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Uplifting Moments in American Revolution History
byFor every historian, there’s an event that makes them feel good every time they read about it. We asked our contributors: What event from…
Declaration of Independence
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How Magna Carta Influenced the American Revolution
byIn 1984, Ross Perot purchased a copy of the 1297 reissuance of the Magna Carta from the Brudenell family who had held the document…
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The Fight Behind the Declaration of Independence
byPut yourself, in your mind’s eye, back in June 1776, specifically, the period between June 7 and July 1. It is precisely at that…
This Week on Dispatches: J. L. Bell on Truths and Myths of the Declaration of Independence
byOn this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews author and historian J. L. Bell on the Declaration of Independence and which stories surrounding the document…
Jacob Duché: Mixing Religion and Politics During the Revolution
byIn a country in which one of the main constitutional principles is separation of church and state, it is counter-intuitive to find that there…
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The Tragedy of Henry Laurens
byIt wasn’t really their fault, they said. Slavery, men of the founding generation liked to argue, was brought to the colonies by Britain. It…
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The Declaration of Independence: The Twenty-Seven Grievances
byThe Declaration of Independence included twenty-seven specific grievances about the conduct of the King and British government. We asked our contributors to choose one…
The Declaration of Independence: Did John Hancock Really Say That about his Signature?—and Other Signing Stories
byWhen we picture the Declaration of Independence, most of us immediately think of the document handwritten on parchment and signed at the bottom by…
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Another Three Loyalist Declarations Signed in the Fall of 1776
byThe Declaration of Dependence signed by 547 New York City Loyalists in November 1776 was not the only such declaration written and signed by loyal…
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The Dark and Heroic Histories of Georgia’s Signers
byRevolutions are complex multi-sided economic, political, social, and technological events. They begin as conservative movements. As each side fears losing, all of these different…
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Stephen Moylan: More than a War Hero
byServing on George Washington’s staff were many talented young men, including some who became famous later. Alexander Hamilton served on the staff ably for…
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Analyzing the Founders: A Closer Look at the Signers of Four Founding Documents
byWriting about Roger Sherman, the only man to sign our four most important founding documents – the Continental Association, the Declaration of Independence, the…
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The Scandalous Divorce Case that Influenced the Declaration of Independence
byDuring the hot, humid Philadelphia summer of 1776, the writing of the Declaration of Independence was just another Congressional housekeeping chore which the delegates…
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Why God is in the Declaration but not the Constitution
byNo country venerates its “Founding Fathers” like the United States. Academics, legislators, judges, and ordinary citizens all frequently seek to validate their opinions and…
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Adams vs. Paine: A Critical Debate
byThere is a tendency today to lump the Founding Fathers together as though somehow they thought alike, acted in unison and actually got along…
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The American Revolution Comes to Albany, New York, 1756-1776
by“The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment…
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Murder of a Declaration Signer (Part 2)
byTHE TRIAL THAT GRIPPED THE NEW NATION The Grand Jury in Richmond determined that there was ample evidence of George Wythe Sweeney’s guilt. Virginia…
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Murder of a Declaration Signer (Part 1)
byGeorge Wythe was about the last person anybody would ever want to murder. At age 80, Wythe was an exceedingly kind and generous man…
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Caesar Rodney: An American Character
bySigners of the Declaration of Independence are treated with particular reverence in American historical memory. Caesar Rodney, Delaware’s delegate to the Second Continental Congress,…
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Breaking News 1776: First Reports of Independence
byEach year, more than a million people walk through the cold, dark Rotunda of the National Archives in Washington DC to glimpse the U.S….
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It’s Not All Burgers and Beer
by“The day will be most memorable in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations…
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Samuel Chase’s Wild Ride
byMyth: “In 1776, when Maryland instructed its delegates to the Continental Congress to vote against independence, Chase launched a successful campaign to persuade the…
3
Thomas Paine’s Inflated Numbers
byMyth: Within months of its publication, 120,000 copies (or 100,000 or 150,000 or 500,000) of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense were sold in the rebellious…
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Jefferson and the Declaration
byMyth: Thomas Jefferson found the ideas for the Declaration of Independence “from deep within himself.” (Joseph Ellis, American Sphinx.) Busted: Not according to Jefferson….
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America’s First Declaration of Independence
byMyth: Americans did not formally resolve for independence until 1776. Busted: On October 4, 1774, the town meeting of Worcester, Massachusetts, declared that British…
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The Greatest Scoop of All Time?
byHistory is one giant game of telephone with information passed, often through multiple sources, to the present day. As such, it is full of…