George Washington’s childhood is a rather elusive historical research topic. It is not that there is a lack of stories, tales, and legends published about Washington’s early years, but the task of separating authentic information from widespread mythology has compelled judicious historians to exercise tremendous skepticism when offered an assertion about his youngest days. Much […] The post Unraveling the Mystery of George Washington’s Earliest Teacher appeared first on Journal of the...| Journal of the American Revolution
Historian Richard Kohn argued in 1981 that to make progress in military history, the first thing historians would need to do would be to seek the “true identity of soldiers” grounded in the community and time from which they came. Among those soldiers was John Shee, an Irish gentleman from Ballyreddin, County Kilkenny born to […] The post John Shee: A Grenadier Company Commander at Bunker Hill appeared first on Journal of the American Revolution.| Journal of the American Revolution
The genteel glass rattled through the windows of the “flying machine” as Maj. William Trent tried to stay awake on the coach ride from Bristol to London.[1] The passage across the ocean had been anything but accommodating after he was delayed a week off the coast of Ireland to wait out the angry winds of […] The post Vandalia Colony: American Triumph or Folly? appeared first on Journal of the American Revolution.| Journal of the American Revolution
Introduction As America enters its semiquincentennial year in 2026, there will be numerous celebrations and remembrances of the nation’s founding. The names George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and others will ring familiar as patriots who drafted key documents such as the Declaration of Independence, rode across the countryside to alert […] The post Black Patriots of the American Revolution: A Guide for Teachers appeared first on Journal of t...| Journal of the American Revolution
The engagement between Abraham Buford and Banastre Tarleton at the Waxhaws has attracted controversy since it occurred. Buford has had supporters and detractors, just as students of the battle have exonerated or excoriated Tarleton. The problem has been that this kind of black-or-white determination suggests one side was entirely at fault, the other entirely blameless. […] The post Tarleton at the Waxhaws: A Proposal for Reconciliation appeared first on Journal of the American Revolution.| Journal of the American Revolution
“They are by no means such Troops, in any respect, as you are led to believe of them from the [Accounts] which are published.”[1] So declared General George Washington to his cousin, Lund Washington, nearly two months into his command of the newly formed Continental Army outside Boston. Appointed by the Continental Congress on June […]| Journal of the American Revolution
On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR Contributor Josh Wheeler on Loyalist David Fanning’s raid against Patriots in North Carolina after the British surrender at Yorktown. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Sunday evening(Eastern United States Time), first on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Amazon Music, and the JAR Dispatches web site. Each […] The post This Week on Dispatches: Josh Wheeler on David Fanning’s Murderous Raid appeared first ...| Journal of the American Revolution
Eighteenth-century America was predominantly Protestant, and the Thirteen Colonies suffered from a virulent strain of anti-Catholicism. Despite this, the mostly-Protestant Founding Fathers, while being greatly inspired by their Protestant English forebears, were greatly inspired by Catholic thinkers as well. The United States was not established as a Christian country, with American diplomats asserting in 1797: […] The post “In the Cause of American Liberty:” Catholic Contributions to I...| Journal of the American Revolution
The pivotal military events that transpired in the northern theatre of war during the American Revolution are well known. A chronological list of the main ones would include: the failed American invasion of Canada in 1775-76; the British naval victory on Lake Champlain at the Battle of Valcour Island in 1776; the decisive American victory […] The post Fires and Explosions at Fort St. John’s in 1780 appeared first on Journal of the American Revolution.| Journal of the American Revolution
A few weeks after the Lexington alarm on April 19, 1775 a team of four men set out with congressional approval on a spying expedition through the Maine wilderness, heading for Quebec. Their goal was to determine whether Maine was threatened by the French Canadians, or whether the French wished to cooperate with the Revolution. […] The post Invading Canada: The First Scout of 1775 appeared first on Journal of the American Revolution.| Journal of the American Revolution
By March 1782 Loyalist Col. David Fanning had been a thorn in the side of Patriot forces for some time. Fanning’s perpetually violent methods were well known to Patriots throughout North Carolina, as was his desire to visit retribution upon previous foes. But the story of one of his most infamous raids for that revenge […] The post The Complicated History of David Fanning’s Murderous 1782 Bloody Sabbath Raid appeared first on Journal of the American Revolution.| Journal of the American Revolution
