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Autobiography and Biography Posted on

The Highs and Lows of Ethan Allen’s Reputation as Reported by Revolutionary-Era Newspapers

Ethan Allen’s prevailing reputation among the general population remains that of a daring hero, but has suffered in the eyes of recent historians. Casual readers, aided by the embellishments of nineteenth-century biographers, remember Vermont’s Allen as the leader of the rebellious but honorable Green Mountain Boys and the conqueror of British-held Fort Ticonderoga. As a […]

by Gene Procknow
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Autobiography and Biography Posted on

Samuel Elbert and the Age of Revolution in Georgia, 1740-1788

BOOK REVIEW: Samuel Elbert and the Age of Revolution in Georgia: 1740-1788 by Clay Outzts (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2022) Professor Clay Ouzts has given Revolutionary War scholars a lengthy but valuable chronicle of the war in the southern department in his book Samuel Elbert and the Age of Revolution in Georgia: 1740-1788. A figure […]

by Timothy Symington
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Economics Posted on

Captain Luke Day: A Forgotten Leader of “Shays’s Rebellion”

While Daniel Shays (1747-1825) has basked posthumously in the glory of leading the 1786-87 populist rebellion that bears his name, Luke Day (1743-1801) was a co-commander of the forces on the ground that fateful winter. Both Shays and Day were battle-hardened Continental army captains who returned home to rural Massachusetts to find their fellow farmers […]

by Scott M. Smith
Diplomacy Posted on

Prisoners of the Bashaw

BOOK REVIEW: Prisoners of the Bashaw: The Nineteen-Month of American Sailors in Tripoli, 1803–1805 by Frederick C. Leiner (Yardley, PA: Westholme, 2022) As the dust jacket says, this is the story of “The Nineteen-Month Captivity of American Sailors in Tripoli, 1803-1805.” Frederick C. Leiner, a lawyer by profession, as well as an historian and author of […]

by William H. J. Manthorpe, Jr.
Battles Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: James M. Deitch on Johann Rall at the Battle of Trenton

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor James M. Deitch on whether Hessian commander Johann Rall’s failure at Trenton was due to tactical or personal negligence. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Amazon Music, and the JAR Dispatches web site. Dispatches can […]

by Editors
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Crime and Justice Posted on

Two Encounters: Captain Abraham Van Dyck, the “Negro Man,” and Prince Pitkin

Captain Abraham Van Dyck of New York faced military justice twice during the Revolutionary War: first by the British for burning his hometown, and then by his fellow Continental Army officers for killing a Black soldier in camp. In each case, imperfect evidence presents historians with a puzzle. Notably, African American men were central to […]

by Benjamin L. Carp
Autobiography and Biography Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Norman S. Poser on The Many Lives of General John Burgoyne

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews author Norman S. Poser on his new book, From the Battlefield to the Stage: The Many Lives of General John Burgoyne. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Amazon Music, and the JAR Dispatches web site. Dispatches can […]

by Editors
Features Posted on

Revolutionary Roads

BOOK REVIEW: Revolutionary Roads: Searching for the War That Made America Independent . . . and All the Places It Could Have Gone Terribly Wrong by Bob Thompson (Hachette Book Group/Twelve Books, 2023) Bob Thompson made a significant commitment of time and resources to visit the battlefields of the revolution he selected to include in […]

by Patrick H. Hannum
Features Posted on

The 2022 Book-of-the-Year

Since 2014, the Journal of the American Revolution has recognized the adult nonfiction volume that best mirrors the mission of the journal with its national Book-of-the-Year Award. This year the editors are pleased to announce a winner and two runners-up. All three books are outstanding contributions to the history of the Revolutionary and Founding Eras. […]

by Editors
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: John Settle on the 9th Virginia Regiment

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews history teacher and JAR contributor John Settle on the story of the 9th Virginia Regiment, the Eastern Shore Battalion, during the American Revolution. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Amazon Music, and the JAR Dispatches web site. […]

by Editors
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Newspapers Posted on

Misinformation Nation: Foreign News and the Politics of Truth in Revolutionary America

BOOK REVIEW: Misinformation Nation: Foreign News and the Politics of Truth in Revolutionary America by Jordan E. Taylor (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2022) Almost every book that discusses the rise of revolutionary fervor in colonial America includes the role of newspapers. The impact of the press on the way that events unfolded in North America […]

by Don N. Hagist
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: H. Allen Skinner on Nathanael Greene’s Grand Southern Strategy

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews author, US Army civilian historian, and JAR contributor H. Allen Skinner on how Nathanael Greene developed a grand strategy for his campaign against the British and Loyalists in the South. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, Google […]

by Editors
Political Philosophy Posted on

Religious Liberty and the American Founding

BOOK REVIEW: Religious Liberty and the American Founding: Natural Rights and the Original Meaning of the First Amendment Religion Clauses by Vincent Phillip Muñoz (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2022) We are told in the Declaration of Independence that certain rights are “unalienable.” Have you ever wondered what that means? Are other rights “alienable?” Notre Dame’s […]

by Gabriel Neville
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Autobiography and Biography Posted on

Thomas Jefferson: A Biography of Spirit and Flesh

BOOK REVIEW: Thomas Jefferson: A Biography of Spirit and Flesh by Thomas S. Kidd (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2022) There seems to be a reliable annual tradition of biographies about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson being published. What else can we learn about these American icons? Baylor University professor Thomas S. Kidd is […]

by Timothy Symington
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Features Posted on

Contributor Question: Your History-Related New Year’s Resolutions for 2023

We asked our contributors: What is your history-related New Year’s resolution for 2023? Here are some of their responses. Robert Scott Davis To submit for publication my manuscript biography of African American patriot Austin Dabney. Kim Burdick As Delaware Chair of the American Friends of Lafayette’s 200th Anniversary of Lafayette’s Triumphal Return, my resolution is to have all […]

