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People Posted on

10 Amazing Women of the Revolutionary War

“I desire you would remember the ladies”—March 31, 1776, Abigail Adams to her husband, John Adams After reading the “Most Overrated Revolutionary” and the “Most Underrated Revolutionary,” and the amazing contributions by each and every person, it started me thinking about “the ladies” that I feel, in their own ways, helped achieve independence. The impact that […]

by Pamela Murrow
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Features Posted on

Patriotism and Profit

BOOK REVIEW: Patriotism & Profit: Washington, Hamilton, Schuyler & the Rivalry for America’s Capital City by Susan Nagel (Pegasus Books, 2021). In Patriotism & Profit: Washington, Hamilton, Schuyler & the Rivalry for American’s Capital City, Susan Nagel recounts the drama surrounding the Compromise of 1790 and the protracted struggle over the location of the nation’s capital. […]

by Kelly Mielke
Autobiography and Biography Posted on

Review: Radical Hamilton

BOOK REVIEW: Radical Hamilton: Economic Lessons From a Misunderstood Founder by Christian Parenti (New York: Verso, 2020) Alexander Hamilton’s legacy has undergone a radical shift among historians over the last twenty years—never mind among the broader public (thanks, Broadway!). In that way, the title of Christian Parenti’s reassessment of Hamilton is as appropriate as reassessing Hamilton […]

by Geoff Smock
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: John A. Ruddiman on James Monroe’s America Revolution

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews John A. Ruddiman, Associate Professor of History at Wake Forest University, on his recent article about James Monroe’s military experience during the American Revolution. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Amazon Music, and the […]

by Editors
Autobiography and Biography Posted on

Thomas Knowlton’s Revolution

The story of Thomas Knowlton in the American Revolution is brief but meaningful. He was only thirty-five at his death, arguably a full-fledged hero in what George Washington termed “the “glorious Cause”[1] of American independence. The Connecticut colonel remains largely obscure in our collective historical consciousness but has been long recognized by serious students of […]

by David Price
Constitutional Debate Posted on

Review: Two Revolutions and the Constitution

BOOK REVIEW: Two Revolutions and the Constitution: How the English and American Revolutions Produced the American Constitution by James D. R. Philips (Lanham, MD: Hamilton Books, 2021) In his concise Two Revolutions and the Constitution, the Australian lawyer and law professor James D. R. Philips traces the roots of the American Founding back to England’s Glorious […]

by Jeff Broadwater
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Jordan Baker on the Cherokee-American War

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Jordan Baker on the Cherokee people’s response to encroaching settlers along the southern frontier during the first year of the Revolution, when the decades-old conflict became an all-out war. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, […]

by Editors
11
Law Posted on

“Good and Sufficient Testimony:” The Development of the Revolutionary War Pension Plan

One of the greatest sources of information on the American Revolution is the collection of pension applications submitted by American veterans of the war or their families. Over 80,000 files are available to researchers as part of the National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication M804. Intent on finding some desired morsel of information, however, […]

by Michael Barbieri
Features Posted on

Review: Crisis at the Chesapeake

BOOK REVIEW: Crisis at the Chesapeake: The Royal Navy and the Struggle for America, 1755-1783 by Quintin Barry (Warwick, UK: Helion and Company, 2021) Although the main title of this book implies a focus on the 1781 naval operations in the Yorktown campaign, the subtitle is more accurate: a comprehensive look at the Revolutionary War and the […]

by John R. Maass
Constitutional Debate Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: James D. R. Philips on the Influence of the English Revolution on the American Revolution

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews author and historian James D. R. Philips on his research about the influence of the English Revolution on the ideals of the American Revolution and the U.S. Constitution. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, […]

by Editors
Culture Posted on

The Politics and Iconography of Tammany in the Early American Republic

On the morning of Saturday, July 14, 1804 the funeral cortège for Alexander Hamilton proceeded northward to Trinity Church where the former Revolutionary War officer and treasury secretary would be interred. Fittingly there was a substantial turnout; in addition to family, friends and the curious public were members of the Society of the Cincinnati, the […]

by Keith Muchowski
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Autobiography and Biography Posted on