BOOK REVIEW: Winning the Ten Crucial Days: The Keys to Victory in George Washington’s Legendary Winter Campaign by David Price (Brookline Books, 2025) David Price’s Winning the Ten Crucial Days examines Gen. George Washington’s military campaign from December 25, 1776 to January 3, 1777. This short period was one of the most pivotal moments in […]| Journal of the American Revolution
A British cannonball decapitated James McNair, a Continental artillerist, at the Battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778. Thomas Bliss, another American cannoneer, was captured that day. Col. John Durkee, commanding Varnum’s brigade, escaped death that Sunday but his right hand was permanently disabled from a wound received in the morning. Col. Henry Livingston, commanding […] The post The Monmouth Campaign by the Numbers appeared first on Journal of the American Revolution.| Journal of the American Revolution
Introduction It is estimated that over 25,000 Blacks served in the American Revolutionary War. Of these, 20,000, many who had escaped enslavement, served on the British side, largely due to Dunmore’s Proclamation that promised emancipation for “Negroes” who “joined his Majesty’s troops.”[1] An estimated 5,000 to 8,000 served on the American side, some as fighters, […] The post Teaching About the Black Experience through <i>Chains</i> and <i>The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothi...| Journal of the American Revolution
Philadelphia, The Revolutionary City exhibit at the American Philosophical Society (founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1743) positions the historic city as the most consistently politically engaged throughout the war. While New York was occupied by the British for a large portion of the war and Boston saw action at the onset and beginning of the […] The post Review: <i>Philadelphia, The Revolutionary City</i> at the American Philosophical Society appeared first on Journal of the American Revol...| Journal of the American Revolution
Six indigenous nations in upstate New York—the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora—were joined in an alliance for mutual protection. Known as the Haudenosaunee, which means people of the longhouse, or the misnomer Iroquois, at the beginning of the American Revolution they assured the upstart patriots that they would adopt a neutral stance and […]| Journal of the American Revolution
In December 1775, Pope Pius VI released his famed encyclical entitled Inscrutabilie Divinae Sapientiae. Translated as “The Inscrutable Divine Wisdom,” the Pope used his platform to issue a commentary on the most pressing issues of the time. Among the many topics he touched on were threats to the Catholic Church, the shifting politics of Europe, […]| Journal of the American Revolution
One day in the late winter of 1788 in Paris, the Marquis de Lafayette and two other champions of republicanism, Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine, held a little “convention of our own,” according to Lafayette. They were discussing the latest news from America about the debates taking place over ratifying the Constitution of 1787.[1] Jefferson […]| Journal of the American Revolution
BOOK REVIEW: Under Alien Skies: Environment, Suffering, and the Defeat of the British Military in Revolutionary America by Vaughn Scribner (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2024) $29.95 Paperback Historians’ interest in the environment has remade our understanding of the past in recent years. We are now more inclined to appreciate the role that […]| Journal of the American Revolution
Lord North officially presented the second Coercive Act entitled the Bill for Regulating the Government of the Massachusetts’ colony on April 15, 1774. It was read for the first time, ordered to be published and commented on by some of the members of the House. On April 22, the bill was read for a second […]| Journal of the American Revolution
The American Revolution west of the Appalachians produced a number of stories, which in their constant retelling evolved into legends. They created a unique frontier mythology. Just as ancient Greece had Achilles and Odysseus, America west of the Appalachians had Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton. An American officer and frontier scout, Samuel Brady, became one […]| Journal of the American Revolution
In the year 1775, two days after the spring equinox, a meeting was held in Pennsylvania’s York County of over one hundred freemen and an agreement was written to bind them into an Association. The agreement, now in the Rare Book Room of the York County History Center in York, Pennsylvania, read as follows: The […]| Journal of the American Revolution
The Paradox as Context The literature of the Revolution is replete with references to the Founding Fathers’ recognition of the anguishing contradiction between the ideals they ostensibly endorsed in the Declaration of Independence—specifically Thomas Jefferson’s rhetoric about human equality and inalienable rights—and the commitment many of them made to sustaining the institution of human bondage […]| Journal of the American Revolution
BOOK REVIEW: John Hancock: First to Sign, First to Invest in America’s Independence by Willard Sterne Randall (Dutton, 2025). Trends of historical research over the past few decades have steadily moved away from the “Great Man” study of the past that produced a slew of works on singular characters of important periods in favor of […]| Journal of the American Revolution