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

By Stratagem and Hard Fighting: The Improbable Capture of Eleven British Ships

On the third day of November 1775, Brig. Gen. Richard Montgomery and his Continental army triumphantly concluded a taxing two-month siege with the surrender of British Fort St. Johns and its 600-man garrison. Their invasion of Canada had finally gained momentum. A week later, the Continentals assembled on the south shore of the St. Lawrence, ready […]

by Mark R. Anderson
Critical Thinking Posted on

Patriots and Politics, Redcoats and Reconstruction: General Nathanael Greene’s Grand Southern Strategy

Major General Nathanael Greene’s military career presents a paradox to historians: how could a Quaker, unlearned in the art of war, become one of America’s foremost Revolutionary War generals? While historians have extensively studied Greene’s exercise of tactics and operations, Greene’s formulation and execution of grand strategy—the linking of economic, governance and security objectives with […]

by H. Allen Skinner
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Diplomacy Posted on

How the (First) West Was Won: Federalist Treaties that Reshaped the Frontier

From November 1794 to October 1795, President George Washington’s administration brokered three separate treaties with Britain, Spain, and the Confederated Tribes of the Ohio Country. Besides establishing America’s place on the global stage, these treaties served to fundamentally alter the fortunes of the nation’s western frontier. Since the era of the Seven Years War, the […]

by Brady J. Crytzer
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People Posted on

American Generals of the Revolutionary War: Who Lived Longest and Who Died Youngest

Which American generals lived the longest? Which generals died the youngest? Some generals had quite a long life while others died young and in their prime. Here’s what I discovered regarding the longevity (and lack of longevity) of some of the Revolutionary War generals on the American side. Which American Revolutionary War general lived the […]

by Daniel J. Tortora
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Clothing and Uniforms Posted on

Reframing George Washington’s Clothing at the Second Continental Congress

Dressed in defiance, Col. George Washington arrived at each session of the Second Continental Congress donning a new buff and blue uniform he helped design with fellow Virginian George Mason.[1] Washington, a staunch but cautious Whig, fully embraced the American cause and, incredibly, his military exploits from the French and Indian War roughly two decades […]

by Shawn David McGhee
Historic Sites Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Michael Cecere on the French Army in Williamsburg

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews author, historian, and JAR contributor Michael Cecere on the French occupation of Williamsburg, Virginia, after the British abandoned the city in 1781. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Amazon Music, and the JAR Dispatches web site. Dispatches […]

by Editors
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Frontier Posted on

A Misguided Attempt to Populate Upper Canada with Loyalists after the Revolution

Following the American Revolution, and to achieve a more appropriate governing climate, the British Parliament issued the Constitutional Act of 1791 which created, out of a single province, “two separate Canadas, each having a representative government with an elected assembly of its own.” The French-speaking sector became known as Lower Canada while the English-speaking sector […]

by Marvin L. Simner
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Autobiography and Biography Posted on

The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams

BOOK REVIEW: The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams by Stacy Schiff (Little, Brown and Company, 2022) Stacy Schiff, who previously authored an acclaimed book on the Salem witch trials, The Witches: Salem, 1692 (2015), has written an excellent biography of who Thomas Jefferson referred to as the “man of the Revolution,” Samuel Adams. The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams focuses on the activities […]

by Timothy Symington
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Conflict & War Posted on

The First Four Days at Valley Forge

The following timeline narrative attempts to unite previously disjointed events and occurrences regarding the first four days of the Continental army’s six-month stay at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania. For clarification purposes, all references to “Valley Forge” are for the winter cantonment and not the iron forge on Valley Creek for which the encampment was named. Temperatures […]

by Gary Ecelbarger
Memorials Posted on

The Benedict Family of Salem, New York

David Williams was one of the three New York State Militiamen who captured Major John André on September 23, 1780.[1] In June 1780, Williams left his father’s farm in Tarrytown, crossed the Croton River, and moved out of the neutral zone between British and American forces into the northern part of Westchester County. By this time […]

by Victor J. DiSanto
Books and Publications Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Jett Conner on the Evolution of Thomas Paine’s Thoughts on Democracy

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews  political scientist and JAR contributor Jett Conner on how Thomas Paine, once opposed to some of John Adams’s criticisms of his ideas about democracy, ultimately came to agree with Adams on some key points. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States […]

by Editors
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Books and Publications Posted on

Charles Lee—The Continental Army’s Most Prolific Essayist General

Maj. Gen. Charles Lee’s substantial literary contributions to the American independence movement have been overshadowed by his challenging Gen. George Washington for Continental Army leadership and the 1860 discovery of a potentially treasonous document.[1] Initially, Revolutionary Era Americans viewed Charles Lee as a highly accomplished military officer and a learned scholar and admired his ardently-argued […]

by Gene Procknow
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Books and Publications Posted on

Thomas Paine on Popular Government in America: Evolution of a Radical’s Thinking

It would be hard to find a more strident, vocal supporter of popular government during America’s founding period than Thomas Paine. The proposals put forth in his January 1776 pamphlet Common Sense for an “unmixed” and unchecked democratic scheme for America, designed to replace the British arrangement of balanced and mixed powers of King, Lords […]

by Jett Conner
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Arts & Literature Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: John E. Happ on Benjamin Franklin and the American Legacy in Paris

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor John E. Happ on the commemorations to Benjamin Franklin and the American Revolution that can be seen in Paris. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Amazon Music, and the JAR Dispatches web site. Dispatches can […]

by Editors