*** All JAR Articles ***

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Critical Thinking Posted on

George III’s (Implicit) Sanction of the American Revolution

In Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774), Jefferson wrote of King George III’s unwillingness to use his “negative” to veto unjust proposals. Two years later, Jefferson echoed this sentiment in his first draft of Declaration of Independence. Here, Jefferson listed a “long train of abuses & usurpations,” at the hand of King George […]

by M. Andrew Holowchak
Newspapers Posted on

Informing a Nation: The Newspaper Presidency of Thomas Jefferson

BOOK REVIEW: Informing a Nation: The Newspaper Presidency of Thomas Jefferson by Mel Laracey (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2021) In Informing a Nation: The Newspaper Presidency of Thomas Jefferson, Mel Laracey examines Jefferson’s relationship with the National Intelligencer and Washington Advertiser and the way Jefferson used the newspaper to exert influence during his presidency. Although […]

by Kelly Mielke
Interviews Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Christian McBurney on How Rhode Island Prevented an Enslaved Family from Being Transported to the South

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews Rhode Island and Revolutionary War historian Christian McBurney on uncovering the extraordinary story of a man from North Carolina who traveled north in 1779 in order to obtain slaves and how his scheme was thwarted by the courts, setting a legal precedent in Rhode Island. New episodes of […]

by Editors
Features Posted on

The 2022 JAR Annual Volume

The eighth straight uniform volume of selected articles from the previous calendar year is now available. The articles in the Journal of the American Revolution Annual Volume 2022 range from the Constitutional debate over the electoral college and impeachment procedures and the numerical strength of Washington’s army during the Philadelphia campaign to inoculation of smallpox, […]

by Editors
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Constitutional Debate Posted on

Weaponizing Impeachment: Justice Samuel Chase and President Thomas Jefferson’s Battle Over the Process

There was much discussion over the impeachment process during the Constitution’s ratifying debates. Federalists argued that the ability to impeach an individual gave disproportionate power to the House of Representatives, while Antifederalists favored more provisions to prevent tyranny from taking root. Some individuals liked the idea of having a body other than the Senate try […]

by Al Dickenson
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Critical Thinking Posted on

Rhode Island Acts to Prevent an Enslaved Family from Being Transported to the South

The American Revolution spurred the world’s first significant movement to abolish slavery and the African slave trade.[1] Before then, there was virtually no antislavery activity in any of the thirteen colonies of North America, or for that matter, anywhere else in the world. There was some limited antislavery dialogue in England, but its abolitionist movement […]

by Christian McBurney
Interviews Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: M. Andrew Holowchak on Thomas Jefferson on Rebellion, Revolution, and “Treason”

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews historian M. Andrew Holowchak on interpreting the distinctions Thomas Jefferson made between rebellion, revolution, and treason. 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 now be easily accessed on […]

by Editors
Critical Thinking Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: James M. Deitch on the 23rd, 25th, and 27th Grievances of the Declaration of Independence

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews Marine Corps veteran and JAR contributor James M. Deitch on his analysis of the 23rd, 25th, and 27th Grievances of the Declaration of Independence. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Amazon Music, and the […]

by Editors
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Critical Thinking Posted on

“Acts Against the Oppressions of the Government”: Jefferson on Rebellion, Revolution, and “Treason”

Jefferson’s views on rebellion and revolution, when they are addressed, are often largely misapprehended in the secondary literature. One reason for the confusion is that rebellion and revolution are sometimes judged to be equivalent, or nearly so, and thus are often uncritically lumped together, or are viewed merely as symptoms of liberalism, taken too far. […]

by M. Andrew Holowchak
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Diplomacy Posted on

Charles Thomson and the Delaware

There are many, many founding fathers in the story of America’s Revolution and unfortunately only a few are really known to the general public. Yet without those who are less known, there would have been no revolution. One of those men was the official secretary of the Continental Congress, Charles Thomson. He was the sole […]

by James M. Smith
Autobiography and Biography Posted on

Cornwallis: Soldier and Statesman in a Revolutionary World

BOOK REVIEW: Cornwallis: Soldier and Statesman in a Revolutionary World by Richard Middleton (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2022). It says something about an historical figure’s renown when his or her biography uses only their last name as its title. Napoleon, Lincoln, and Churchill are in this historical “club,” and with them, should be included […]

by John R. Maass
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Patrick H. Hannum and Frederick R. Kienle on George Washington’s Leadership Advice

