*** All JAR Articles ***

 Constitutional Debate Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Haimo Li on an Important Contribution of Maryland to the US Constitution

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews political scientist and JAR contributor Haimo Li on how the Maryland declaration of rights outlawed ex post facto laws—and how that state’s delegation got this important clause into the US Constitution. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, […]

by Editors
8
Critical Thinking Posted on

Divine Providence and Deism in the Declaration of Independence

Clemson University Professor C. Bradley Thompson is a nationally recognized historian and Revolutionary Era scholar whose most recent book, America’s Revolutionary Mind, has earned copious praise and widespread acclaim. It is well-deserved. Nevertheless, Professor Thompson’s work is not without flaws as it renews, unnecessarily, the erroneous and ahistorical argument that God, as referenced in the […]

by David Otersen
5
Advertising Posted on

The Vermont Constitution of 1777

If the gunfire at Lexington and Concord was the “shot heard round the world,” the phrases in the Declaration of Independence were the words read around the world. In the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson declared America an independent nation, rooting his ideas in political theory and justifying them with a list of grievances.[1] After the Declaration was […]

by Sophie Jaeger
Constitutional Debate Posted on

The Bolingbrokean Constitutional Argument in John Adams’s 1766 Clarendon Letter

As part of the debate over the constitutionality of the Stamp Act, John Adams wrote a series of letter to the Boston Gazette discussing the nature and duties of the British government. He signed these letters “Clarendon” rather than using his own name.[1] In his January 27, 1766 “Clarendon” letter Adams penned this line: Were I to […]

by Haimo Li
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: John DeLee on Policy Toward Native Americans During the Articles of Confederation Period

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews USMA graduate and JAR contributor John DeLee on how the policy toward Indigenous Americans changed during the Articles of Confederation period. 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 […]

by Editors
1
Crime and Justice Posted on

William “Bloody Bill” Cunningham and the Bloody Scout

On or about November 19, 1781, a Loyalist officer named William Cunningham and his regiment of approximately three hundred men rode toward Hayes Station, a fortified log home, or “blockhouse,” in the Little River District, surrounding western South Carolina’s Little River primarily in what is now Laurens County, South Carolina.[1] Now commanding the outpost was […]

by Andrew Waters
Features Posted on

Book Review: Running from Bondage: Enslaved Women and Their Remarkable Fight for Freedom in Revolutionary America

Running From Bondage: Enslaved Women and Their Remarkable Fight For Freedom In Revolutionary America by Karen Cook Bell (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2021) A “wench” name Lucia. A mulatto woman named Margaret. A well-dressed woman named Jenny. A woman called Bett. These individuals are the subjects of the first four chapters of Karen Cook Bell’s […]

by Timothy Symington
Espionage and Cryptography Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: George Kotlik on Bartram’s Travels in Florida

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews historian of colonial Florida and JAR contributor George Kotlik on botanist William Bartram’s travels in East Florida during the mid-1770s. Did he use any of the information he gathered to benefit the Patriot cause? New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) […]

by Editors
Frontier Posted on

Charlotina

In the fall of 1763, a pamphlet was published in Edinburgh titled The Expediency of Securing Our American Colonies by Settling the Country Adjoining the River Mississippi, and the Country Upon the Ohio, Considered.[1] The publication of this pamphlet points to the interest aroused in western land speculation among many in North America and Great […]

by George Kotlik
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Travis Copeland on the Capture of North Carolina’s Governor Thomas Burke

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Travis Copeland on the capture of North Carolina’s Patriot governor Thomas Burke by Loyalists in the waning days of the American Revolution. 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
Constitutional Debate Posted on

The Intellectual Origin of the US Constitution Article 1, Section 9, Clause 3: An Important Contribution from Maryland

Scholars generally view that the Framers of the United States Constitution “recalled the historical tyrannies of Great Britain and France in establishing the prohibitions against ex post facto laws (laws having retroactive effect) and bills of attainder (forfeiture of property and civil rights without due process).”[1]  In reality, things are more complicated than this simple […]

by Haimo Li
Crime and Justice Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Robert N. Fanelli on Cosmo Gordon of the Brigade of Guards

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews founding member of the Washington Crossing Revolutionary War Round Table and JAR contributor Robert N. Fanelli about the remarkable and contentious life of Cosmo Gordon, lieutenant colonel of the British Brigade of Guards’ 1st Battalion, and privileged bon vivant. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free […]

by Editors
2
Battles Posted on

Showdown Over a Schooner: The Battle of East Guilford, the Final Engagement in Connecticut

At dawn, on Sunday, May 19, 1782, “a large new schooner” moved steadily eastward across Long Island Sound. At the helm was Capt. James Hovey. Born about 1743, Hovey was a native of Stratford, Connecticut, and mercantile captain by trade.[1] He remained in the trade throughout most of the war, frequently running merchant vessels, except […]

by Matthew Reardon
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: David P. Ervin on the Continental Army on the Upper Ohio

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews  JAR contributor David P. Ervin on his research into the Continental army operations along the upper Ohio during the American Revolution. Following the war, this region—the Northwest Territory—would become a focus of the new United States Army. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday […]

by Editors
Features Posted on

Contributor Close-Up: Jett Conner

What inspired you to start researching and writing about the Revolution? Trained as a political scientist, I got interested in the Revolutionary period through the writings of Thomas Paine. As I taught a college course for years in early American political thought, I noticed that Paine was given credit by historians for his rebel-rousing (e.g., […]

by Editors
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Mike Matheny on How Paperwork Saved the Continental Army

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews graduate student and JAR contributor Mike Matheny about his fascinating research and article about how the record keeping of enlistments and other data was critical to the Continental Army’s success. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, […]

by Editors
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