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Largely overlooked in histories of the Revolution, the Battle of the Chesapeake is in fact one of the most important naval engagements in history, leading to the American victory at Yorktown.
Excerpted from the George Washington Book Prize finalist In the Hurricane's Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown
While Arnold is a villain in the eyes of most Americans, he was considered the most brilliant officer on either side of the Revolutionary War. Why would he commit a crime so inexcusable?
Excerpted from the George Washington Book Prize finalist The Tragedy of Bene
Native American peoples and the lands they possessed loomed large for Washington, from his first trips westward as a surveyor to his years as President.
A leading historian of World War I picks the best accounts of the war among the hundreds he's consulted in his research.
We asked Edward Lengel, a Contributing Editor of American Heritage, to chose his favorite memoirs of World War I and tell us a little about them. Mr.
He was unlike any other baseball star in America, a blond-haired boy from the heartland whose raw power and mythical purity made him a hero
History professors Roberts and Smith recently co-authored A Season in t
He was unlike any other baseball star in America, a blond-haired boy from the heartland whose raw power and mythical purity made him a hero
History professors Roberts and Smith recently co-authored A Season in t
A curious story of religion, sex, and baseball grew out of a long-forgotten postcard among her grandmother’s belongings.
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The first man to set foot on the Moon fifty years ago this summer is remembered by his friend and colleague, a former astronaut and Administrator of NASA.
Tears ran down the cheeks of Abraham Lincoln when he heard the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” sung in Congress by a chaplain who had survived a Confederate prison. It would become the most famous literary production of the Civil War.
In the bitter debate over the War of 1812, the decorated veteran nearly died fighting a Baltimore mob in defense of an unpopular Federalist publisher.
He fought the alliance between corporations and political bosses, to take back government for farmers, workers, and consumers.
We've gotten one farce after another from the secretive judges at the Swedish Academy who confer the world's most prestigious prize for literature
Last year’s scandal surrounding the Nobel Prize for Literature was only the latest in a history almost too farcical for Moliere.
The daughter of a Gaelic-speaking fisherman on a remote Scottish island emigrated to New York, worked as a maid in the Carnegie Mansion, and married Fred Trump. Her son would become President.
Editor's Note: Nina Burleigh was National Political Correspondent for Newsweek and has written for numerous publications including Time, The New York Times, New Yorker, The Washington Post, and The Guardian. She is the author of seven books includin
For most of the 1800s, whites in blackface performed in widely popular minstrel shows, creating racist stereotypes that endured for more than a century.
For most of the 1800s, whites in blackface performed in widely popular minstrel shows, creating racist stereotypes that endured for more than a century.
Just before Christmas of 1783, General George Washington returned to Mount Vernon and looked forward to spending his remaining years at his favorite occupation, that of a Virginia country gentleman.
After the fighting—after Trenton, Valley Forge, Monmouth, and Yorktown—after all the sleeplessness and the care, George Washington longed to return to the reassuring routine of his beloved Mount Vernon.
The first significant Union victory in the Civil War is now honored at one of the newest National Monuments. It was a battle too often ignored by historians and the public.
On February 12, 2019 the U.S. Senate passed conservation legislation that if signed by the President will protect millions of acres of land and establish four new National Parks.
Four hundred years ago this year, two momentous events happened in Britain’s fledgling colony in Virginia: the New World’s first democratic assembly convened, and an English privateer brought kidnapped Africans to sell as slaves. Such were the conflicted origins of modern America.
Historian James Horn, a frequent contributor to American Heritage, is President of the Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation.
Taft is remembered for emphasizing constitutional restraint as President, but he also set aside more public lands and brought more anti-trust suits than his predecessor, Theodore Roosevelt. And he set the standard for integrity and personal conduct in the White House.
Jeffrey Rosen is a historian, law professor, and President and CEO of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
The idea is 70 years old, but it took decades to make it possible and decades more to make it commonplace
His experiences in the Civil War shaped the mind of one of our greatest jurists.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. was one of the most influential judges ever to take the bench, serving as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court for thirty years and largely defining First Amendment rights as we now understand them.
In 1942, over a quarter of a million ordinary citizens volunteered to help defend our country as Nazi submarines terrorized the East Coast and Caribbean waters, sinking fuel tankers and cargo ships with near impunity.
After World War I, Army Intelligence officers collected statements from German soldiers and citizens.
After the War, American intelligence officers combed through interrogation records and intercepted letters to compiled a report about what Germans thought of their former enemies.
In October 1918, 600 men of the 77th Division attacked a heavily defended German position, charging forward until they were completely surrounded by enemy forces. Only 194 men walked out when they were finally rescued.
For much of the last ten years, military historian Edward G. Lengel has researched the First World War.
A century after the guns fell silent along the Western Front, the work they did there remains of incalculable importance to the age we inhabit and the people we are
During the World War I, American jazz bands played at hospitals, rest camps and other venues, delighting doughboys and Europeans alike.
Nearing its 70th anniversary, the magazine was relaunched in digital format for 72,000 subscribers.
In 1958, my father was honored to join the staff of American Heritage, one of America’s most revered magazines, eventually becoming its Managing Editor and helping many historians strengthen their writing.
We re-publish an essay President Hoover wrote for American Heritage in 1958 recounting his experiences as an aide to Woodrow Wilson at the peace talks after World War I. This important first-person narrative candidly details the difficulties that Wilson faced in what Hoover called “the greatest drama of intellectual leadership in all history.”
Reprinted from the June 1958 issue of American Heritage.
Divisions in society and religion that still exist today resulted from the "Great Awakenings" of the 18th Century
For my Part I can’t but think ...
American colonial elites surrounded themselves with paintings, furniture, and other objects to shape their identities, and set themselves apart from other elements of society