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews  long-time JAR contributor Patrick H. Hannum and his co-author Frederick R. Keinle on George Washington’s leadership advice to  Col. William Woodford—and whether Woodford took heed. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Amazon Music, and […]

by Editors
Documents Posted on

Orderly Book of the 5th Continental Infantry Regiment, New Hampshire Historical Society

In the summer and fall of 1776, the decrepit fortifications at Ticonderoga and the area surrounding it became one of the top five population centers in North America—ultimately numbering 12,000 or more. In early July, a brigade under the command of New Hampshire’s John Stark began building fortifications on the forested, 300-acre rocky peninsula across […]

by Michael Barbieri
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Critical Thinking Posted on

The 27th Grievance of the Declaration of Independence

“He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions.”[1] As with the 25th grievance in the Declaration of Independence, in the 27th grievance Thomas Jefferson carefully constructed […]

by James M. Deitch
Critical Thinking Posted on

The 25th Grievance of the Declaration of Independence

When Thomas Jefferson wrote the twenty-seven grievances against the King listed in the Declaration of Independence, he did so with the intention of encapsulating the sentiment and objections that colonists felt about their current situation. It was a collective account of their grievances and their interpretation of the unfairness of how they were being treated […]

by James M. Deitch
Critical Thinking Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Don N. Hagist on the British Soldiers who Marched to Concord

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews  JAR managing editor Don N. Hagist on the demographics of the British soldiers who marched to Concord on April 19, 1775. 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
Illness and Disease Posted on

French Military Hospitals in Rhode Island

Louis-Dominique Éthis de Corny (1736–1790),Commissioner of War, came to America aboard the French warship Hermione along with Maj. Gen. Marie Jean Paul Joseph du Motier Marquis de Lafayette in April 1780. Corny’s assignment was to procure everything necessary for the arrival of the expédition particulière, the army of about 5800 troops under Lieutenant General Jean Baptiste […]

by Norman Desmarais
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Travis Copeland on the Attack on North Carolina’s Fort Johnston

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Travis Copeland about a watershed moment in North Carolina’s independence movement, the attack on Fort Johnston. 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 now be […]

by Editors
Critical Thinking Posted on

George Washington’s 1775 Leadership Advice to William Woodford: Did He Listen?

Gen. George Washington’s well-crafted November 10, 1775 letter to Col. William Woodford contains some timeless pearls of military wisdom, guidance, and advice.[1] Washington’s instructive response to an earlier letter from Woodford reveals a set of basic leadership principles that remain in official United States Army doctrine to this day. This enduring leadership lesson leads one […]

by Patrick H. Hannum and Frederick R. Kienle
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Battles Posted on

Mismatch off Charleston: The Privateer Congress vs. HMS Savage

“One of the most creditable actions of this war in which an American privateer was engaged took place on September 6, 1781.”—Edgar Stanton Maclay, A History of American Privateers Comdr. Charles Stirling intently inspected the distant ship headed toward his command, HMS Savage, a sixteen-gun sloop of war cruising thirty-five miles off Charleston, South Carolina. […]

by William W. Reynolds
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Timothy C. Hemmis on Frontier Militia During the American Revolution

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews Timothy C. Hemmis, Assistant Professor of History, Texas A&M University–Central Texas, on his recent article about violence between militia and Native Americans on the western frontier during the American Revolution and its influence on the course of the war. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every […]

by Editors
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Crime and Justice Posted on

Governor William Franklin: Sagorighweyoghsta, “Great Arbiter” or “Doer of Justice”

William Franklin, son of Benjamin Franklin, was the last Royal Governor of New Jersey, from 1763 to 1776. He is usually identified in U. S. History texts negatively as an ardent Loyalist and opponent of the American War of Independence. Historian Larry Gerlach offers a different view: “He was one of the most popular and […]

by Joseph E. Wroblewski