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Reviews Posted on February 9, 2018February 7, 2018

American Sanctuary: Mutiny, Martyrdom, and National Identity in the Age of Revolution

Book Review: American Sanctuary: Mutiny, Martyrdom, and National Identity in the Age of Revolution by A. Roger Ekirch (New York: Pantheon Books, 2017) BUY FROM AMAZON This is a quirky and fascinating three-part story, set not during the Revolution proper, but somewhat later, focusing on the years 1797 to 1800. The three parts, each occupying […]

by Jonathan Carriel

Features Posted on February 8, 2018February 7, 2018

Announcing the Winner of the 2017 Journal of the American Revolution Book of the Year Award

Journal of the American Revolution today announced its winner and runner-up for the 2017 Journal of the American Revolution Book of the Year Award. The annual award goes to the non-fiction volume that best mirrors the journal’s mission: to deliver engaging, creative, and intelligent content that makes American Revolution history accessible to a broad audience. […]

by Editors

Features Posted on February 7, 2018July 15, 2021

The Hard Service and Sufferings of James Dole

In January 1775, James Dole of Troy, New York, joined a company of minutemen commanded by James Wells. It was armed and equipped in order to be ready in a moments warning. Nothing particularly happened until that May, when the company received orders from the Committee of Safety, Correspondence, and Protection in Albany to march […]

by Philip D. Weaver

Religion Posted on February 6, 2018

Moravians in the Middle: The Gnadenhutten Massacre

In 1782, six months after Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown, Patriot militiamen committed one of the most heinous war crimes of the Revolutionary War. On March 8, between 100 and 200 militia and frontiersmen from western Pennsylvania slaughtered nearly 100 peaceful Indians at the small village of Gnadenhutten, on the Tuscarawas River in present day Ohio.[1] […]

by Eric Sterner

Features Posted on February 5, 2018February 27, 2018

The James McMichael Journal, May 27, 1776–October 29, 1776

Editor’s Note: This is part one of a five-part series. Part two. Part three. The “Diary” of Lieutenant James McMichael first appeared in 1890 in the Pennsylvania Archives series 2, volume 15. It reappeared in volume 16 of The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography in 1892. Both versions are available online at Hathitrust and […]

by Joseph Lee Boyle

Reviews Posted on February 2, 2018February 6, 2018

Revolution Song: A Story of American Freedom

Book Review: Revolution Song: A Story of American Freedom by Russell Shorto (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2017) [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] That the Revolution produced winners and losers is hardly news. Factors such as geography, ethnicity, race, religion, and political inclination were central to any individual’s response to the upheaval. Studies examining […]

by Richard F. Welch

Features Posted on February 1, 2018January 30, 2018

The Route is by Way of Winnisimmet: Chelsea and the Refugees

It was August 1775 and Belcher Noyes, worried about his son Nathaniel, was writing to him from Boston for a third time. “My dear son: Have received no letter from you since May 27, which I duly answered 3d June … I wrote you May 25, both of which I hope came safe to your […]

by Katie Turner Getty

Conflict & War Posted on January 31, 2018January 30, 2018

Oatmeal for the Foxhounds: Tarleton in Jericho

After the fall of New York in 1776 Long Island became occupied territory for combined British and Loyalist forces during the remaining years of the Revolutionary War. The island became an important supply resource for the British army in New York City and a defensive front line to the American forces in New England. The […]

by David M. Griffin

Conflict & War Posted on January 30, 2018January 28, 2018

George Washington’s 1781 Campaign Design Revealed

George Washington closed a July 31, 1788 letter to Noah Webster noting that Webster’s “desire of obtaining truth is very laudable, I wish I had more leizure to gratify it . . . the knowledge of innumerable things, of a more delicate and secret nature, is confined to the perishable remembrance of some few of […]

by Patrick H. Hannum

People Posted on January 29, 2018January 28, 2018

General Samuel Parsons and the Tory

During the Revolutionary War, there were numerous attempts to entice leaders of the American rebels to return to their British heritage. Members of Congress were the objects of British efforts to entice America’s leaders to join the British side.[1] Benedict Arnold and Col. Rudolphus Ritzema turned traitor, Robert Howe was accused of treason,[2] Philip Schuyler […]

