*** All JAR Articles ***

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Critical Thinking Posted on

Mapping the Battle of Eutaw Springs: Modern GIS Solves a Historic Mystery

When dealing with available sources to investigate questions related to historical events, the researcher has at his disposal a limited set from which to choose. Contemporaneous accounts, reports, maps, plats, legal filings, and location evidence exist in a more or less complete record. Nevertheless, linking the elements bearing witness to one event or another is […]

by Stephen John Katzberg
2
Espionage and Cryptography Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Douglas R. Dorney, Jr. on Captain John De Treville—Continental Officer and British Spy

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews architect and JAR contributor Douglas R. Dorney, Jr., on his research about Capt. John La Boularderie De Treville, a South Carolina Continental artillery officer and British spy, and his surprising decision after the British surrender. Thousands of readers like you enjoy the articles published by the Journal of […]

by Editors
1
Politics During the War (1775-1783) Posted on

Rutland’s Rebellion: Defending Local Governance during the Revolution

Typically, countries at war do not detain enemy prisoners in the backyards of their citizens. During the Revolutionary War Britain’s soon-to-be independent North American colonies proved an exception to this rule. For the fledgling nation, the action was a matter of necessity, one which forced host towns across the colonies to confront the fight for […]

by Susan Brynne Long
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: John Rees on African American Soldiers in the American Revolution

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews author and JAR contributor John Rees on the enlightening history of African American soldiers in the American Revolution, based on his book “They Were Good Soldiers:” African Americans Serving in the Continental Army, 1775–1783. Thousands of readers like you enjoy the articles published by the Journal of the […]

by Editors
1
Features Posted on

Mary Ball Washington: The Untold Story of George Washington’s Mother

Mary Ball Washington: The Untold Story of George Washington’s Mother by Craig Shirley (Harper, 2019) Rare indeed is the historian of early American history who is unfamiliar with George Washington. Lesser known, however, is the story of Mary Ball Washington, his mother. In Craig Shirley’s book, Mary Ball Washington: The Untold Story of George Washington’s Mother, Shirley […]

by George Kotlik
1
Economics Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Tom Shachtman on Paying for and Profiting from the American Revolution

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews author and JAR contributor Tom Shachtman on how wealthy Americans paid for and profited from the American Revolution, chronicled in his latest book, Founding Fortunes. Thousands of readers like you enjoy the articles published by the Journal of the American Revolution. Dispatches is a free podcast that puts […]

by Editors
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Frontier Posted on

Maj. Gen. John Sullivan and the Occupation of Easton, Pennsylvania, May 7–June 18, 1779

For a brief seven weeks, the Pennsylvania frontier village of Easton became the second largest community within the state. With an estimated 25,000 inhabitants, Philadelphia was the largest city in Pennsylvania (and North America); under normal circumstances, Lancaster was second with between 3,000-3,500 inhabitants followed by York with under 2,000.[1] In 1752 it was estimated that […]

by Andrew A. Zellers-Frederick
Features Posted on

The Redcoat in America: The Diaries of Lieutenant William Bamford, 1757–1765 and 1776

A Redcoat in America: The Diaries of Lieutenant William Bamford, 1757-1765 and 1776 edited by John B. Hattendorf (Helion & Company, 2019) Writings of participants in the American Revolution are always welcome when they become widely available. John B. Hattendorf’s new contribution to this literature is especially interesting because it offers one individual’s perspectives on […]

by Don N. Hagist
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Michael Cecere on Virginia’s “Eighteen-Months Men” of 1780-81

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews teacher, author, and long-time JAR contributor Michael Cecere on Virginia’s “eighteen-months men,” militia who were drafted into the Continental Army in order to fill a shortfall in soldiers during a pivotal point in the war. Thousands of readers like you enjoy the articles published by the Journal of the […]

by Editors
10
Myths and Legends Posted on

“Mad Anthony”: The Reality Behind the Nickname

It is often a tradition among soldiers and sailors to give monikers to their commanders. American military history resounds with names like Gen.Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, Gen.Lewis “Chesty” Puller, Gen. Andrew “Old Hickory” Jackson, and so on. One such sobriquet, “Mad Anthony” for Gen. Anthony Wayne, has stuck on and off in the American consciousness for […]

by Michael J. F. Sheehan
4
Battles Posted on

Information Operations: The Provincial Congress Shapes the Narrative in Great Britain

