Johan Joachim Zubly: The Other Georgia Delegate
byWhen reading the excellent JAR article “The Dark and Heroic Histories of Georgia’s Signers,” I happened to recall another Georgia delegate to the Second…
John Adams
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Contributor Question: Best Strategic Defeat?
byThis month, we asked our contributors to consider the many changes of fortune that occurred over the tumultuous four decades that transformed thirteen British…
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Catharine Macaulay, England’s First Female Whig Historian, 1773–1774
byBy 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
byCatharine Sawbridge was born in Wye, Kent, England to John Sawbridge and Elizabeth Wanley on April 2, 1731. Her father was a landed proprietor;…
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Continental Congress vs. Continental Army: Paying For It All
byWhen the Second Continental Congress met in June 1775, they were not prepared for what they found. Several months earlier on April 19 the…
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Rome’s Heroes and America’s Founding Fathers
byThroughout the course of history, the ancient civilization of Rome has been widely discussed, praised, and emulated by writers, statesmen, and philosophers alike. Rome…
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The Most Extraordinary Murder
byOn July 2, 1778, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts hanged Bathsheba Ruggles Spooner and Continental soldier Ezra Ross, together with British soldiers Sgt. James Buchanan…
A Second Bonaparte: Searching for the Character of Alexander Hamilton
byThomas Jefferson, that American Sphinx,[1] is perhaps Alexander Hamilton’s only rival within the high pantheon of the founding generation for enigma. Hamilton’s character recalls…
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Morris’s Misidentification: Miscasting Thomas Jefferson as an Obsessive Compulsive Personality
byThe characters and contributions of Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton are collectively sketched by…
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The Early Years: John Adams Lists Abigail’s Faults and Abigail Replies!
byAs a young country lawyer, John Adams thought he seemed to lack focus. “Ballast is what I want, I totter, with every Breeze. My…
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John Adams: A Liberal Congregationalist and the American Revolution
byThere was a slight chill in the Massachusetts air on the evening of February 13, 1818, which caused frost to gather around the windows…
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Interview: Sarah Jane Marsh
byToday, May 29, 2018, Disney Hyperion is introducing young readers to the American Revolution with Thomas Paine and the Dangerous Word, an eighty-page picture…
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The First Countries to Diplomatically Recognize the United States
by“Diplomacy is seduction in guise …”, whispered Benjamin Franklin to his fellow commissioner John Adams. “One improves with practice.” Although the quote isn’t real…
New JAR Book: John Adams vs Thomas Paine: Rival Plans for the Early Republic by Jett B. Conner
byWe are very happy to announce our newest JAR book is now available for sale. John Adams vs Thomas Paine: Rival Plans for the…
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John Adams and the Molding of William Vans Murray, Peacemaker
byJohn Adams had a nose for good character. He could sniff out individuals of talent and integrity like a bloodhound. He famously nominated George…
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John Adams: Portrait of the Founder as a Young Schoolmaster
byBefore ever he was a president, vice president, ambassador, Continental Congressmen, or Massachusetts lawyer, John Adams was a schoolmaster in a rural hamlet in…
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The Remarkable Spanish Pilgrimage of John Adams
byThe ship carrying John Adams was sinking in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean! The awful thought must have been crippling for Adams, chosen…
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How John Adams Won the Hancock Trial
byHistorian Oliver Morton Dickerson was studying American colonial newspapers when he noticed identical articles appearing in newspapers in New York, Pennsylvania, Boston, elsewhere in…
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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…
How John Adams Almost Undermined the French Alliance
byOn September 27, 1779, John Adams was appointed “Minister Plenipotentiary for negotiating a Treaty of Peace and a Treaty of Commerce with Great Britain.”…
George Washington’s Top 10 Talents According to John Adams
byCrotchety old John Adams had finally had enough. It was bad enough that after George Washington’s battlefield victories at Trenton and Princeton, the idol…
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Ages of Revolution: How Old Were They on July 4, 1776?
byIt’s a simple question — perhaps so basic that it’s been overlooked. How old were the key participants of the American Revolution? Authors often…
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“No Taxation without Representation” (Part 2)
byIn 1765 Parliament instituted a Stamp Act for the North American colonies, which proved wildly unpopular from Savannah to Halifax, and ultimately unworkable. The…
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“No Taxation without Representation” (Part 1)
byThe primary dispute between Britain and her North American mainland colonies in the 1760s and early 1770s has often been summed up in four…
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John Adams’s Rule of Thirds
byDear Mr. History: I often hear that John Adams estimated that one-third of Americans supported the Revolution, one-third opposed it, and one-third was neutral. …
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Top 10 Revolutionary War Movies
byThis ranking of the best American Revolution films is based on my own appreciation of the movies. Obviously, any attempt to rank films in…