Silas Talbot, Continental Army Mariner

Silas Talbot was a remarkable Revolutionary War notable who was astute and tactically flexible. He was at various times an artisan, entrepreneur, privateer, Rhode Island Militia officer, Continental Army officer, Continental Navy officer, United States Navy captain and United States Congressman. Talbot’s multifarious vocations, extraordinary exploits and changing fortunes reflect the intrepidity of one unusual […]

by Louis Arthur Norton
Patriots Posted on

Review: Vermont’s Ebenezer Allen

Vermont’s Ebenezer Allen: Patriot, Commando and Emancipator by Glenn Fay Jr. (Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2021) Ethan Allen, the militia leader who shares credit for taking Fort Ticonderoga early in the Revolution, is the most recognizable historical figure from early Vermont history. His brother Ira is also famous for his association with the Green Mountain […]

by Timothy Symington
Arts & Literature Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Edna Gabler on the Silence of Slavery in Revolutionary War Art

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews writer, editor, researcher, and JAR contributor Edna Gabler on her recent study of images of enslaved persons in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century portraits and paintings of Revolutionary War subjects. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, […]

by Editors
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Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Jack Cambell on Lafayette’s Plan to Invade Ireland

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor and historical interpreter Jack Campbell on the Marquis de Lafayette’s fascinating attempt to garner support for an invasion of Ireland in order to bring the American Revolution to European soil. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) […]

by Editors
Prewar Politics (<1775) Posted on

Election Sermons and Collective Identity in Massachusetts, 1760–1775

“It is Hoped that this People will Unitedly Exert Themselves:”[1] In August 1765, crowds gathered on the streets of Boston protesting Parliament’s Stamp Act, which they deemed a tyrannical effort to tax them against their consent. Eventually, protests turned destructive as rioters ransacked the home of Lt. Gov. Thomas Hutchinson. The violent outburst posed a […]

by Christopher Walton
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Critical Thinking Posted on

Morale Manipulation as the Central Strategic Imperative in the American Revolutionary War

Most people think of wartime propaganda as atrocity stories about the enemy. But commanders also disseminate false and true information in hopes of boosting their own soldiers’ morale and sapping the enemy’s. Even more persuasive than words are actions, and manipulating morale often dictates how commanders deploy their troops. Witness the American War of Independence. […]

by Woody Holton
Constitutional Debate Posted on

Review: Political Thought and the Origins of the American Presidency

Political Thought and the Origins of the American Presidency edited by Ben Lowe (Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2021) In Political Thought and the Origins of the American Presidency, historian Ben Lowe of Florida Atlantic University has assembled an attractive collection of scholarly essays that began as presentations to the university’s 2019 Alan B. and […]

by Jeff Broadwater
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Norman Desmarais on the Gazette Françoise

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor, writer, and historian Norman Desmarais on the Gazette Françoise, a French newspaper published for French soldiers, begun soon after their arrival in Newport, Rhode Island. This is the first known service newspaper published by an expeditionary force. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every […]

by Editors
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Features Posted on

Review: Winning Independence

Winning Independence: The Decisive Years of the Revolutionary War, 1778-1781 by John Ferling. (New York, NY: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021) The latest work by Professor John Ferling (author of The Ascent of George Washington, A Leap In the Dark, and Whirlwind) is a scholarly explanation as to why the United States ended up winning the American Revolution, […]

by Timothy Symington
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Espionage and Cryptography Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Bill Bleyer on the Culper Spy Ring

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews writer and historian Bill Bleyer on sifting fact from fiction about the legendary Culper Spy Ring. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, and the JAR Dispatches web site. Dispatches can now be easily accessed on the […]

by Editors