George Kotlik studied British colonial North American history at the University of Oxford. George has an MA in Political Science from Sul Ross State University. His interests include Loyalists, the eighteenth-century North American frontier, the Great War for the Empire, the Imperial Crisis, and the American Revolutionary War.
On July 25, 1768, Benjamin Franklin set his friend, Charles-Guillaume-Frédéric Dumas, straight. Dumas, a man of letters who would later serve as an American diplomat in Europe, was interested in settling British East Florida. Franklin informed Dumas that his home in Philadelphia “being near 1000 Miles from Florida”[1] prevented his intimate acquaintance with that region. […]
The phrase “fourteenth colony” describes a province in British North America that did not revolt alongside the original thirteen colonies. Such a province usually had one or more connections to the American Revolution. The phrase is misleading and has been thrown around freely in literature on the Revolutionary era. There have been at least eight […]
In the fall of 1763, a pamphlet was published in Edinburgh titled The Expediency of Securing Our American Colonies by Settling the Country Adjoining the River Mississippi, and the Country Upon the Ohio, Considered.[1] The publication of this pamphlet points to the interest aroused in western land speculation among many in North America and Great […]
From 1765 to 1766, botanist John Bartram explored Florida, the new southern territory Britain acquired after the Seven Years’ War. William Bartram, his son, accompanied him on that expedition. Named King George III’s Royal Botanist and granted a £50 a year salary, John collected plants he shipped to Europe.[1] In late 1765, John found himself […]
Resisting Independence: Popular Loyalism in the Revolutionary British Atlantic by Brad A. Jones (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2021) In Resisting Independence: Popular Loyalism in the Revolutionary British Atlantic, Brad A. Jones reminds readers that “the American Revolution . . . was as much a story of loyalty as it was rebellion” (page 2). Jones’s book seeks […]
Valcour: The 1776 Campaign That Saved the Cause of Liberty by Jack Kelly (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2021) Scholarly focus on decisive military actions in 1776 seldom mention the Battle of Valcour Island. Jack Kelly reminds readers of the importance of that engagement in his book Valcour: The 1776 Campaign That Saved the Cause of […]
Captain Robert Bisset arrived in East Florida in 1767. Immediately upon his coming, he set to work on establishing himself as a planter. For seventeen years, between 1767 and 1784, he and his son established and managed several plantations around East Florida. Apart from colonizing the frontier province, Bisset’s presence in the historical record is […]
In March 1777, while Andrew Turnbull was away in England, several Minorcans escaped New Smyrna and fled to St. Augustine, East Florida. They hiked seventy to eighty miles from Mosquito Inlet to the colony’s capital. Arriving there safely, they complained to East Florida Gov. Patrick Tonyn about the struggles and depravations they endured at New Smyrna. After […]
Fourteenth Colony: The Forgotten Story of the Gulf South During America’s Revolutionary Era by Mike Bunn. (Montgomery, AL: NewSouth Books, 2020) In Fourteenth Colony, Mike Bunn sheds light on the forgotten British colony of West Florida. The book seeks to “put West Florida back on the map of our historical consciousness” (page xi). Comprising parts of […]
In discussions on the American Revolutionary War, the contributions of Texas are seldom brought up.[1] But in the 1770s, Texas, inhabited by Spaniards and Native Americans, was a hub of activity. While the signing of the Declaration of Independence occurred on July 4, 1776 in Philadelphia, Tejanos (Texans) manned outposts, guarded New Spain’s claims, and reconnoitered […]
According to Andrew Jackson O’ Shaughnessy, the San Juan Expedition was among “the most ambitious enterprises of the American Revolutionary War.”[1] In 1779, after Spain’s formal entry into the war, the British aimed at striking Spanish interests in Central America. They would invade by first securing control of the San Juan River in present-day Nicaragua. Their […]
Beyond Florida’s state boundaries the history of New Smyrna is seldom mentioned.[1] Well known to the locals of New Smyrna Beach, the region’s settlement by European colonists dates to 1768 when Scottish physician Andrew Turnbull led a colonization effort to Britain’s far flung outpost in North America. After a trip to Asia Minor and the Mediterranean, […]
