Journal of the American Revolution (allthingsliberty.com) is the leading online source for original research on the Revolutionary and Founding Eras.
Just in time for the new school year, Journal of the American Revolution has launched it’s official Teacher’s Guide, which will help engage students who are learning about the era. It features a collection of insightful, groundbreaking, myth-busting and thought-provoking articles that are sure to inspire. Bookmark this link and share it with your classroom! […]
In July, we hosted our eighth group interview series with several experts weighing in on a variety of questions. We also welcomed our 128th contributor, James E. Richmond, and unveiled several new t-shirt designs in our JAR shop. Our American Apparel tees are the smoothest and softest t-shirts you’ll ever wear. Made of fine jersey, they are a durable, vintage feel and known […]
Luckiest? Who should have bought a lottery ticket? Who benefited most from being in the right place at the right time? Explain. I believe the luckiest man in the Revolution by far was George Washington – not because he could have been killed a number of times in the war and wasn’t, but rather […]
Most famous weapon? What was the most popular, deadliest, strangest or most intimidating weapon of the Revolution? Why? There are many candidates, but my own favorite is Francis Marion’s use of a siege tower to force the surrender of Fort Watson in South Carolina in April 1781. Unable to assault the fort by conventional […]
Best counterpunch? What was the best or most effective return-action of the Revolution? A case where the Americans or British moved first, but the enemy reacted better. Explain. Major General Nathanael Greene’s decision after he lost the battle of Guilford Courthouse. Lord Cornwallis invaded Virginia, convinced that if he smashed the Revolution in that […]
Most shocking or unexpected moment of the Revolution? The most shocking moment unfolded slowly, not quickly. It was the shock the British got in late August and September 1781 when they realized that Washington had cleverly redistributed his forces to confront the British army in Virginia rather than attacking New York City. Washington’s deception […]
Biggest jerk of the Revolution? Who seemed to be the most despicable person of the era? Why? This award goes to Benedict Arnold, but not because he changed sides (lots of people did that); instead, the reasons are twofold: Regardless of his tactical skills and overall abilities on the battlefield, many of his peers […]
Did you hear the news? We opened a gift shop! Check out our rotating selection of fun history t-shirts and JAR swag. While we’re on holiday (returning July 11), we thought we’d provide a list of the top 10 articles of 2016 (so far). Enjoy! Untangling British Army Ranks by Don N. Hagist Mount Independence: […]
School’s out! Journal of the American Revolution is taking its summer holiday and will return to regular programming the week of July 11. Writers: Please continue to send your article submissions to ed****@al**************.com during the break. Readers: Please enjoy our book series, our annual volumes, or our online archives, now nearly 800 articles strong! All: Check out our new shop for […]
On this day, the 244th anniversary of the actual attack, we are thrilled to announce that the next book in the Journal of the American Revolution book series will be The Burning of His Majesty’s Schooner Gaspee: An Attack on Crown Rule Before the American Revolution by Steven Park. A minor British naval officer was bent on […]
About Gene Procknow Gene Procknow is a frequent contributor to the Journal of the American Revolution and his article on loyalist American officers was selected for publication in the 2015 Annual Volume. His research concentrations include interpreting the Revolution from a non-American perspective, better understanding the Revolution’s global aspects and in Ethan Allen and the […]
We are putting a bow on a busy May, which welcomed two new writers—Isabel Friedman, Ron Morgan—and featured a healthy menu of fresh research. In case you didn’t hear, three new books are now available at your favorite book stores: Journal of the American Revolution: Annual Volume 2016 “Even better this year!” —Gene Procknow, contributing writer, Journal of the American […]
We love the smell of freshly printed books. Following a brief distribution delay, retailers are processing orders of the much-anticipated Journal of the American Revolution: Annual Volume 2016 as well as Todd Braisted’s Grand Forage 1778. Look for the reprint of our 2015 volume and J. L. Bell’s The Road to Concord in the weeks […]
Todd W. Braisted is a leading expert on Loyalist studies, a die-hard Mets fan and craft beer connoisseur. In addition to his many articles for Journal of the American Revolution, Todd is the author of the first volume in our book series, Grand Forage 1778: The Battleground Around New York City. Since 1979, Todd has amassed and […]
Despite April being shortened by spring break, we still had time to publish several great articles and welcomed our newest writer, Richard Sambasivam. We also received an important update from Westholme Publishing on the status of all current JAR book projects: The reprint of our 2015 volume ships to distributors/retailers on May 13 and orders will be […]
Deserter advertisements and runaway notices, fascinating though they are, provide only single elements of what were certainly more complex stories. In rare cases, further research reveals much more about a person. Take this ad, for example: Twenty Dollars Reward. Deserted from Captain Jacob Mauser’s company, of the sixth Pennsylvania regiment, on Monday the 11th instant, […]
The soldiers from several German principalities who were contracted to supplement the British army in America are often called mercenaries, a misnomer propagated during the war itself to vilify these soldiers and enhance the impression of British oppression. Although the British government did pay for these soldiers, they paid the German princes who then sent […]
Desertion was as much a problem for the British army as it was for the American. Once the war began, however, British officers seldom placed ads for deserters in newspapers. This may be because the British army was largely confined to areas around major cities where information about deserters could be circulated in army orders, […]
The deserter advertisement presented today illustrates several important facets of the Continental Army. Looking at this list of thirteen deserters, we see: Men born on both sides of the Atlantic A variety of ages A soldier accompanied by his wife Some men with short hair Desertion was sometimes a very, very big problem Deserted from […]