by Jeff Dacus

Reviews Posted on January 26, 2018February 1, 2018

The Strategy of Victory: How George Washington Won the American Revolution

Book review: The Strategy of Victory: How George Washington Won the American Revolution by Thomas Fleming (Da Capo Press, 2017) [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] Thomas Fleming’s recent and likely last book, The Strategy of Victory: How George Washington Won the American Revolution, is a more of a narrative history of the revolution than a true […]

by Patrick H. Hannum

Features Posted on January 25, 2018January 22, 2018

Washington’s Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior: Outrageous Offenders

Long before he became the father of his country, a young George Washington copied out 110 maxims governing appropriate conduct for young gentlemen. Handwritten in the back of his notebook, the proverbs originally appeared in French in 1595; a standard English version was published in 1640.[1] By the time Washington was a young teenager, the […]

by Joshua Shepherd

People Posted on January 24, 2018January 22, 2018

The Sad Account of Francis and Mary Archibald on the Maine Frontier

In the years prior to the American Revolution, plenty of opportunities awaited young Massachusetts men on the down east frontier, especially for those who needed to get out of Boston. This may have been the case for twenty-year-old Francis Archibald III. In 1770, he decided to leave Boston and take up service as a soldier […]

by Charles H. Lagerbom

Features Posted on January 23, 2018January 19, 2018

Personal Honor and Promotion Among Revolutionary Generals and Congress

In the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, the United States Congress ordered the Department of Defense to conduct a study aimed at wholesale overhaul of its military officer promotion policies.[1] Issues to be considered include reordering promotion lists so that officers “of particular merit” will be placed at the front of the line and modifying […]

by Gene Procknow

Conflict & War Posted on January 22, 2018January 24, 2018

The Battle of Valley Forge

The name Valley Forge evokes strong emotions and memories that are indelibly embedded on the collective American psyche with legendary stories of immense misery, starvation and suffering amidst great heroic patriotism and dedication. The hilly site outside of British-held Philadelphia served as the winter cantonment—one of seven such large-scale military facilities during the American Revolution—for […]

by Andrew A. Zellers-Frederick

Reviews Posted on January 19, 2018January 19, 2018

George Washington: A Life in Books

Book review: George Washington: A Life in Books by Kevin J. Hayes (Oxford University Press, May 2017) [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] In the introduction to George Washington: A Life in Books, historian Kevin Hayes discusses an encounter during a vacation to Australia before he began graduate school. Hayes met an Australian couple, and they asked […]

by Titus Belgard

Features Posted on January 18, 2018January 12, 2018

Franklin’s Secret Efforts to bring about Reconciliation

Benjamin Franklin made two missions to London prior to the Revolution; the first from 1757 to 1762, the second from 1764 to 1775. In the final four months of his second mission he became involved in three efforts to secure a peaceful solution to the constitutional divergence that was growing between England and her American […]

by Bob Ruppert

The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on January 17, 2018January 12, 2018

The 1st Rhode Island Regiment and Revolutionary America’s Lost Opportunity

As the battered Continental Army encamped in Valley Forge for the winter of 1777-1778 after a year of setbacks and defeats, Gen. James Varnum, the commander of the Rhode Island troops, proposed to George Washington that his state’s two depleted regiments be combined into a single formation, and that the extra officers be sent home […]

by Cameron Boutin

The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on January 16, 2018January 9, 2018

Across the River: The Failure of the American Southern Strategy along the Savannah River

Hidden in the Nineteenth Century histories of Georgia is a likely answer to a question that has puzzled students of the American Revolution in the South for decades; why was General Andrew Williamson, acting in the same manner as so many around him, singled out as a traitor, loathed by so many as the “Arnold […]

by Conner Runyan

People Posted on January 15, 2018November 7, 2018

Stolen Honor: The Land Bounty of Midshipman Thomas Masterson

The pension and land bounty claim system in place for Revolutionary War veterans was wrought with problems; the tributes bestowed upon thousands of veterans simply stolen from them. Countless early records had been lost to fire and abuse of the system was inherent. As early as 1809 Congress heard testimony on the issue in the […]

by Michael M. Wood

Reviews Posted on January 12, 2018December 16, 2017

The Hessians: Journal of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association

