Non-Profit Dedicated to Historical Education of the American Revolution and the Colonial Period
The Molasses Act of 1733 was an attempt by the British Parliament, under de facto Whig Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole[1], to control the molasses trade that produced rum; a major source of income for the North American colonial markets – more so than tobacco. The act placed a high tax on any molasses that …
Hugh Gaine was the leading newspaper publisher in New York City and its most successful printer during the time of the American Revolution. He was often accused for his absence of moral fiber, choosing which side of the rebellion to back as easily as one would pick which hat to don for a day’s outing. …
By the spring of 1781, six years of war in America had witnessed thousands of homes and homesteads plundered and torched. British and American punitive raids and foraging parties scoured coastal and inner regions. Politics and hatred morphed into one as a civil war erupted between militia bands of patriots and loyalists. In early April, …
William Floyd (1734–1821) of Suffolk County Long Island was the first of the New York delegation to the Second Continental Congress to sign the Declaration of Independence and the fourth member of Congress to do so. A wealthy Long Island farmer, prior to the American Revolution he was a colonel of the Suffolk County Militia. …
Colonial leaders always had misgivings about black enlistments in militias during pre-Revolutionary War years and later among those who fought for American Independence. Though there was a large population of available African Americans to fill the ranks of colonial enlistments, the number one fear both north and south was the apprehension that slaves trained in …
Ignorance does more damage than anything I know of. I believe that we need a fuller and more complete history taught, so we can learn from our mistakes. Noah “Ned Hector” Lewis Interview First Posted on American Revolution Photos. Interview by Ken Bohrer, June 30, 2022 There were so many more questions I wanted to …
The Battle of Rhode Island began on August 9, 1778 with an American siege of the British garrison at Newport, Rhode Island. It ending twenty days later on August 29th with the Americans in full retreat and a British attack on their rear-guard. America and France’s first joint effort in the American Revolution had ended …
Much has been written about Prince Whipple over the years (c. 1750 – 1796); mainly related to folk lore and romantic vignettes that gained prominence when Prince was incorrectly associated with two paintings depicting General George Washington crossing the Delaware River. Bare bones facts indicate that as a free child in Africa, Prince was caught …
Philip Abbot (also spelt Phillip Abbot or Phillip Abbott) fought and died at the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775, Charlestown, a hefty stone throw over the Charles River to Boston, Massachusetts. Philip was a slave, owned by Nathan Abbott who survived the carnage. We don’t know much about Philip. Except he was there; …
Thomas Heyward Jr (July 28, 1746 – March 6, 1809) was a planter, lawyer, judge, politician, and soldier. One of the Founding Fathers who attended the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, he was among the last to sign the Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776. On February 3, 1779, as captain of artillery in …
In 1780, as the War for Independence raged throughout North America, a crier standing in the central square of Sheffield, Massachusetts, a small town in the western part of the former colony, read from the state’s newly enacted constitution. When he came to Article 1 he clamored, “All Men are born Free and Equal,” a …
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 …
It is a pleasure to present my good friend and American Revolution Photographer Ken Bohrer’s interview with American Revolution reenactor Noah “Ned Hector” Lewis – Black Revolutionary War Hero. This is the first interview of a three part series. Ken Bohrer’s website American Revolution Photos has over eight thousand outstanding photos and dozens of videos of …
“A downright democracy!“ British officer describes Rhode Island. In the summer of 1772, angry New England zealots carried out a far more hostile and dangerous attack against the British crown’s authority a year and a half later, December 16, 1773, when a bunch of patriots dressed up as Native Americans dumped a ton of tea …
Christopher Greene was leading the Rhode Island 1st, the first African American Regiment in the Continental Army [the first black regiment of the war was British – Virginia Royal Governor Dunmore’s Ethiopian Brigade in 1775], when he was killed and mutilated at the Battle of Pines Bridge in a vicious attack by British Loyalist ‘Cowboys’, …