*** All JAR Articles ***

 Espionage and Cryptography Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Charles Dewey on Abraham Bancker, Friend of the Republic

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Charles Dewey, US Army National Guard Intelligence Office and a historical interpreter and educator at Fort Lee Historic Park, on his research into Abraham Bancker, an important agent in the American intelligence network around New York City. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free […]

by Editors
3
Diplomacy Posted on

Wampum Belts to Canada: Stockbridge Indian Ambassadors’ Dangerous 1775 Peace Mission

In early May 1775, with the Revolutionary War not even one month old, western Massachusetts Patriot leaders and their Stockbridge Indian neighbors developed a plan to use diplomacy to neutralize a looming danger in the north. Stockbridge ambassadors would take a peace message from their community to the New England colonists’ traditional Native enemies in Canada. […]

by Mark R. Anderson
News Posted on

The Latest in the JAR Book Series is Now Available

“The sad story of colonial oppression commenced in the year 1764. Great Britain then adopted new regulations respecting her colonies, which, after disturbing the ancient harmony of the two countries for about twelve years, terminated in a dismemberment of the empire.”—David Ramsay, 1789 JAR contributor Ken Shumate’s new book, 1764: The First Year of the […]

by Editors
1
Loyalists Posted on

Massachusettensis and Novanglus: The Last Great Debate Prior to the American Revolution

When John Adams returned to Massachusetts after the session of the First Continental Congress, he was surprised to find that there was growing opposition to the radicals and the work of the Congress. It was led by a man who identified himself as “Massachusettensis.” On December 12, 1774 Massachusettensis published the first of a series […]

by James M. Smith
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Philip D. Weaver on Joseph McCracken, New York’s First Revolutionary Captain

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews researcher, author, and living history presenter Philip D. Weaver on New York’s Joseph McCracken, one of the many little-known personalities of the American Revolution who contributed to the American war effort. Weaver was able to piece together McCracken’s service record through pension applications of soldiers who served under […]

by Editors
Constitutional Debate Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Eric Sterner on South Carolina’s John Rutledge

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews consultant, author, and JAR contributor Eric Sterner on the life of John Rutledge, governor, president, and congressional delegate of South Carolina, a career he explored over a series of three articles. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, […]

by Editors
9
Critical Thinking Posted on

David Wooster Kept the Men at Quebec: Giving Credit to a Much-Maligned General

Most modern historical treatments of the American invasion of Canada disparage Brig. Gen. David Wooster for his leadership in Canada. A detailed examination of his command from January to May 1776, however, lends credence to an early biographer’s conclusion that “Gen. Wooster was censured by those who did not know the obstacles he had to […]

by Mark R. Anderson
4
People Posted on

Review: War at Saber Point: Banastre Tarleton and the British Legion

War at Saber Point: Banastre Tarleton and the British Legion by John Knight (Yardley, PA: Westholme Publishing, 2020) The American Revolution produced numerous well-known corps of light troops on both sides, some cavalry, some infantry, and some including both. While many are familiar with tales of Patriot riflemen under Daniel Morgan and dashing legion commanders […]

by Todd W. Braisted
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: William V. Wenger on Foreign Assistance to the American Revolution

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews retired US Army officer Willam V. Wenger on his research into the contributions of France, Spain, and other countries to the American war effort, from munitions and soldiers to diplomatic assistance and loans. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States […]

by Editors
2
Arts & Literature Posted on

The 2021 Annual Volume

The seventh Journal of the American Revolution Annual Volume is now available. Each annual volume highlights articles selected by our editorial board from the previous year as best representative of the journal’s mission and for their original contributions to scholarship of the era. The 2021 annual contains thirty-five articles, covering topics from the Lenape people […]

by Editors
2
Documents Posted on

“The Predicament We Are In”: How Paperwork Saved the Continental Army

“Few people know the predicament we are in,” wrote George Washington, while he expressed the Continental army’s dire circumstances.[1] By January 1776, just six months into the Revolutionary War, the Continental army faced a crisis outside Boston. This particular crisis, not caused by a British attack, was a personnel issue. “Search the volumes of history through,” […]

by Mike Matheny
Economics Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: James P. Sieradzki on the New Jersey Shop License Law of 1780