The efforts of the American Provincial Congress at the beginning of the revolutionary war against Great Britain offer the perfect case study to understand how best to utilize information against an enemy during conflict. After the initial skirmishes at Lexington and Concord in April of 1775, the Provincial Congress sought to influence Great Britain’s political […]

by Patrick Naughton
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Features Posted on

America’s First Ally: France in the Revolutionary War

Norman Desmarais, professor emeritus at Providence College, is one of America’s most important scholars of French involvement in the American Revolution. Desmarais has long researched and written extensively on the topic. His translation of the Gazette Françoise, the French-language newspaper published in Rhode Island by the French fleet that brought Rochambeau and his troops to […]

by Kim Burdick
1
Diplomacy Posted on

France and Spain Invade England—Almost

On February 6, 1778, France signed two treaties with the United States, one of Amity and Commerce, the other, a defensive Alliance.[1] In them, France recognized the absolute sovereignty and independence of the United States. On March 10, the Foreign Minister of France, the comte de Vergennes, sent a dispatch that included a copy of the […]

by Bob Ruppert
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Dean Caivano on American Colonists’ Growing Resistance to Tyranny

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews Dean Caivano, Lecturer of Political Science at California State University, Stanislaus, on the growing resistance to tyranny as colonists reacted to the prospects of their lives being reduced to a state of political and economic domination by Parliament and the Crown. Thousands of readers like you enjoy the articles published […]

by Editors
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: William H. J. Manthorpe, Jr. on the Cape Henlopen Lighthouse and Historical Accuracy

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews William Manthorpe, a former naval intelligence officer, government senior executive, and professor who specializes on the naval history of Delaware, on unraveling the legend of who burned the Cape Henlopen Lighthouse during the American Revolution. Thousands of readers like you enjoy the articles published by the Journal of […]

by Editors
1
Economics Posted on

Tapping America’s Wealth to Fund the Revolution: Two Good Ideas that Went Awry

“Unless some great and capital change suddenly takes place,” Gen. George Washington wrote from Valley Forge on December 23, 1777,[1] to Henry Laurens, the recently-appointed president of the Continental Congress, “the Army must inevitably be reduced to one or the other of these three things. Starve—dissolve—or disperse, in order to obtain subsistence.” A week later, […]

by Tom Shachtman
2
Economics Posted on

Hamilton Versus Wall Street: The Core Principles of the American System of Economics

Hamilton Versus Wall Street: The Core Principles of the American System of Economics by Nancy Bradeen Spannaus (Bloomington: iUniverse, 2019) “The purpose of this book,” Ms. Spannaus declares, “is simple: to establish once and for all that the first U.S. Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton, was the founder of an American System of Economics which provided the […]

by Geoff Smock
2
Critical Thinking Posted on

The Fear of Domination: Resistance Against Tyranny

The threat of continued oppression and an encroaching condition of slavery was central to the American colonists’ call for separation from Great Britain and the corresponding shift to direct resistance. While the lack of effective political representation was crucial, importantly the colonists held other more acute concerns than the issue of representation in Parliament. Crucially, […]

by Dean Caivano
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Steven Neill on the British East India Company and the American Revolution

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Steven Neill on William Pitt’s 1767 proposal to tax the East India Company and strengthen trade with the American colonies and how the company influenced Parliament’s decision to set aside Pitt’s plan. Instead, Parliament decided to levy taxes on the colonies through the Townshend Acts. Thousands of […]

by Editors
1
Conflict & War Posted on

Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation: Information and Slavery

Lord Dunmore, John Murray, the 4th Earl of Dunmore (1730-1809) and Royal Governor of Virginia (1771-1776),[1] was an important political and military figure during the early stages of the American Revolution. One of Dunmore’s most controversial actions involved issuing a proclamation to free all slaves and indentured servants of rebels who would rally to the […]

by Patrick H. Hannum