The Treaty of Paris 1783 ended the American War for Independence, but it did not bring peace to North America. After 1783, warfare and violence continued between Americans and Native Americans. So how did the early United States attempt to create...
It wasn’t always fireworks on the Fourth. John Adams predicted Americans would celebrate the Second of July, the day Congress voted in favor of independence, “with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations...
Benedict Arnold is an intriguing figure. He was both a military hero who greatly impacted and furthered the American War for Independence with his bravery on the battlefield and someone who did something unthinkable: he betrayed his country. Stephen...
What do we mean by “the state?” How is a “state” produced? Is “the state” something everyone can participate in producing? Ryan Quintana, an Associate Professor of History at Wellesley College and the author of Making a Slave State: Political...
Abigail Adams lived through and participated in the American Revolution. As the wife of John Adams, she used her position to famously remind Adams and his colleagues to “remember the ladies” when they created laws for the new...
The War for Independence was a conflict between Great Britain and her 13 North American colonies. It was also a civil war. Not only did the war pit Briton against Briton, it also pit American against American. But what happened to the Americans who...
Historians refer to the Battle of Saratoga as the “turning point” of the American Revolution. They argue the Patriot Army’s defeat of British General John Burgoyne’s forces convinced the French to enter the War for Independence. Together, French and...
How did every day men and women experience life in colonial America? How did the American Revolution transform their work and personal lives? Today, we explore the answers to those questions by investigating the life of Betsy Ross with Marla Miller...
When we think about the War for American Independence many of us conjure images of Washington crossing the Delaware, Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown, or perhaps the freezing winters at Valley Forge or Jockey Hollow. What we don’t tend to think...
What caused the American Revolution? Can we use the term “American Revolution” to describe both the revolution and the War for Independence? What was the greatest challenge that George Washington and his Continental Army faced during the War for...