AMERICAN HERITAGE

Featured Articles

Discovered: First Maps of the American Revolution

Previously unknown, a map drawn by Lord Percy, the British commander at Lexington, sheds new light on the perilous retreat to Boston 250 years ago this month.

The Shots Heard Round the World

by John Ferling

What began as a civil war within the British Empire continued until it became a wider conflict affecting peoples and countries across Europe and North America.

The Forgotten Battle of Menotomy

by Michael Ruderman

Overshadowed in memory by Lexington and Concord, the Massachusetts town of Menotomy saw the most violent and deadly fighting on April 19, 1775.

Introduction: Revisiting Concord and Lexington

by Edwin S. Grosvenor

This special issue looks at the dramatic and momentous events that occurred 250 years ago this month.

Drama at the Old North Bridge

by Rick Atkinson

“Now the war has begun and no one knows when it will end,” said one minuteman after the fight.

Classic Essays from Our Archives

The Meaning of 1918 | Fall 2018 - World War I Special Issue, Vol 63, No 3

By John Lukacs

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.

"I Had Prayed to God That This Thing Was Fiction…" | February 1990, Vol 41, No 1

By William Wilson

He didn’t want the job, but felt he should do it. For the first time, the soldier who tracked down the My Lai story for the office of the inspector general in 1969 tells what it was like to do some of this era’s grimmest detective work.

Who Invented Scalping? | April 1977, Vol 28, No 3

By James Axtell

In recent years many voices—both Native-American and white—have questioned whether Indians did in fact invent scalping. What is the evidence?

Finding the Real Jamestown | Winter 2008, Vol 58, No 1

By William M. Kelso

The archaeologist who discovered the real Jamestown debunks myths, and answers age-old mysteries about North America's first successful English colony.

How My Father and President Kennedy Saved The World | October 2002, Vol 53, No 5

By Sergei Khrushchev

The Cuban Missile Crisis as seen from the Kremlin

The Slave Who Sued for Freedom | March 1990, Vol 41, No 2

By Jon Swan

While the American Revolution was still being fought, Mum Bett declared that the new nation’s principle of liberty must extend to her, too. It took 80 years and a far-more-terrible war to confirm the rights that she had demanded.

Today in History

Johnson acquitted in impeachment trial

The Senate cannot reach a 2/3 majority vote, acquitting President Andrew Johnson of eleven articles of impeachment. His impeachment stemmed from the dismissal of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, which violated the recently-instituted Tenure of Office Act. The measure fell one vote short of conviction and after two subsequent unsuccessul votes, Johnson remained in office.
More »
Sedition Act of 1918 passes

President Woodrow Wilson signs the Sedition Act of 1918 into law, making it illegal to use profane or malicious language towards the United States government. The act, passed in the context of World War I, amended the Espionage Act of 1917, which punished Americans citizens who worked with unfriendly foreign governments or interfered with military recruitment and the sale of war bonds.
More »
First Oscars

The first Academy Awards are given out at the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood, honoring outstanding achievements in film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had already announced the winners three months prior, and the First Academy Awards was the only ceremony not on the radio or television.