The Winter of 1774–1775 in Boston
On June 1, 1774, in response to the Boston Tea Party, the newly appointed governor, Lt.-Gen. Thomas Gage, shut down the towns’ harbor. All…
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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…
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…
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Signals and Pilots: Cooperating with the French Fleet, 1778
France officially joined the American colonies in their struggle for independence on February 6, 1778. On this day two treaties were signed: the first was…
The “World Changing” Motion in the House of Commons, February 27, 1782
Two motions had already been brought forth in the House of Commons to end the war with England’s American colonies. The first occurred on…
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The Motion to End the War with the American Colonies, February 22, 1782
On December 12, 1781, a motion to end the war with the American colonies and to grant them their independence was introduced in the House…
Should the War Continue? The Motion in the House of Commons, December 12, 1781
Following the surrender of General Cornwallis at Yorktown on October 19, 1781, the House of Commons began to debate whether or not the war…
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,…
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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…
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King Frederick the Great and the American Colonies—Mit Complimenten Aweissen
Mit Complimenten Aweissen (put him off with compliments) Arthur Lee, one of the American Commissioners stationed in Paris, was appointed minister to the Prussian Court…
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King Frederick the Great and the American Colonies: The Preliminaries
Upon the death of his grandfather on May 31, 1740, Frederick William II of the House of Hohenzollern became the King of Prussia. Over…
The Board of Trade and Plantations, 1688–1761
There were four bodies that directly influenced England’s relationship with her American colonies; they were the King (a body of one), the Privy Council…
Thomas Pownall, Governor of Massachusetts, January 1759–1760
On May 7, 1757, Thomas Pownall sailed from England for Boston to take his post as the governor of Massachusetts. Aboard the ship was…
Thomas Pownall, Governor of Massachusetts, August 1757 to December 1758
Thomas Pownall was appointed “Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief in and over . . . the Province of the Massachusetts Bay” on February 25, 1757. He…
Thomas Pownall: Formative Years of an Anti-Taxation Member of Parliament
Thomas Pownall, the eldest son of William and Sarah Pownall, was born on September 4, 1722 in Lincoln, England. His father, a country gentleman,…
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An Economist’s Solution to the War: Adam Smith and the Rebelling Colonies
Adam Smith, considered by many to be the Father of Modern Economics, was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, on June 16, 1723. His father, also…
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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…
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Robert Erskine, Surveyor-General of the Continental Army
Robert Erskine was born in Dumfermline, Scotland, to Ralph and Margaret Erskine on September 7, 1735. Ralph Erskine, being a Presbyterian minister, raised Robert…
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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,…
Catharine Macaulay’s Difficult Years, 1778–1787
Between 1775 and 1784 Catharine Macaulay’s social and personal life was one traumatic event after another. She accepted the invitation from Rev. Dr. James…
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George Mason: The Founding Father Who Gave Us the Bill of Rights
George Mason: The Founding Father Who Gave Us the Bill of Rights by William Hyland, Jr. (Regnery, 2019) Most people have never heard of George…
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…
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…
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Catharine Macaulay, England’s First Female Whig Historian, 1773–1774
By the end of 1772, Catharine Macaulay had completed and published the first five volumes of her History of England from the Accession of…
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Catharine Macaulay, England’s First Female Whig Historian, 1763–1772
Catharine Sawbridge was born in Wye, Kent, England to John Sawbridge and Elizabeth Wanley on April 2, 1731. Her father was a landed proprietor;…
Resolutions Shared by Two Towns 300 Miles Apart
The year was 1773. On May 10, Parliament had passed the Tea Act allowed the East India Company to sell tea directly to the…
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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…
The Sea Battle that Paid Off for the Continental Army
As the Revolutionary War was coming to an end, financial problems came to the forefront: to name a few, the country’s debts to France,…
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Richard Howe: Admiral of the British Fleet in North America and Peace Commissioner
In the Spring of 1775, Benjamin Franklin, still stationed in England, made what he thought was a last attempt to secure a plan of…
Franklin’s Secret Efforts to bring about Reconciliation
Benjamin Franklin made two missions to London prior to the Revolution; the first from 1757 to 1762, the second from 1764 to 1775. In…
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The Earl of Dartmouth, Secretary of State for the Colonies, Second Year: November 1773 – August 1774
During the three months that the Earl of Dartmouth, Secretary of State for the Colonies, was on holiday from August to November 1773, the…
The Earl of Dartmouth’s First Year as Secretary of State for the Colonies
William Legge, the second Earl of Dartmouth, had three interests: his family, his estates, and his religion. He was known by many as “the…
Luke Ryan: Premier Privateer
Luke Ryan was born in the County Dublin coastal village of Rush on February 14, 1750. His parents were Michael and Mary Ryan. As…
Benjamin Franklin’s Mission to London, 1757-1762
Thomas Penn, the son of founder William Penn, inherited majority control of the proprietorship of the colony of Pennsylvania in 1746. At the time…
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America’s First Black Ops
Pierre-Augustin de Caron, better known by his stage name, Beaumarchais, was a French playwright, financier, and confidant of King Louis XVI. In the spring…
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Benjamin Franklin: “Our Salvation depends on you”
Benjamin Franklin was appointed an American Commissioner to France on September 26, 1776. [1] One month later he set sail for France where he…
Francis Dana and America’s Failed Embassy to Russia
The war between Britain and her North American colonies shut off the availability of raw materials, specifically timber, tar, and pitch, for the…
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Those Who Could Not Serve
Armies are tasked with enforcing government policies. When it came time for the British military to enforce parliamentary policies concerning the American colonies, however,…
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Hans Christian Febiger: “Old Denmark”
Hans Christian Febiger was born on the island of Funen, Denmark in 1746. Around the age of sixteen his father died. For the next…