250th Anniversary: The 1774 Boston Port Act Unleashes the Independence Movement in the American Colonies
Americans tend to think of our nation’s official break from its English oppressors as having taken place when the Declaration of Independence was passed by the Continental Congress in June 1776....
”The Nation’s Guest”: The 200th Anniversary of the Marquis de Lafayette’s Tour of America, 1824-25
This month we commemorate one of the most heartfelt moments in American history, when Americans everywhere turned out to welcome the return to the United States of the Marquis de Lafayette, who had...
Remembering James Armistead Lafayette
James Armistead Lafayette was a Continental Army double agent tasked with spying on the British during the Revolutionary War. He was born into slavery and enslaved by William Armistead, a Virginia...
Remembering General John Burgoyne
On this day in 1792, British General John Burgoyne died in London at the age of 70. Along with General Charles Cornwallis, he is one of the most famous generals to lead British troops against...
Remembering Dr. Joseph Warren
One of our most important Founding Fathers, but largely forgotten, is Dr. Joseph Warren, who was one of the leaders of the rebel forces in Boston in the years leading up to our American...
Remembering Patrick Henry
One of the greatest of our Founding Fathers was Patrick Henry, the man who famously declared to his fellow Virginians in 1775, “give me liberty of give me death!” We honor him today on the...
Remembering James Otis Jr.
John Adams said of him that he was a “flame of fire.” The Boston colonists’ nemesis, Governor Thomas Hutchinson, said that he “set the Province in a flame.” Yet, few Americans today know...
May 1775: The 250th Anniversary of the Second Continental Congress, A Watershed Event in American History
Last month, the nation commemorated the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington & Concord—the “Shot Heard Round the World.” The battle was mostly fought by militia men from neighboring...
Remembering Dolley Madison
One of the most interesting First Ladies in American history was Dolley Madison, who was born this day on May 20, 1768. Dolley Payne was born in a log cabin in North Carolina to parents who were...
Remembering Paul Revere
This year is the beginning of “high season” for anniversaries of major events in the history of the American Revolution, including the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington & Concord,...