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Mercy Otis Warren: Revolutionary Propagandist
byOn March 26, 1772, The Massachusetts Spy ran an unusual item on page 3 of that day’s newspaper: an advertisement for a dramatic performance of…
Thomas Gage
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The Winter of 1774–1775 in Boston
byOn June 1, 1774, in response to the Boston Tea Party, the newly appointed governor, Lt.-Gen. Thomas Gage, shut down the towns’ harbor. All…
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The Fall of 1774 in Boston
byParliament responded to the Boston Tea Party by imposing on the colony of Massachusetts four laws including the Boston Port Bill. This bill received…
Summer of ’74 in Boston
byParliament responded to the Boston Tea Party by imposing on the colony of Massachusetts a series of Acts, collectively called the Coercive Acts. The…
This Week on Dispatches: J. L. Bell on the Secrets of Samuel Dyer, PART I
byOn this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR Associate Editor and historian, J. L. Bell on Samuel Dyer, a person few have heard of,…
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The Secrets of Samuel Dyer
byAs recounted in a previous article, in October 1774 a sailor named Samuel Dyer returned to Boston, accusing high officers of the British army…
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The Return of Samuel Dyer: An Attempted Assassination in Revolutionary Boston
byOn October 10, 1774, the brigantine Charlotte arrived at Newport, Rhode Island, from London. On board was a sailor named Samuel Dyer, and he told a…
Winning Hearts and Minds: Pardons and Oaths of Allegiance
by“I, A. B.do promise and declare that I will remain in a peaceable Obedience to His Majesty, and will not take up Arms, nor…
1
The Last Royal Governors of the American Colonies
byThe last level of British authority at the colony level was the colonial governors. They came in various forms, military and civil, appointed and…
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Thomas Ditson: Puritan to Bumpkin to Patriot
byThe status of Thomas Ditson, Jr., as a minor hero of the American Revolution has more to do with the perception that he was…
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Hell’s Half-Acre: The Fall of Loyalist Crean Brush
byOn October 18, 1777, New York provincial assemblyman, and tory, Crean Brush, penned his final will and testament from prison in Boston. After nineteen…
3
Jemima Howe, Frontier Pioneer to Wealthy Widow
byJemima Howe (1724–1805) reflects the strength it took to endure the harsh realities of the Vermont frontier during the American colonial and Revolutionary War…
5
Major Robert Rogers and the American Revolution
byAfter his exploits during the French and Indian War, Robert Rogers (1732-1795) was indisputably the most famous military leader born in the thirteen colonies;…
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Contributor Question: Remembered for the Wrong Reason?
byWe asked our contributors: Which personality of the American Revolution or the founding era (other than Benedict Arnold) is remembered for the wrong reasons,…
2
Lord Dartmouth’s War of Words, 1775
byIt was late 1775, and William Legge, the 2nd Earl of Dartmouth, was looking out the window of his office in Whitehall, London, thinking…
3
The Connolly Plot
byDuring the Revolutionary War, Pittsburgh was a place of constant political and economic intrigue, double-dealing, subversion, back-stabbing, disloyalty, and treachery. One of the earliest…
4
Information Operations: The Provincial Congress Shapes the Narrative in Great Britain
byThe efforts of the American Provincial Congress at the beginning of the revolutionary war against Great Britain offer the perfect case study to understand…
7
Lexington and Concord: A Case Study in Leadership and Direct Action
byThe British approach to its American colony in 1775 offers valuable lessons for historians and military professionals in the synthesis between the levels of…
This Week on Dispatchers: Frederic C. Detwiller on the Mysterious “Monsr Dubuq”
byOn this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews architect and preservationist Frederic C. Detwiller on the enigmatic French engineer, “Monsr Dubuq,” who was one of the…
5
“The Americans Have Hoisted Their Standard of Liberty at Salem”
byThe skirmishes at Lexington and Concord are often considered the beginning of the American Revolution, a violent change in the controversy between Great Britain…
11
Massachusetts Privateers During the Siege of Boston
byFollowing the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Massachusetts Grand Army surrounded Boston and began to lay siege to it. The Massachusetts Committee of…
10
“Monsr Dubuq,” the First French Officer to Serve the American Cause?
byTo historians of the American Revolution, the date of 1775 for French participation in the Patriot cause may seem incredible. The enigmatic “Monsr Dubuq,”…
3
The Tea that Survived the Boston Tea Party
byThe Boston Tea Party famously saw the destruction of the almost 300 chests worth of tea, tossed into the harbor by “Indians” on December 16,…
Josiah Quincy, Jr.
byJosiah Quincy, Jr.’s name is rarely mentioned in history books. This is because his name never appeared at the top of any leaderboard, that…
1
Quebec Town Major William Dunbar: Captured, April 1775
byIn early 1775, the town major of Quebec decided to pay a visit to Gen. Thomas Gage in Boston. William Dunbar had been an…
1
Henry Champion: An Officer Resigns
bySome people are drawn to flame, perhaps just a momentary fascination, but it can get one scolded, especially by the Commander-in-Chief. “I had just…
2
The Earl of Dartmouth: Secretary of State for the Colonies, Third Year: August 1774–November 1775
byWhile the Earl of Dartmouth, Secretary of State for the Colonies, was on holiday in the summer of 1774, his office continued to receive…
2
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Frontier Rebels: The Fight for Independence in the American West, 1765–1776
byFrontier Rebels: The Fight for Independence in the American West, 1765-1776, by Patrick Spero (W.W. Norton & Company, 2018) In most standard histories of…
2
Thomas Gage Reconsidered: When Law Interferes with War
byYou have sent General Gage, who is a man of great abilities, to quell the disturbances in that country, which I am sure he…