Tag: Thomas Paine

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Charles Lee—The Continental Army’s Most Prolific Essayist General

Maj. Gen. Charles Lee’s substantial literary contributions to the American independence movement have been overshadowed by his challenging Gen. George Washington for Continental Army leadership and the 1860 discovery of a potentially treasonous document.[1] Initially, Revolutionary Era Americans viewed Charles Lee as a highly accomplished military officer and a learned scholar and admired his ardently-argued […]

by Gene Procknow
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Rockingham, Washington’s Headquarters, 1783

George Washington slept here. After the commander in chief was summoned to Princeton, New Jersey during the summer of 1783, and finding no rooms for rent, certainly not anything sizeable enough to serve his needs, Washington, his wife Martha, their servants and enslaved persons, and a small company of soldiers managed to find a place […]

by Jett Conner
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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

The first article of this series discussed the increasing chorus of American Patriots in New England raising their voices against the African slave trade. This article focuses on the Middle and Southern Colonies, as well as a few select thinkers from Philadelphia. Those who opposed the African slave trade in colonies ruled by royal governors […]

by Christian McBurney
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This Week on Dispatches: Jett Conner on Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and the Louisiana Purchase

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews political scientist, historian, and JAR contributor Jett Conner on his recent article about Thomas Paine’s and Thomas Jefferson’s interpretations of the role of presidential powers used by Jefferson to justify the Louisiana Purchase. Thousands of readers like you enjoy the articles published by the Journal of the American […]

by Editors
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Interview: Sarah Jane Marsh

Today, May 29, 2018, Disney Hyperion is introducing young readers to the American Revolution with Thomas Paine and the Dangerous Word, an eighty-page picture book biography written by Sarah Jane Marsh[1] and illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham. The story focuses on Paine’s resilient early life and his call for independence through his famous pamphlet Common Sense. I […]

by Jett Conner
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New JAR Book: John Adams vs Thomas Paine: Rival Plans for the Early Republic by Jett B. Conner

We are very happy to announce our newest JAR book is now available for sale. John Adams vs Thomas Paine: Rival Plans for the Early Republic by Jett B. Conner [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] How Paine’s Common Sense and Adams’s Thoughts on Government shaped our modern political institutions. Initially admiring Thomas Paine’s efforts for independence, John Adams nevertheless was […]

by Editors
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Adams vs. Paine: A Critical Debate

There is a tendency today to lump the Founding Fathers together as though somehow they thought alike, acted in unison and actually got along with each other while leading the Revolutionary Cause and founding a new nation. Now that America’s founding is well over two hundred years old, distance brings clarity in understanding the period, […]

by Jett Conner
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10 Quotes on Tyranny

The world has seen many a tyrant from Genghis Khan to Hitler. At all times, people have had an impression of what made one a tyrant. Americans living during the Revolutionary War were no exception to the matter and they too held a decided view on tyranny. Here is a list of ten quotes on […]

by A. K. Fielding
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Thomas Paine’s Inflated Numbers

Myth: Within months of its publication, 120,000 copies (or 100,000 or 150,000 or 500,000) of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense were sold in the rebellious colonies. Busted: Although the pamphlet circulated widely and certainly made its mark, only scant print records and no sales records survive, so we simply do not know how many copies were […]

by Ray Raphael