Newspapers are among our favorite things at Journal of the American Revolution, providing endless information and insight about America’s Revolutionary era. In addition to news, notices, and opinion pieces, newspapers carried advertising that reveals important aspects of the people who placed ads and read them. Some of the ads were actually about people. When soldiers […]
Just as many schools are going on spring break now, so is Journal of the American Revolution. We will be taking a short hiatus to recover from all the exciting activity in our world and will return to our regular programming the week of April 11. Writers: Please continue to send your article submissions to ed****@al**************.com during […]
This month we gave a hearty hello to four new writers: Stephen Brumwell, Michelle Porter, Alec D. Rogers and David Turnquist. We also welcomed a new advertiser, which has planned one of the most impressive history conference itineraries we’ve ever seen. If the Fort Plain Museum’s Second Annual Conference on the American Revolution (June 9-12) isn’t already on […]
February felt like National New JAR Contributor Month with four new writers: Ennis Duling, Anthony J. Minna, Thomas Thorleifur Sobol and Tyler Rudd Putman. Welcome aboard! That makes seven new JAR authors in the first two months of 2016 and 120 total JAR contributors since we launched! Together we have now published more than 725 articles with many more fascinating pieces on […]
We are pleased to introduce our newest collectible hardback, which is now available for pre-order via Amazon and will deliver in April. The Journal of the American Revolution, Annual Volume 2016, presents the journal’s best historical research and writing over the past calendar year. Articles are carefully selected by the editorial board and authors are given […]
January 2016 was triple-A rated for featuring plenty of new announcements, authors and articles. We crowned Independence Lost by Kathleen DuVal as our 2015 book award winner and shared our top 30 articles of the previous 12 months. The first two books of our new series—The Road to Concord by J. L. Bell and Grand […]
With our finger on the pulse of great research and writing about the American Revolution, it seemed natural to launch a namesake book series. Early in 2015, we were fortunate to find a partner who shared our vision for publishing microhistories with meticulous, groundbreaking research and well-written narratives about unknown or lesser-known topics. The Journal […]
The year 2015 was our best ever. Online, we published 200 articles by scores of expert writers and welcomed 1.1 million unique readers. Our existing content has become an authoritative source with high search rankings, ensuring that our articles reach researchers and fact-finders around the world. In print, we published our 2015 Annual Volume and […]
Journal of the American Revolution, the popular online magazine and annual book, today announced its winner and runners-up for the 2015 Book of the Year Award. The annual award goes to the non-fiction volume that best mirrors the journal’s mission: to deliver passionate, creative and smart content that makes American Revolution history accessible to a […]
After an extremely busy and exciting year, Journal of the American Revolution is taking a short vacation to tackle a few time sensitive projects. Look for us again on January 4, 2016. We’ll have news to share about Annual Volume 2016 and our forthcoming book series. Plus, we’ll be announcing the winner of the 2015 Book of […]
What’s the funniest thing you’ve come across in researching this period? In Paris, while negotiating the treaty with France, Ben Franklin stopped for a bite to eat in a popular cafe. On the other side of the room he saw Edward Gibbon, member of Parliament and author of the already famous Decline and Fall […]
What two people from the Revolutionary period who never met (so far as we know) do you wish you could introduce? Why? I would like to have seen Dr. Joseph Warren, who died tragically at Bunker Hill, meet Dr. Benjamin Rush. Warren would have soon concluded Rush was an airhead and not even a […]
Since you began studying the American Revolution, how has your perspective on it changed? My perspective has become more complex. As I followed Ben Franklin to France, I saw the war become an international struggle. As I watched Washington think his way to the strategy that won the war in America, he emerged as […]
How do you define “Founding Fathers”? You can define it either broadly or narrowly. By consensus, most historians limit the narrow definition to six. Washington, Franklin, Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton and Madison. A broader definition would include many worthwhile individuals, such as Sam Adams, John Hancock, Joseph Warren, Nathanael Greene etc. –Thomas Fleming I don’t. […]
Which side do you think benefited the most from the Native American involvement in the war? Why? The British benefited the most, from one point of view. Most of the Indians fought on their side. These Indians perpetrated no massacres or torture of prisoners on British soldiers or civilians. But from another more long range […]
November was packed with fascinating articles, intriguing interviews and a much-requested review of the Broadway musical Hamilton. Our readers took a Revolutionary tour of Arlington Cemetery and our editors shared a few gift ideas for fellow history geeks. Later in the month, Journal of the American Revolution officially surpassed 3 million pageviews and 2.5 million unique readers. Not bad for three years of […]
We realize that finding the perfect Revolution-themed holiday gift is not easy. For the past three years Journal of the American Revolution has been guiding readers through the difficult process of finding gifts inspired by our nation’s birth or relating to the era. Here are our favorite picks this year. Revolution!: The Brick Chronicle of the American […]
Learning that one of the most acclaimed military writers of our time has turned his narrative expertise towards the American Revolution is exciting news indeed. Three-time Pulitzer prize winner Rick Atkinson is working on a trilogy about the conflict that founded the United States, and even though the first book won’t be in print for […]
The must-attend American Revolution conference of 2016 is being hosted by America’s History, LLC, one of the nation’s leading history tour and conference companies. The conference will take place the weekend of March 18-20, 2016, at the Colonial Williamsburg Woodlands Hotel in Williamsburg, Virginia. Friday, March 18 (7 pm) – Sunday, March 20 (Noon) Colonial Williamsburg Woodlands […]
If he had lived in the eighteenth century, Henry Cooke would have been called a Master Tailor. Today we call him a historical costumer, but his tailoring is no less masterful. In an era when all clothing was hand made, proper fit was important. Achieving the right fit and the right look means understanding the […]
