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 Critical Thinking Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Geoff Smock on the Influence of the Enlightenment on Thomas Jefferson

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews teacher and JAR contributor Geoff Smock on Thomas Jefferson’s enlightenment-influenced views on pandemics, the French Revolution, Shays’ Rebellion, and other events of his time. 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
1
Economics Posted on

“The Right of Making Such a Law, Has Never Been Questioned:” Reasons Against the Renewal of the Sugar Act, Part 3 of 3

Remonstrance Against the Renewal Rhode Island merchants, prompted by the January letter from Boston merchants, requested that Governor Hopkins call a special meeting of the General Assembly. The merchants needed little prompting; they had already drafted preliminary essays explaining the economic problems caused by the Sugar Act. In fact, newspapers had for months been full […]

by Ken Shumate
1
Features Posted on

The Boston Massacre: A Family History

The Boston Massacre:  A Family History by Serena Zabin. (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020) The significant other of this particular reviewer saw him reading yet another book about the Revolution, and still another book about the Boston Massacre. “Haven’t you learned enough about it?” she asked. This reviewer honestly did not jump into Serena Zabin’s recent […]

by Timothy Symington
Economics Posted on

The Essay “well deserves the candid Reader’s attentive perusal:” Reasons Against the Renewal of the Sugar Act, Part 2 of 3

The writings abridged below, all asserting reasons against the renewal of the Sugar Act, mark the end of the long period of the colonies being “led by a thread.” They were the opening salvo to a decade of protest against British attempts to draw a revenue from the North American colonies. Reasons against the renewal […]

by Ken Shumate
3
Features Posted on

Sailing Under John Paul Jones: The Memoir of Continental Navy Midshipman Nathaniel Fanning

Sailing Under John Paul Jones: The Memoir of Continental Navy Midshipman Nathaniel Fanning, 1778-1783, edited by Louis Arthur Norton. (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2019) Contrary to popular narratives, the American Revolution was not restricted to fighting in the Americas. The war was fought on many fronts including India and Europe. Nathaniel Fanning reminds us […]

by George Kotlik
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Andrew Waters on Nathanael Greene, Thomas Sumter and the Revolution in the South

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews author, land conservationist, and JAR contributor Andrew Waters on how Nathanael Greene and Thomas Sumter fought against British control of South Carolina. 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 […]

by Editors
1
Economics Posted on

“America will suffer for a time only . . . But the Loss to Great Britain will be irretrievable”: Reasons Against the Renewal of the Sugar Act, Part 1 of 3

In early 1764, four British colonies in North America protested the enforcement and planned renewal of the about-to-expire Sugar Act of 1733 (also known as the Molasses Act of 1733)—an act that levied duties on foreign sugar, rum and molasses. Each protest was a statement of reasons against the renewal. These protests—lodged before passage of […]

by Ken Shumate
2
Features Posted on

George Rogers Clark and William Croghan

George Rogers Clark and William Croghan: A Story of the Revolution, Settlement, and Early Life at Locust Grove by Gwynne Tuell Potts (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2020) “The phenomenon of fame confounds and fascinates, indiscriminately raising some to glory while consigning apparent equals to exile.” This is Gwynne Tuell Potts’s insight in her new book […]

by Gabriel Neville
5
Features Posted on

The Quaker and the Gamecock

The Quaker and the Gamecock: Nathanael Greene, Thomas Sumter, and the Revolutionary War for the Soul of the South by Andrew Waters (Casemate, 2019) Among America’s great historical sites is the fort that still sits in the Charleston harbor where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. But while Fort Sumter is known to […]

by Alec D. Rogers
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Lindsay M. Chervinsky on George Washington and the Cabinet of the United States

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews White House historian and author Lindsay M. Chervinsky about her new book on George Washington and the creation of the Cabinet of the United States. 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
2
Historic Sites Posted on

George Washington’s 1777 Wilmington, Delaware, Headquarters: Insights to an Unmarked Site

On the 170th anniversary of Washington’s Birthday in 1902, the Delaware Society of the Cincinnati formed a procession of dignitaries and marched up Quaker Hill, the southwestern residential area of Wilmington. The ceremony continued to West Street, a north-south avenue named after an early settler. They stopped in the middle of a row of houses […]

by Gary Ecelbarger
6
Critical Thinking Posted on

Presidential Power: Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and the Louisiana Purchase

