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The Lonely Vigil of America’s First Diplomat
byAfter the French and Indian War, or the Seven Years War as it was known in Europe, Spain and France began to plan for…
Robert Morris
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Thomas Paine on Popular Government in America: Evolution of a Radical’s Thinking
byIt would be hard to find a more strident, vocal supporter of popular government during America’s founding period than Thomas Paine. The proposals put…
Robert Morris: Inside the Revolution
byBOOK REVIEW: Robert Morris: Inside the Revolution by Robert M. Morris (Waterville, OR: Trine Day LLC, 2022) Entrepreneur and inventor Robert M. Morris (no…
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Emergence of the French Alliance: The Beginning and Final Phases
byIt is widely acknowledged that the military alliance between the United States and France, established in 1778, was responsible not only for a number…
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Insurrection and Speculation: A Farmer, Financier, and a Surprising “Sharper” Seeded the Constitution
byThe January 6, 2021 assault on the Capital rocked America, but it was by no means the largest, or even the most threatening, armed…
Trophies of War: The Guns at Elk
byElk Landing, Head of Elk and Elkton all refer to the same geographic area in Cecil County, Maryland. Head of Elk was a key…
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“The Predicament We Are In”: How Paperwork Saved the Continental Army
by“Few people know the predicament we are in,” wrote George Washington, while he expressed the Continental army’s dire circumstances.[1] By January 1776, just six months…
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Thomas Read of Delaware, Part 1: The Creation of the Continental Navy
byThomas Read (1740-1788) was the middle son of the Read family of New Castle, Delaware. His older brother George was a delegate to the…
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Comte d’Estaing’s Georgia Land Grants
byOn the morning of October 9, 1779, one of the bloodiest and most forgotten battles of the American Revolution took place during the Siege…
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The British Naval Signals Missions of 1781
byRichard Peters’ letter of October 19, 1781, to Gen. George Washington mentioned two missions to obtain copies of certain British naval signals and convey…
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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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A Crisis of Peace: George Washington, the Newburgh Conspiracy, and the Fate of the American Revolution
byA Crisis of Peace: George Washington, the Newburgh Conspiracy, and the Fate of the American Revolution by David Head (New York: Pegasus Books, 2019)…
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The Officers’ Spirited Memorial: A Prelude to the Newburgh Conspiracy
byThe officers of the Continental Army were sullen. It was December 1782, and they were stationed in and around Newburgh, New York, and neighboring…
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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…
This Week on Dispatches: Harlow Giles Unger on Robert Morris and the American Revolution
byIn this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews distinguished journalist and historian Harlow Giles Unger about Robert Morris and his critical role in financially supporting the…
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How Robert Morris’s “Magick” Money Saved the American Revolution
byThe year 1780 ended badly, and the new year boded worse for America’s War of Independence. Maj. Gen. Benedict Arnold’s treason and defection to…
The Sea Battle that Paid Off for the Continental Army
byAs the Revolutionary War was coming to an end, financial problems came to the forefront: to name a few, the country’s debts to France,…
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How Yorktown Almost Couldn’t Afford to Happen
byGen. George Washington, from the point of view of Americans being trapped at “York,”[1] wrote these prophetic words- These by being upon a narrow…
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Most Underrated Revolutionary?
byWhile Nathanael Greene is getting greater recognition, I believe his contributions are still undervalued because the American cause in the South was on “life…
The 10 Commandments of American Victory
byWhile recently watching “The Ten Commandments,” starring Charlton Heston, I pondered a few thoughts. First, they don’t make flicks like that anymore. Secondly, wouldn’t…