Author: Bob Ruppert

Bob Ruppert is a retired high school administrator from the greater Chicago-land area. He received his undergraduate degree from Loyola University and his graduate degree from the University of Illinois. He has been researching the American Revolution, the War for Independence and the Federal Period for more than ten years. His interest began in 1963 when he was eight years old. His parents took the whole family, by car, to Newport Beach, Virginia and a small town that was slowly being restored to its 18th century prominence– the town was Williamsburg.

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

1778 Naval Strategy: French Actors and British Reactors

On February 6, 1778, the American colonies signed a Treaty of Amity and Commerce and a Treaty of Alliance with the country of France. The former treaty recognized the absolute sovereignty and independence of the colonies and established commercial rights in direct opposition to England’s Navigation Acts; the latter guaranteed financial and military support. On […]

by Bob Ruppert
Memorials Posted on

France Pays Tribute to Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin died at his home in Philadelphia at eleven o’clock p.m. on April 17, 1790; he was eighty-four years old. On June 4, Benjamin Vaughan, a doctor, Member of Parliament and friend of Franklin, wrote to the Duc de la Rochefoucauld, another friend of Franklin. In his letter that arrived on June 10, he […]

by Bob Ruppert
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Law Posted on

The Fall of 1774 in Boston

Parliament responded to the Boston Tea Party by imposing on the colony of Massachusetts four laws including the Boston Port Bill. This bill received King George III’s royal assent on March 31, 1774 and would go into effect on June 1, 1774. The first sentence of the Bill made its purpose clear, “An act to […]

by Bob Ruppert
Economics Posted on

Summer of ’74 in Boston

Parliament responded to the Boston Tea Party by imposing on the colony of Massachusetts a series of Acts, collectively called the Coercive Acts. The four Acts were the Boston Port Bill, the Quartering Act, the Impartial Administration Act and the Massachusetts Government Act. The first one, the Boston Port Bill, received King George III’s royal […]

by Bob Ruppert
Letters and Correspondence Posted on

The Abdication(s) of King George III

On April 1, 2015, Queen Elizabeth II announced the creation of the Georgian Papers Programme. It is a ten-year project to transcribe, digitize, conserve, catalogue, and disseminate close to 425,000 pages related to England’s Hanoverian monarchs located in the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle. Most of the papers are personal and official correspondence—the remaining are […]

by Bob Ruppert
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Natural History Posted on

The Great Hurricane(s) of 1780

The most common storm that the British navy and army encountered at sea and on land during the American War of Independence was the nor’easter. Nor’easters usually develop in the latitudes between Georgia and New Jersey within 100 miles east or west of the East Coast. These storms Progress generally northeastward and typically attain maximum […]

by Bob Ruppert
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Diplomacy Posted on

France and Spain Invade England—Almost

On February 6, 1778, France signed two treaties with the United States, one of Amity and Commerce, the other, a defensive Alliance.[1] In them, France recognized the absolute sovereignty and independence of the United States. On March 10, the Foreign Minister of France, the comte de Vergennes, sent a dispatch that included a copy of the […]

by Bob Ruppert
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Letters and Correspondence Posted on

Catharine Macaulay: Her Final Gifts to America and France, 1787–1791

In September 1787, Mrs. Mercy Otis Warren informed Catharine Macaulay of the results of the Federal Convention in Philadelphia. She was guardedly optimistic. Macaulay, upon receiving the letter, responded immediately: Indeed I have expected with much impatience the result of the deliberations of your convention . . . I find in the propositions they are […]

by Bob Ruppert
People Posted on

Josiah Quincy, Jr.

Josiah Quincy, Jr.’s name is rarely mentioned in history books. This is because his name never appeared at the top of any leaderboard, that is, he was not a member of the Continental Congress, a military hero, a leader of a movement or group, or an author of an influential work, and because he died […]

by Bob Ruppert
Letters and Correspondence Posted on

Catharine Macaulay, England’s First Female Whig Historian: the War Begins, 1775

By the end of 1774, Catharine Macaulay had met Benjamin Rush, Arthur Lee, Richard Marchant, and Benjamin Franklin, and had corresponded with John Dickinson, James Otis, Jr., John Adams, William Livingston, Richard Henry Lee, Abigail Adams, Ezra Stiles, Mercy Otis Warren, and Samuel Adams. The number of Americans that Macaulay had met was about to change. […]

by Bob Ruppert
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Politics Posted on

The Earl of Dartmouth: Secretary of State for the Colonies, Third Year: August 1774–November 1775

While the Earl of Dartmouth, Secretary of State for the Colonies, was on holiday in the summer of 1774, his office continued to receive and send communications concerning the political divergence with the American colonies. The general issues were the Quebec Act, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, the Declaration of Rights and Grievances, the Non-Importation Agreement, […]

by Bob Ruppert