In recent decades, scholarship on the American Revolution has grown to include those largely excluded from the main narrative. Women, Native Americans, those of African descent (enslaved and otherwise), and especially loyalists have all been the subject of the some of the best and most recent studies. For example, Kathleen duVal’s Independence Lost: Lives on […]

by Alec D. Rogers

The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on January 11, 2018December 16, 2017

Baptism of Fire, Brunswick, New Jersey, June 1777

In late May 1777 the new recruits in Col. Samuel Blachley Webb’s 9th Connecticut Regiment of the Continental Army mustered in a rough formation on the village green in Wethersfield, Connecticut. General Washington had ordered his recruiters to forward all available men immediately, “even in groups of 20,” to join his Army at Morristown, New […]

by Phillip R. Giffin

Politics Posted on January 10, 2018January 23, 2018

JOIN, OR DIE: Political and Religious Controversy Over Franklin’s Snake Cartoon

On May 9, 1751, Benjamin Franklin published a satirical article in the Pennsylvania Gazette commenting on British laws that allowed convicted felons to be shipped to the American colonies. As an equal trade, Franklin wryly suggested that the colonists should send rattlesnakes to Great Britain and carefully distribute them among “Places of Pleasure.”[1] Although these […]

by Daniel P. Stone

People Posted on January 9, 2018January 11, 2018

From Savior to Accused in Just One Day: Captain Joseph Moulder

General Mercer was down, bludgeoned and bayoneted. Colonel Haslet was down too, shot through the head. Captain Shippin of the Continental Marines had fallen, as had Captain Fleming of Virginia. Captain Neil of the New Jersey militia artillery was also down, his two-gun battery overrun and turned against them. The previously untested and now panicked […]

by Rand Mirante

Features Posted on January 8, 2018January 8, 2018

A Tribute to Founding Editor Todd Andrlik

Journal of the American Revolution founder Todd Andrlik has moved on to other pursuits. Some of JAR’s early contributors reflect on his influence: The number of people who Todd influenced through the founding and management of the Journal of the American Revolution would be hard to guess. I would conservatively estimate it to be in […]

by Editors

People Posted on January 8, 2018January 10, 2018

A Marriage Abandoned: Andrew Bruce and Henrietta Overing

A chapter in Henrietta Overing Auchmuty’s life has been overlooked by history. Perhaps she would’ve wanted it that way, for it is a story of romance turned into heartbreak and bitterness. Born on June 13, 1760, Henrietta Overing was the daughter of prominent Newport distiller and sugar refiner Henry John Overing.[1] As a member of […]

by Don N. Hagist

News Posted on December 21, 2017February 18, 2018

Journal of the American Revolution Now Managed and Published by Bruce H. Franklin and Westholme Publishing

After five years at the helm of the Journal of the American Revolution Todd Andrlik is pleased to announce that Bruce H. Franklin and Westholme Publishing will be carrying the journal forward. Since its founding in 2013, the Journal of the American Revolution has established itself as a premier destination for original research about the […]

by Editors

News Posted on December 11, 2017December 9, 2017

GONE FISHIN’: RETURNING JANUARY 8

After another busy and exciting year, Journal of the American Revolution is taking a vacation to tackle a few other projects. Look for us again on January 8, 2018. While we’re away, here are some great reads: People, politics, culture, economics, conflict and war, critical thinking Archive of interviews Archive of book reviews Our book series books All archives (More than 1000 articles)

by Editors

Politics Posted on December 7, 2017December 4, 2017

China and the American Revolution

Historians are aware that imperial China had ties to the American Revolution. Indeed, James Fichter wrote that “tea, though an Asian commodity, helped bring about American independence.” Tea, which was shipped from China into Britain and then re-exported to Britain’s American colonies, formed part of Britain’s controversial taxation agenda for the said colonies during the […]

by Simon Hill

The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on December 6, 2017December 4, 2017

