Journal of the American Revolution (allthingsliberty.com) is the leading online source for original research on the Revolutionary and Founding Eras.
Of all the disputed topics, events, reputations or battles of the Revolution, which is the greatest? Explain. Militarily, Howe’s failure to pursue Washington’s beleaguered force trapped on the tip of Long Island remains something of a puzzle, despite attempts to reconstruct an answer. On a different note, this question intrigues me. I think we […]
Revolutionary person known for one thing who should be known for something else? And the winner is Benedict Arnold, almost universally known as one of the greatest traitors of them all while Horatio Gates keeps getting credit as the “hero of Saratoga.” In reality, Arnold was the true hero of Saratoga, if field leadership […]
Which one event of the Revolution is incorrectly interpreted most often? Explain. The battle of Saratoga. There is a group who are determined to prove Horatio Gates deserves most of the credit. I don’t agree. I have a low opinion of “Granny” Gates. His flight to the rear at Camden (after demonstrating his total […]
Which American Revolution book do you refer to most often (not to be confused with “favorite book”)? Why? The single volume that I access most often is Mark M. Boatner’s Encyclopedia of the American Revolution. In it, I can generally find something about almost any topic pertaining to the American Revolution that either answers […]
As we begin to slow down for the holiday season, we wish all our writers and readers cheerful memories and happy celebrations. This November, we welcomed Carol Sue Humphrey to our roster of contributors and saw John L. Smith, Jr.’s article about Washington’s wooden teeth featured by Smithsonian.com. We also welcomed our latest advertiser, America’s […]
It’s that time of year again – time to find the perfect holiday gift for the history lover in your life, even if that person is you! Sharpen up your quill, mix up some ink powder, smooth out a new sheet of laid paper and start making out that list. The Editors here at Journal […]
First and foremost, thank you for making October 2014 our best traffic month ever. More than 94,000 visits by 54,000 unique visitors! Another major milestone was reached in October: Our one-millionth pageview since launch in January 2013. ONE MILLION PAGEVIEWS! Second, a hearty welcome to our newest authors: Steven M. Richman, Kim Burdick, and Will […]
Journal of the American Revolution is having a productive sophomore year on all fronts. Since launching in January 2013, we have published nearly 450 articles by 70+ writers and our readership continues to increase. For the last half-year we have averaged 65,000 readers per month. If you’re a talented nonfiction writer with a passion for […]
Journal of the American Revolution (JAR) takes great pride in its mission to be the leading source of information about the American Revolution and Founding era — a mission worth emphasizing during the back to school month of August. In a world of increasing historical illiteracy and apathy, JAR publishes passionate, creative and smart content […]
July was another monumental month for Journal of the American Revolution. We exceeded 80,000 pageviews (our second best month since launch), hosted our fourth group interview and welcomed three new contributors: Joseph Manca, Jack Kelly and Mary Nesnay. Plus, we published our 1 millionth word! Word counts are a major part of our process as […]
Propaganda was important during the Revolution. What is your favorite propaganda item? Why? My favorite is Tom Paine’s “These are the times that try men’s souls.” It’s infinitely better than his Common Sense, the last third of which, with its blabber about the British being easy to defeat, should be subtitled Common Nonsense. –Thomas […]
Favorite RevWar site (battlefield, home, museum, etc.) to visit today? Why? My favorite site is Yorktown. There’s enough still there to give you a sense of stepping back in time. You can see the French ships in the bay. Second is Bunker Hill. That takes more imagination but it’s still worth a visit. –Thomas […]
Most important diplomatic action of the war? Why? The most important diplomatic action of the war was signing the treaty of alliance with France. Without it America would have collapsed in 1778 or 79. The treaty created a whole new war. –Thomas Fleming The most important was Benjamin Franklin’s successful scheme that brought […]
Aside from John and Abigail, what was the best husband-wife duo of the Revolution? Why? The best husband wife team–better than John and Abigail in my opinion–was George and Martha. We don’t have much in the way of detail about their relationship because Martha burned all their correspondence after Washington died. But we have […]
Greatest consequence of the American Revolution? The greatest consequence of the Revolution is the way the Declaration of Independence spread around the globe. Eventually it spawned over 200 similar declarations. –Thomas Fleming The creation of an independent American empire (George Washington’s descriptive) was the most important although I believe it was inevitable due […]
Following such a cold and snowy winter, Journal of the American Revolution used the beginning of summer as a good excuse to temporarily slow things down. While articles were published less frequently for a few weeks, we still welcomed four new writers: Nancy K. Loane, John Beakes, Mary V. Thompson and Richard F. Welch. Starting […]
With a steady flow of new readers stopping by our online history magazine we thought we’d dip into our archives and surface a few favorites. All of these articles published during our first six months of existence, between January through June 2013. Enjoy! The Myth of Rifleman Timothy Murphy by Hugh T. Harrington Unleashing the […]
Did you miss our big May news? Journal of the American Revolution and Westholme Publishing have joined forces to publish annual hardcover volumes with the inaugural book slated for May 2015 in a multi-year agreement. This past month we also welcomed Greg Brooking and Larry Kidder to our roster of writers. Below are our top […]
Journal of the American Revolution will be taking a four-day Memorial Day holiday and will return to our regularly scheduled programming on Tuesday, May 27. Join us then for the exciting conclusion of Stephen Paul Mark’s “For Sale: West Point.” In the meantime, to help satisfy your craving for American Revolution content, here are several […]
