Smallpox Threatens an American Privateer at Sea
byTwo important books in the twenty-first century have focused on the impact of terrifying smallpox contagions on the American Revolutionary War.[1] Understandably, most of…
Inoculation
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Smallpox by Inoculation: The Tragedy of New York’s Rosewell Beebe
byThe day following the legendary taking of Fort Ticonderoga on May 10, 1775, Lt. Col. Ethan Allen reported the successful mission to New York’s…
Captain James Morris of the Connecticut Light Infantry
byIn 1812 when the British attacked the United States for the second time, Captain James Morris of the South Farms District of Litchfield, Connecticut,…
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One Man’s Campaign against Smallpox: James Thacher, M.D., Continental Army Physician
byJames Thacher’s contribution to the history of smallpox and to the Revolutionary War has not been fully appreciated. In the historical scholarship, his tireless…
This Week on Dispatches: Richard Werther on George Washington and the First Mandatory Immunization
byOn this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Richard Werther talks about his recent article about how small pox threatened to derail…
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George Washington and the First Mandatory Immunization
byThe debate over mandatory vaccination for Covid-19 has led to many articles referring to how George Washington handled a similar issue, this one involving…
A Moonlighting British Army Surgeon
byDuring the American War of Independence, the British Army officer corps routinely relegated its surgeons and physicians to a secondary status among its ranks….
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The American Revolution in Alexandria, Virginia: Upheaval in George Washington’s Hometown
byAlexandria, Virginia, is well known as George Washington’s hometown, but its role during the American Revolution is not widely understood. Like the rest of…
Coronavirus 2020? Nope. The Speckled Monster of 1764
byIn January 1764, a “speckled monster” struck Boston, forcing businesses to shutter and residents to isolate themselves in their homes or flee the city…
Lessons from an Outbreak: Smallpox in the Hudson Highlands, 1781
byOn January 20, 1781, near New Windsor in the Hudson Highlands of New York, Dr. Samuel Adams wrote a brief entry in the diary…
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Contributor Question: What Scene Do You Wish Had been Depicted Accurately by an Artist?
byWe asked our contributors what seemed like a simple question: What scene from the American Revolution or the Founding Era (1765–1805, approximately) do you…
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Alcohol to Zealotry: The Revolution A to Z (Part 2)
byContinued from yesterday. Read A to Z first. M is for mobilization. Revolutionary authorities became masters of mobilizing resources at a local level to…
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Alcohol to Zealotry: The Revolution A to Z (Part 1)
byOne of the great ideals of the American Revolution was the notion that political authority derives from the will of the governed. Of the…