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews attorney and local historian James P. Sieradzki about New Jersey’s attempt to stop illicit trade between local shopkeepers and the British by issuing licenses that not only forbade the practice, but issued fines if violated. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern […]

by Editors
31
Culture Posted on

“Spirits of Independence”: Ten Taverns of the Revolutionary War Era

City Tavern in Philadelphia is a reconstruction of the famous eighteenth century tavern where countless patriots—both political and military—met throughout the American Revolution, and later, during the Constitutional Convention in 1787. It recently closed due to the impact of Covid-19 on their business. This sad ending occurred despite the fact the owner/executive chef has been […]

by Damien Cregeau
Pension Records Posted on

The Revolutionary War Service of James Noble

When old Revolutionary War soldiers applied for their military pensions in the first and second quarter of the nineteenth century, they generally reported the basic information of their service. Occasionally, a soldier provided detail of his service that highlighted their adventures and sufferings. One such soldier was Private James Noble, originally of Maryland. James Noble […]

by Michael J. F. Sheehan
3
Espionage and Cryptography Posted on

Amicus Reipublicae; or, Abraham Bancker, Friend of the Republic

Abraham Bancker gave in to temptation on September 10, 1789, when he petitioned George Washington for a federal appointment as compensation for his service during the American Revolution. He had been reluctant to write for some time, feeling as though his competitors were superior in ability and more reasonable in their requests. “This Application proceeds […]

by Charles Dewey
8
Pension Records Posted on

Joseph McCracken: New York’s First Revolutionary Captain

On June 8, 1776, New York’s Capt. Joseph McCracken presented to the Albany Committee of Correspondence a payroll of men “employed in the taking of Ticonderoga” along with an account of expenses and disbursements. After the required certifications, the committee recommended that it be paid.[1] Questions remain as to why Albany County paid these Charlotte […]

by Philip D. Weaver
Features Posted on

Review: Resisting Independence: Popular Loyalism in the Revolutionary British Atlantic

Resisting Independence: Popular Loyalism in the Revolutionary British Atlantic by Brad A. Jones (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2021) In Resisting Independence: Popular Loyalism in the Revolutionary British Atlantic, Brad A. Jones reminds readers that “the American Revolution . . . was as much a story of loyalty as it was rebellion” (page 2). Jones’s book seeks […]

by George Kotlik
Battles Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Gary Ecelbarger on Clement Biddle and the “Battle of the Clouds”

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews writer and JAR contributor Gary Ecelbarger on what a letter from Clement Biddle can tell us about the “Battle of the Clouds,” one of the most enigmatic engagements in the American Revolution. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) […]

by Editors
Newspapers Posted on

Print Media and Isaiah Thomas

‘Tis to ye Press & Pen we Mortals owe All we believe & almost all we know: —George Fischer, The American Instructor: or, Young Man’s Best Companion, 1770 The Press was the media that shaped the political process of the American Revolution. Colonial newspaper publishers generally produced four-page weeklies and/or single-sheet broadsides to keep colonists […]

by Louis Arthur Norton
4
Critical Thinking Posted on

Key to Victory: Foreign Assistance to America’s Revolutionary War

Historians have long appreciated that the colonies could not have won the American Revolutionary War against the most powerful nation in the world without significant foreign aid. What is not coherently presented in the historical record or documented in any meaningful depth is the quantification of that aide by France and her allies, primarily Spain. […]

by William V. Wenger
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Geoff Smock on the Teenage Thomas Jefferson

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews educator and JAR contributor Geoff Smock on his research into the teenage years of Thomas Jefferson, including his education at William & Mary college. 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. […]

by Editors
2
Features Posted on

Contributor Close-Up: Robert Davis

What inspired you to start researching and writing about the Revolution? In 1974, Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia began a state internship program. I was the state’s first history intern. Because I was at that time a cadet at North Georgia College, I chose the battle of Kettle Creek, a military topic of which I knew […]

by Editors
15
Critical Thinking Posted on

Loyalist Slave-Owning Refugees in Postwar Jamaica

The two forces of paternalism and slavery shaped the lives of Loyalist slaveowners in the postwar British Empire. Historians rarely connect these forces in attempts to understand the relationship between refugees, colonial hosts, and British officials. In the postwar era, British officials treated Loyalists as an itinerant population to resettle to aid imperial expansion. In […]

by Patrick E. Brady