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Features Posted on

North Carolina’s Revolutionary Founders

North Carolina’s Revolutionary Founders, edited by Jeff Broadwater and Troy L. Kickler  (Chapel Hill, NC:  University of North Carolina Press, 2019) The Old North State has its own Revolutionary War heroes, and although not totally ignored, their fame has been obscured on the national stage due to the more famous stories of Adams of Massachusetts, […]

by Timothy Symington
Constitutional Debate Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Andrew Schocket on Who Mattered in Early America?

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews Andrew Schocket, professor of history at Bowling Green State University about the original research he and two of his students, Kinzey M. McLaren-Czerr and Colin J. Spicer, conducted to establish that free women and children were included in the population counts for congressional representation. Thousands of readers like […]

by Editors
Letters and Correspondence Posted on

Catharine Macaulay: Her Final Gifts to America and France, 1787–1791

In September 1787, Mrs. Mercy Otis Warren informed Catharine Macaulay of the results of the Federal Convention in Philadelphia. She was guardedly optimistic. Macaulay, upon receiving the letter, responded immediately: Indeed I have expected with much impatience the result of the deliberations of your convention . . . I find in the propositions they are […]

by Bob Ruppert
The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on

Picking Up the Pieces: Virginia’s “Eighteen-Months Men” of 1780–81

The first half of 1780 had gone disastrously for Virginia. The surrender of Gen. Benjamin Lincoln’s army at Charleston and the destruction of Col. Abraham Buford’s detachment of Virginia continentals at the Waxhaws virtually eliminated Virginia’s continental line. A force that once boasted sixteen regiments and thousands of men was now reduced to a handful of […]

by Michael Cecere
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Contest for Liberty: Military Leadership in the Continental Army, 1775–1783

Contest for Liberty: Military Leadership in the Continental Army, 1775-1783 by Seanegan P. Sculley (Yardley, PA: Westholme Publishing, 2019) Seanegan P. Sculley’s recent book, Contest for Liberty: Military Leadership in the Continental Army, 1775-1783, is organized into five chapters with a substantive introduction and a short conclusion. Each chapter addresses one of the five elements selected […]

by Patrick H. Hannum
People Posted on

Milton’s Odyssey: The Revolutionary and Post-Revolutionary Service of Georgia’s John Milton

Georgia’s fragile independence within the new American republic was shattered on December 29, 1778, when British troops attacked Savannah. Despite clear signs that the British were coming, the capital of the state on that December morning was caught by surprise. Panic set in as the redcoats approached the city. State officials and soldiers fled for […]

by R. Boyd Murphree
Critical Thinking Posted on

Worthy of Commemmoration

We recently ran an article about monuments commemorating the American Revolution. We asked our contributors: If you could commission a monument, what would you commemorate and where would it be located? They provided a wide range of worthy candidates. Nancy K. Loane On December 19, 1777, over 400 women—and an unknown number of children—struggled into […]

by Editors
Features Posted on

Revolutionary Networks: The Business and Politics of Printing the News, 1763–1789

Revolutionary Networks: The Business and Politics of Printing the News, 1763-1789  by Joseph M. Adelman (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019) An explosion of new media! News editors and writers under attack for their views! Increasing media polarization along partisan lines. Readers expecting the news to be free. Newspapers teetering on the edge of profitability. A […]

by Gene Procknow
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This Week on Dispatches: Gabriel Neville on the Historic Clove Road and Its Role during the Revolution

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Gabriel “Gabe” Neville on the Clove Road between northern New Jersey and New York and its strategic importance during the American Revolution. Thousands of readers like you enjoy the articles published by the Journal of the American Revolution. Dispatches is a free podcast that puts a […]

by Editors
Features Posted on

Contributor Profile: John Knight

What inspired you to start researching and writing about the Revolution? For my thirteenth birthday, I was given a history book on the Kings and Queens of England. Like all kids, I was more interested in the pictures than the text. One painting, in particular, fascinated me: The British army attacking Bunker Hill by Howard Pyle. […]

by Editors
Culture Posted on

Giving Thanks: John Gridley’s Prayer Bill

Housed in the Medfield Historical Society is a rare collection of prayer bills containing the prayers of thanksgiving from Massachusetts soldiers and their families during the American Revolution. These commonplace slips of paper include fascinating stories and spiritual requests of ordinary Continental soldiers. One of these late-eighteenth-century prayer notes was written by a veteran named […]

by Roberto O. Flores de Apodaca
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Mark Edward Lender on the “Cabal” Against George Washington

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews distinguished historian, Mark Edward Lender, about his new book, Cabal! The Plot Against General Washington, the first modern examination of the war-time attempt to remove George Washington from command. A fascinating story that leads to an ultimate “what if?” in American history. Thousands of readers like you enjoy […]

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

Massachusetts Privateers During the Siege of Boston

Following the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Massachusetts Grand Army surrounded Boston and began to lay siege to it. The Massachusetts Committee of Safety quickly recognized that in order to drive the British army from the town, it had to starve them out.[1] The British military had a longstanding practice of acquiring fresh provisions […]

by Alexander Cain
Features Posted on

The Will of the People: The Revolutionary Birth of America

The Will of the People: The Revolutionary Birth of America by T.H. Breen (Harvard University Press, 2019) In the latest of a series of influential works from T.H. Breen, the veteran historian provides his audience with an elaborate illustration of how the ordinary colonist interpreted, experienced, and survived the American Revolution. How did the Maryland farmer […]

by Megan King
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Gene Procknow on Benedict Arnold and James Wemyss

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews long-time JAR contributor Gene Procknow on the fascinating parallel lives of Continental officer Benedict Arnold and British officer James Wemyss. Thousands of readers like you enjoy the articles published by the Journal of the American Revolution. Dispatches is a free podcast that puts a voice to the writing […]

by Editors
Constitutional Debate Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Jason Yonce on the Annapolis Convention of 1786

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews historian Jason Yonce about the Annapolis Convention of 1786, one of the most fascinating political meetings in the run-up to Constitutional Convention in 1787. Thousands of readers like you enjoy the articles published by the Journal of the American Revolution. Dispatches is a free podcast that puts a […]

by Editors
Features Posted on

Ten Crucial Days: Washington’s Vision for Victory Unfolds

Ten Crucial Days: Washington’s Vision for Victory Unfolds by William L. Kidder (Lawrence Township, NJ: Knox Press, 2018) Gen. George Washington’s granite composure in Emanuel Leutze’s painting of the Delaware River crossing conveys a sense of majesty and leadership. “His Excellency” appears to be in complete control while his armies are organized behind him, carefully maneuvering […]

by Timothy Symington