History of the American Revolution
Fact: The slave trade was banned in England in 1102, 674 years before the American Revolution! A recent claim by Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida at a “Stop Woke Act’ event, stating that prior to the American Revolution no one questioned slavery, is shocking and has absolutely zero factual basis. This is alarming, especially when …
Often misunderstood, the Navigation Act was not born of a punitive measure against a rebellious colony; such as the Coercive Acts of 1774 (labeled the Intolerable Acts by American patriots) which punished Massachusetts after a band of rowdy Bostonians dumped a fortune of East Indian tea in the harbor. The legislation that established England’s Laws …
Honor is like an island; Steep and without Shore; They who once leave; Can never return. French poet Nicholas Boileau Originally Published January 26, 2021 It is with a heavy heart that as senior editor of Revolutionary War Journal, I must share with my readers my outrage over the horrendous attack on our nation’s capitol …
Military literature was of little or no value to the early colonists. There were no vast spreads of farmlands and meadows where massive armies could deploy. Their terrain was wilderness and their forces small. Militias of farmers and merchants, properly armed to protect themselves from the “savages” adopted the same methods as their native opponents. …
African American slaves and bondsmen were issued clothing based on the master’s financial means and his/her willingness to provide for their ‘property’s’ wellbeing. On larger estates, those chosen to work the land or labor in the many outbuildings wore either homespun clothing or simple cloth imported from England. They would finish work and return directly …
American colonies claimed by European nations were for the most part initially run by the private sector through investors in joint corporations. Later, once the colonies proved profitable; two other types of colonial governments would emerge. It required a large sum of money to extract the natural resources and establish trade for each new territory. …
In novels and film, we often come across the exchange of colonial money whose odd assortment of names and values are confusing at best. This exchange of colonial currency lends authenticity to period romantic novels (you know -the ones whose cover has some hunk who misplaced his shirt), or historical colonial dramas set in the …
One of the first journal entries of Virginia’s original settlers had to do with the topic of fisheries. George Percy was aboard one of three sailing ships that entered Chesapeake bay on April 27, 1607. He wrote that “We came to a place where they [natives] had made a great fire, and had been newly …
“In the history of the Revolutionary War, perhaps no single incident is recorded which, at the time of its occurrence, created more intense sympathy, or aroused a spirit of more bitter indignation, than the massacre of Jane McCrea.” David Wilson, 1853 On July 27, 1777, in Argyle, New York, north of Saratoga, John Allen’s family …
Generations of scholars have written countless texts about the myriad origins of the American Revolution. Some are quite good. Some quite bad. Yet all are informative, except maybe one partisan publisher of ‘alternate facts’ that recently made the news. This article tosses another possible source of rebellion into the mix; it is a link to …