Ballston Raid of 1780: Military Operation or a Time to Settle Old Scores

Around 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday, October 17, 1780, four year old Melinda Gordon, asleep in bed with her parents Lt. Col. James Gordon, the local militia commander, and his wife Mary, was abruptly awakened by loud noises. Melinda later recalled, We were awakened by the breaking of both the windows in the room and looking […]

by Michael Aikey

People Posted on December 4, 2017

Rascally Cousins: Whig or Tory in America’s Mother Town

Whig or Tory, which side to support in the coming Revolutionary War? Every adult in the thirteen British colonies of North America faced the task of declaring allegiance. The drama played out even among the Mayflower descendants in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the first successful British settlement in North America, which by 1775 had grown to 2,000 […]

by Chaim M. Rosenberg

News Posted on November 30, 2017November 26, 2017

The Revolutionary War Lives and Letters of Lucy and Henry Knox

Book review: The Revolutionary War Lives and Letters of Lucy and Henry Knox by Phillip Hamilton (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017) [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] When we think of famous couples of the American Revolution, we often first think of John and Abigail Adams. Their correspondence was one of wit and intellect, spanning the crucial years […]

by Nichole Louise

People Posted on November 28, 2017November 26, 2017

Ebenezer Smith Platt: An American In Newgate Prison In 1777

In the early summer of 1775, South Carolinia patriots outfitted the schooner Liberty (formally the Elizabeth) as what historian Charles C. Jones called as the first privateer of the American Revolution. They gave command of the ship to Oliver Bowen and Joseph Habersham of Georgia for the mission of intercepting a cargo of munitions coming […]

by Robert Scott Davis

Places Posted on November 27, 2017November 11, 2017

The Battle of Great Bridge: Preserving the Site, Honoring the Soldiers

An interview with Lin Olsen, Executive Director, Great Bridge Battlefield and Waterways History Foundation Question: Why is preserving the Great Bridge Battlefield important? We have been blessed with one of the most important pieces of our American heritage and the beginning of our great nation. It is our responsibility to share the legacy of this […]

by Patrick H. Hannum

News Posted on November 24, 2017November 18, 2017

Black Friday 2017! The Best American Revolution Books for Gifts

Nothing is better than the gift of knowledge, so consider some of these books for that special history lover on your shopping list. Here are three links that will provide plenty of great book options. Happy reading! The 100 Best American Revolution Books of All Time Journal of the American Revolution Annual Volumes Journal of […]

by Editors

Food & Lifestyle Posted on November 23, 2017November 18, 2017

A Week of Martha Washington’s Pies, Day 4 (of 4)

Everyone loves pie, everyone loves Martha Washington, and everyone loves… well, two out of three will have to do. But if you do love calves’ feet, this recipe from Martha Washington’s cookbook is for you. The directions are bit sparse, leaving a lot of latitude for adaptation and experimentation. Sack, a Spanish wine akin to […]

by Editors

Food & Lifestyle Posted on November 22, 2017November 22, 2017

A Week of Martha Washington’s Pies, Day 3 (of 4)

Wool production was critical to the early American economy, and if there were sheep in the fields there were bound to be sheep dishes on the table. The recipes in Martha Washington’s cookbook show that no part of these utilitarian animals was wasted. The directions for the pie featured today include the wise advice to […]

by Editors

Reviews Posted on November 21, 2017November 11, 2017

New JAR Book: John Adams vs Thomas Paine: Rival Plans for the Early Republic by Jett B. Conner

We are very happy to announce our newest JAR book is now available for sale. John Adams vs Thomas Paine: Rival Plans for the Early Republic by Jett B. Conner [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] How Paine’s Common Sense and Adams’s Thoughts on Government shaped our modern political institutions. Initially admiring Thomas Paine’s efforts for independence, John Adams nevertheless was […]

by Editors