Hugh T. Harrington, (South Carolina American Revolution Trust, 2026, $16.95, paperback) Through letters and deep research, the “Story” in this book is the recounting of a colonial Patriot husband and wife whose lives were completely disrupted by the American Revolution. […]

by John L. Smith, Jr.
2
The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on

American Whig Ideology and Canadian Participation in the American Revolution

In 1783, the Second Canadian, also known as Congress’s Own Regiment or Hazen’s Infernals, was a combination of two regiments formed in 1775 and 1776 for the Continental Army.[1] During the American Revolution its members fought in battles across the Upper and Middle former colonies. By the end of the war, they were a motley […]

by Robert Swanson
Reviews Posted on

James Selkirk’s Revolutionary War

BOOK REVIEW: James Selkirk’s Revolutionary War: The Memoir of a Continental Sergeant, introduced and edited by Robb K. Haberman (Westholme, 2026) $32.50 hardcover In 1774, alone and at the age of sixteen, James Selkirk sailed from Scotland to the American colonies. Two years later, he enlisted in the Continental army and, because he could read […]

by Michael Barbieri
Reviews Posted on

Backcountry Resistance: South Carolina’s Militia and the Fight for American Independence

BOOK REVIEW: Backcountry Resistance: South Carolina’s Militia and the Fight for American Independence by Carl P. Borick. (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2026) $27.99 hardcover As students of the Revolutionary War in the American South know, Carl Borick is the author of the definitive study of the 1780 Siege of Charleston, South Carolina, titled […]

by John R. Maass
3
Animals Posted on

Nelson and Blueskin: Washington’s Revolutionary War Horses in the Documentary Record

George Washington’s two most-remembered wartime mounts, Nelson and Blueskin, have been the subject of considerable popular retelling, much of it post-dating the events by decades. The manuscript record is thinner than the later accounts but clear on the essentials. Both horses came to Washington as gifts from friends. Both carried him through much of the […]

by Katie Shoultz
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