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History
Historical writing, research and perspectives.
- Journal of the American Revolution Read
Trade, Land, Speculation: William Kerin Constable in the Age of Revolution
The Marquis de Lafayette arrived in New York City to great fanfare on August 16, 1824. Two days later the sixty-six year old Frenchman and his entourage made their way across the East River to inspect the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Before returning to Manhattan, they paid a social call to the Brooklyn Heights home of
- Journal of the American Revolution Read
David Steele’s Macabre Medal
Introduction When most people think of medals, they think of portable discs often suspended from a ribbon and made of metal (frequently gold, silver, or bronze) that commemorate a deed, an event, or an achievement. Revolutionary War veteran David Steele’s medal was neither circular nor metal, embossed nor engraved. He received it not from the
- Journal of the American Revolution Read
The Loyalist Experience and Aftermath in Revolutionary Philadelphia
BOOK REVIEW: The Loyalist Experience and Aftermath in Revolutionary Philadelphia by Kimberly Nath (Brookline, 2026) $32.95 hardcover. In an 1813 letter to his former congressional colleague Thomas McKean, John Adams provided his own conjecture as to what percentage of the American population actively supported the American Revolution. Clarifying McKean’s own inexact claim that “the great
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America’s Original Stimulus Package: A Catalytic, Consequential Fishing Policy
The heady days of the Declaration of Independence, struggle, victory, and a new Constitution were all behind him. Now, within weeks of taking office as President of the United States, George Washington presided over a toxic political atmosphere. Despite initial hopes for national unity, a vicious partisan press had emerged. Mobs on the frontier flirted
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The Battle of Cowpens: Correcting A Historical Error
The Battle of Cowpens, fought on January 17, 1781, in South Carolina, was one of the most significant American victories in the War for Independence. At a relatively low cost in casualties, the Americans destroyed the light troops of the British southern army, which not only weakened British control of South Carolina but more importantly,
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Closing the Ring: George Washington’s War in the North, 1778–1781
BOOK REVIEW: Closing the Ring: George Washington’s War in the North 1778–1781 by Jeffrey A Denman (Havertown, PA: Casemate, 2026) $34.95 hardcover. When historians and the general public consider the more prominent moments of the American Revolution, they surely think of Lexington and Concord, the battles of Bunker Hill, Trenton, Saratoga, and the Siege of
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The Long, Sad Life of the Continental Frigate Delaware
On October 13, 1775, Congress resolved to buy four merchant ships and convert them to warships. Three more ships were soon acquired. A naval committee was established. The Continental Navy was created. On December 11 Congress authorized a new committee to devise ways and means of developing the navy. A member of the congress from
- Journal of the American Revolution Read
James Wilson and Popular Sovereignty: Recovering the Democratic Foundations of the American Constitution
Recovering James Wilson’s Constitutional Vision Few figures of the American founding exhibit a greater disparity between historical significance and public recognition than James Wilson. A signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution, one of the Constitutional Convention’s most influential delegates, and an original Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Wilson
- Journal of the American Revolution Read
American Patriarch: The Life of George Washington by H. W. Brands
American Patriarch: The Life of George Washington by H. W. Brands (New York, NY: Doubleday, 2026) $40.00 hardcover. The prolific historian H. W. Brands has added to his Revolutionary Era portfolio (previous books include Founding Partisans, Heirs of the Founders and Our First Civil War) with his biography of His Excellency, American Patriarch: The Life
- Journal of the American Revolution Read
From Roxbury to Exeter: The Evolution of a Revolutionary Song
Revolutionary patriotic songs did not always remain fixed after entering circulation. Soldiers, civilians, and families copied and performed them in manuscripts and other informal settings, allowing their wording and content to change over time.[1] A small manuscript ledger kept in rural Exeter, Rhode Island, between approximately 1793 and 1798 preserves evidence of this process. Amid
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This Week on Dispatches: Davis Richardson on Lafayette, Jefferson, and Revolutionary Ideas
On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor and historian Davis Richardson about the correspondence between the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in the wake of the American Revolution and the coming French Revolution. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Sunday evening(Eastern United States Time), first on iTunes, Stitcher,
- Journal of the American Revolution Read
An Irruption into Canada: The Planned Winter Campaign of 1778
Just a few months after the Revolutionary War began, Congress authorized the invasion of Canada. After some initial success, the invading forces were defeated at the Battle of Quebec in December 1775 and were forced out of Canada entirely the following June. Despite this failure, many still expected Canada to join the union as the
- Journal of the American Revolution Read
When the Declaration of Independence Was News
BOOK REVIEW: When the Declaration of Independence Was News by Emily Sneff. (Oxford University Press, 2026) $29.99 hardcover Most accounts of the Declaration of Independence focus on the events leading up to the pivotal July 2, 1776, vote on independence. Taking a different tack, historian Emily Sneff, in a book based on her Ph.D. thesis,
- Journal of the American Revolution Read
Washington’s Invalid Corps: Wounded Warriors Still Served the Revolutionary Cause
Although some readers may be familiar with the Civil War’s Invalid Corps, which wrought value and service from even grievously wounded men during that conflict, few probably know that America’s first such organization appeared during the Revolutionary War. Like its later counterpart, Washington’s Corps of Invalids provided the nation valuable service and roles for men
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