In 1813, Thomas Jefferson received a letter from Marguerite Brazier Bonneville, a French emigre and Thomas Paine’s former caretaker. Bonneville asked the former president if she could publish Paine and Jefferson’s correspondence. Paine had left most of his estate including all of his personal papers to her in his will when he died in 1809. […]

by Jett Conner
Journals Posted on

Memorial Day: Recovering the Service of William Tiller, American Soldier

Every now and then, one comes across a pension application of an old soldier that includes extraordinary detail. Occasionally the application includes a journal or memoir, as in the case of Connecticut’s Isaac Grant or Virginia’s William Tiller. Tiller’s journal is full of detail, but unfortunately few muster rolls for his regiment exist, making certain […]

by Michael J. F. Sheehan
8
Audiovisual Posted on

The Sisters’ Revolutionary Secret

From 1952 until 1967, a popular American television show featured a panel of celebrities trying to guess a secret about a non-celebrity guest. The guest’s secret might be a remarkable or unusual talent, achievement or other attribute. On April 26, 1961, the show hosted Delia and Bertie Harris, sisters from Knoxville, Tennessee.[1] They were both […]

by Don N. Hagist
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Matthew Reardon on the Whaleboat Wars on the Connecticut River

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews history teacher and JAR contributor Matthew Reardon on the Loyalist raid up the Connecticut River in 1782 when the war was essentially over. The Connecticut coastline was contested for the duration of the American Revolution in what is called the “whaleboat wars.” Thousands of readers like you enjoy the […]

by Editors
2
Features Posted on

George Washington’s Nemesis

George Washington’s Nemesis:  The Outrageous Treason and Unfair Court-Martial of Major General Charles Lee during the Revolutionary War by Christian McBurney (El Dorado Hills, CA:  Savas Beatie, 2019) It is interesting that popular culture can effectively present an inaccurate version of history. Paul Revere sent the misleading picture of Capt. Thomas Preston ordering his forces to […]

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

Blue Mountain Valley and the Rise of Lord Stirling

“A Most Dreadful Voyage” was how the captain of British supply ship Blue Mountain Valley described his mission to North America in the fall and winter of 1775–1776. The ship’s young Scottish captain, James Dempster, was an experienced merchant sailor with voyages to China, India, and the West Indies.[1] The mission Dempster embarked on when Blue […]

by Eric Wiser
6
People Posted on

Orders Issued by Benedict Arnold, Commander-in-Chief, to the Captain of the Liberty

Just weeks after war broke out at Lexington and Concord, Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, working in grudging consort,captured Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain, as well as the settlement of Skenesborough (now Whitehall) at the southern end of the lake. Under orders from Arnold, Eleazer Oswald also captured a small vessel there. Oswald reported: “We […]

by C. E. Pippenger
2
Critical Thinking Posted on

Thomas Jefferson and the Public Benefits of Epidemics

An epidemic that violently attacks public health—that sickens and takes lives; that cripples our economy; that forces us into our homes; that turns cities into ghost towns—may be unprecedented to the present generation of Americans, but was as commonplace to the Revolutionary generation as was revolution itself. The War of Independence, Shays’ Rebellion, the French […]

by Geoff Smock
3
Frontier Posted on

Casimir Pulaski and the Threat to the Upper Delaware River Valley

If January and February 1778 was Brig. Gen. Casimir Pulaski’s “Winter of his Discontent,”[1] then October through December 1778 was his “Autumn of Despair.” Following what has been called the “Massacre of the Pulaski Legion” at Egg Harbor, New Jersey, on October 15, 1778,[2] the Legion returned to Trenton, awaiting orders. On October 26, Pulaski […]

by Joseph E. Wroblewski
Battles Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Stephen John Katzberg on Mapping the Battle of Eutaw Springs

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer speaks with electrical engineer and JAR contributor Stephen John Katzberg on the significance of the Battle of Eutaw Springs, South Carolina. During his research he applied geographical information systems (GIS) to correct the famous 1822 map of the battle produced by William Johnson. Thousands of readers like you enjoy the […]

by Editors
1
Diplomacy Posted on

Revolutionary Revenge on Hudson Bay, 1782

French naval officer La Pérouse (Jean Francois de Galaup, Comte de la Pérouse) was one of many who actively supported the American Patriots in their war for independence from Britain. La Pérouse’s assignments included patrolling the North Atlantic where he directed the capture of numerous British merchant vessels.[1] His early 1781 outbound voyage from France […]

by Merv O. Ahrens
Features Posted on

Supporting American Revolution History

Restrictions on travel and gather due to the coronavirus pandemic have had a significant impact on historic sites and institutions dedicated to the American Revolution. We asked our contributors to recommend sites and organizations for our readers to consider supporting. The list is in the order received. Brady J. Crytzer Historic Hanna’s Town, Greensburg, PA: […]

by Editors
3
Loyalists Posted on

General Charles Lee Imposes Oaths of Allegiance on Newport Tories, 1775

Major General Charles Lee visited Newport, Rhode Island, in late December 1775, where he—controversially—insisted that local Loyalists take an oath of allegiance to the Continental Congress. This approach, and a similar one he took in New York City shortly thereafter, created concern in Congress on how best to handle Loyalists. But by mid-1778, Lee had changed […]

by Christian McBurney