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Joseph Galloway’s Plan of Union
byLate in September 1774 the Continental Congress was in the middle of an ongoing debate on the means that should be implemented to restore…
Richard Henry Lee
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The Frankford Advice: “Place Virginia at the Head of Everything”
bySince James Thomas Flexner’s 1974 Pulitzer recognition for his biography of George Washington, one of the axioms of the American founding is that the…
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How America Declared its Rights
byDuring the seventeenth century and into the eighteenth century the political philosophers of Europe were writing and discussing some new and radical ideas on…
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The Yorktown Tragedy: Washington’s Slave Roundup
byOn October 19, 1781, Gen. George Washington attained his apex as a soldier. Straddling a spirited charger at the head of a formidable Franco-American…
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A Further Evaluation of the Carlisle Peace Commission’s Initiative
byIn March, 1778, Lord North, the British Prime Minister, authorized the Carlisle Peace Commission to negotiate with the Continental Congress, terms for reconciliation rather…
A Donkey, A Suit, and a Quixote for George Washington
byAt the beginning of March 1777, Arthur Lee, a delegate to the United States Congress, urgently requested to meet with the Marquis de Grimaldi,…
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Why Did the Signers of the Declaration Engage in this Treasonous Act?
bySpeaking on Independence Day, 1821, John Quincy Adams, sixth President of the Unites States and the son of John Adams, a signer of the…
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Timothy Matlack, Scribe of the Declaration of Independence
byThe scribe of the Declaration of Independence—and perhaps the first man to read it in public—was born on March 28, 1736 in Haddonfield, New…
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The First Public Reading of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
by“We hold these truths to be self-evident . . . .” Who were the first people to hear Thomas Jefferson’s memorable words spoken in…
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The First Efforts to Limit the African Slave Trade Arise in the American Revolution: Part 3 of 3, Congress Bans the African Slave Trade
byIn October 1774, in a stunning and radical move, delegates of the First Continental Congress signed a pledge for the thirteen mainland colonies not…
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The First Efforts to Limit the African Slave Trade Arise in the American Revolution: Part 2 of 3, The Middle and Southern Colonies
byThe first article of this series discussed the increasing chorus of American Patriots in New England raising their voices against the African slave trade….
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Documents of the Revolution: A Continuum of Conviction
byThose familiar with American history know that the Articles of Confederation served as the first constitution of the unified states during the American Revolution….
John Morgan vs. William Shippen: The Battle that Defined the Continental Medical Department
byJohn Morgan and William Shippen, Jr. stood shoulder to shoulder in the crowd outside of old Westminster Hall on September 22, 1761. They were…
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Top Ten Quotes of Major General Charles Lee
byCharles Lee served as second-in-command of the Continental Army, subordinate only to George Washington. Born in England, Lee was the best-educated and most widely-read…
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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…
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A Chink in Britain’s Armor: John Paul Jones’s 1778 Raid on Whitehaven
byJohn Paul Jones has earned enduring fame in American history for his sailing and fighting exploits during the American Revolution. His influence on the…
Catharine Macaulay, England’s First Female Whig Historian: the War Begins, 1775
byBy 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, 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: The Officer Corps
byWhen the Continental Congress first met it was intended to bring the American colonies together to find a solution to the growing disputes with…
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First Founding Father: Richard Henry Lee and the Call for American Independence
byBook Review: First Founding Father: Richard Henry Lee and the Call for American Independence by Harlow Giles Unger, (New York: De Capo Press, 2017)…
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A Posture of Defense: Virginia’s Journey from Nonimportation to Armed Resistance
byA month into the historic 1774 meeting of the 1st Continental Congress, delegates John Adams of Massachusetts and Richard Henry Lee of Virginia sparked…