The Widow Washington: The Life of Mary Washington by Martha Saxton (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019) Historians who have studied Mary Ball Washington described her in a not so favorable light. She was overbearing, overprotective, selfish, imposing, and crude; it is from her that historians have credited George Washington’s desire to escape the clutches […]
Sailing Under John Paul Jones: The Memoir of Continental Navy Midshipman Nathaniel Fanning, 1778-1783, edited by Louis Arthur Norton. (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2019) Contrary to popular narratives, the American Revolution was not restricted to fighting in the Americas. The war was fought on many fronts including India and Europe. Nathaniel Fanning reminds us […]
Tucked away in a small corner of history and buried deep beneath mountains of text lie brief mentions of the British invasion of the Bahamas in 1783.[1] As far as major battles are concerned, it does not make the list. It was not really a battle at all. Action is the more appropriate word. Whatever word […]
East Florida only had one newspaper in the colony’s entire history. The newspaper went live during the final year of the American War for Independence. The East Florida Gazette, sometimes referred to as the East Florida Gazette Extraordinary, was founded in 1783 by Dr. William Charles Wells. Dr. Wells migrated to St. Augustine, the capital […]
Mary Ball Washington: The Untold Story of George Washington’s Mother by Craig Shirley (Harper, 2019) Rare indeed is the historian of early American history who is unfamiliar with George Washington. Lesser known, however, is the story of Mary Ball Washington, his mother. In Craig Shirley’s book, Mary Ball Washington: The Untold Story of George Washington’s Mother, Shirley […]
Under the leadership of Royal Governor Patrick Tonyn, East Florida remained in the hands of the British Crown during the Imperial Crisis, not an easy feat to achieve considering the political climate of the colonies in the 1760s and 1770s. This impressive achievement was accomplished through Tonyn’s effective use of Tory refugees, mostly from Georgia […]
Thomas Fletchall was a man of considerable influence in the South Carolina backcountry. Born in Maryland in 1725, Fletchall and his family relocated to South Carolina. By the 1770s, he owned a plantation in the Fairforest Creek region where he served his locality as a justice of the peace, coroner, and militia colonel for the […]
Dr. John Moultrie was born in 1729 in South Carolina to a father of the same name, one of five brothers. Educated in Edinburgh, he graduated in 1749 before returning to the United States where he took up residence in Charleston. In subsequent years, he held numerous prominent positions within the colony. In 1763, when […]
The British loss of West Florida in 1781 ushered in a new era for the region, an era dominated by Spanish rule. For some, like the many Spanish officers who orchestrated the capture of the colony,[1] the loss brought about much celebration and promotion. For others, like the British inhabitants of the territory, this transition of […]
Thomas Moultrie was one of five sons of a successful South Carolina planter. He served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War as a captain of the 2nd South Carolina Regiment. He was killed on April 24, 1780, during a dramatic dawn sortie from the besieged city of Charleston. His heroic death was in […]
A councilman by profession, James Allen, esquire, lived in Philadelphia during the early years of the American Revolution. A man of considerable social prominence and stature within the colony, Allen held much influence. Indeed, the entire Allen family was held in high esteem, particularly since most of its members enjoyed positions of privilege and respect. […]
In American history, the name James Grant became synonymous with advocacy for British supremacy in colonial matters. For much of Grant’s early military career, he was stationed in North America where he participated in the French and Indian War. His time spent on the continent allowed for him to form his own opinions on the […]
During the War for American Independence, displaced Loyalists from the southern colonies sought refuge in East Florida. Due to a large influx of refugees, the towns of Hillsborough and St. Johns, both towns built in Northern Florida, were erected; the former was built at the modern day Old Town Fernandina on Amelia Island.[1]Refugees like Louis […]