Annual Volumes of the Latest American Revolution Research and Perspective Expected Every May Beginning in 2015 YARDLEY, Pennsylvania (May 14, 2014) – The popular online history magazine Journal of the American Revolution and acclaimed nonfiction publisher Westholme Publishing, LLC have joined forces to publish annual hardcover volumes with the inaugural book slated for May 2015 […]
Thank you to all our readers and authors for making April 2014 our second best traffic month ever with 72,000 pageviews. Huzzay! This month we welcomed new contributors Todd Braisted, Norman Fuss, Jim Blackburn and Joshua Shepherd. Since our launch in January 2013, fifty-nine writers have joined the JAR team and we are grateful for […]
The Journal of the American Revolution today announces the launch of its Book of the Year Award, an annual book prize to the non-fiction volume that best mirrors the mission of Journal of the American Revolution, which is to deliver passionate, creative and smart content that makes American Revolution history more palatable for a broad […]
March was a very exciting month for Journal of the American Revolution (JAR). We welcomed Andrew O’Shaughnessy and Jerome Palliser as new contributors, and we hosted another group interview series with historians sounding off on the following questions: What is the most underrated battle? What is the most overrated battle? How would you describe the […]
Most underrated battle of the Revolutionary War? Why? The most underrated battle of the war was Springfield, New Jersey, in 1780. If the Americans had lost, the war would have been virtually over. –Thomas Fleming In the Battle of Pollilur on 10 Sept 1780, the forces of Mysore wiped out a British army of more […]
Most overrated battle of the Revolutionary War? Why? Saratoga. It wasn’t a turning point and the general who theoretically won it, Horatio Gates, was a coward and a fake. –Thomas Fleming Not a battle, but one of the most famous events of the war: Paul Revere’s ride was a brave, stirring act, but […]
Twitter is the enormously popular social networking tool that enables one user to send “tweets” to many followers, or subscribers. The text message-like tweets are limited to 140 characters. Hence, the question: How would you describe the American Revolution in 140 characters or less? The American Revolution was a complex eight year semi-civil war that was […]
What is your favorite quote by a Revolutionary? “I see one head turning into thirteen.” Washington said this several times in the closing years of the war. After independence, it was THE crucial issue. –Thomas Fleming “But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, […]
What’s the one unanswered question about the American Revolution you’d most like answered? Put another way, what’s one remaining mystery of the Revolution that you’d most like solved? Did General Washington order New York City burned in 1776? There is evidence that he discussed it. But no definite proof that he gave the order. […]
This past weekend, scores of professional and amateur historians converged in Williamsburg, Virginia, for the 3rd Annual Conference on the American Revolution, a three-day event hosted by America’s History, LLC. Journal of the American Revolution (JAR) Editors Todd Andrlik and Don Hagist were among the conference speakers, which included: Edward G. Lengel: “Philadelphia is the […]
A belated happy Valentine’s Day to all our loyal readers! We hope you enjoyed our action-packed month of articles, which included gripping features about battles, retreats, espionage, mobs, drugs, ambushes, massacres and, oh yeah, our first celebrity interview (Hal Stalmaster, the actor who played Johnny Tremain in the Disney film). Below our the 10 most […]
Welcome to 2014 and a fresh face for Journal of the American Revolution. The new year came in like a lion with several fantastic articles, many new contributors, a shiny new design of allthingsliberty.com, and, oh yeah, those polar vortexes! Or is it vortices? We anticipate an even more exciting year ahead and hope you’ll […]
If you could time travel and visit any American city/colony/state for one year between 1763 and 1783, which city/colony/state and year would you choose? Why? Blessed by 30 years of genealogical research performed by my mother, I actually lay claim to personal connections in all sorts of places in the colonies. However, the one […]
What aspects of or questions regarding the American Revolution need to be further explored by historians? All of them. I think a return to primary sources and close comparison to modern secondary sources yields some extremely interesting results in the evolution of modern history. Should much of what is now considered history be consigned […]
What books do you consider essential to any American Revolution buff’s library? Why? About 12 years ago I ran across John Buchanan’s The Road to Guilford Courthouse and fell in love with the Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution. Been stuck there ever since. To this day, many of the opinions or views I […]
Do you think there was a greater strategy behind most of the pre-war violence, or was it primarily raw emotion and vengeance? There was a greater strategy but, unfortunately, that strategy routinely used raw emotion and vengeance against its opponents. As early as the Stamp Act Crisis, the Sons of Liberty learned to target […]
In your opinion, what was George Washington’s biggest blunder of the war? Its impact, if any? Washington’s whole approach to the defense of New York was one of history’s great debacles: lack of imagination about the British landing, failure to supervise subordinates in preparing the Brooklyn defenses, boxing himself into Brooklyn Heights with no […]
We had a lot to be thankful for in November. Aside from several great articles and new contributors, we celebrated the launch of our collector’s hardcover edition. If you’ve enjoyed the the full year of free content we’ve been providing, please pick up a couple copies as gifts for those special RevWar buffs in your […]
With the 2013 holiday season upon us, it’s important that we take special care of those Revolutionary War history geeks in our lives. All too often they get nothing more than gift cards or Civil War books. This year, give the 18th century lover on your list a gift that says “I know the American […]
On June 14, 1775, the Second Continental Congress officially announced the creation of the Continental Army, a military force representing all of the colonies resisting British authority in North America. The following day the Congress named the army’s commander. George Washington, a planter and Congressional delegate from Virginia, would become the commander-in-chief, taking command of […]
