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Featured Essays

Recent rehabilitation of this important site at the Gettysburg battlefield provides a much improved experience for visitors.

Dickinson played a pivotal role in our Nation’s founding, from the Stamp Act to ratifying the Constitution, but his contributions are largely forgotten by history.

Some delegates at the Constitutional Convention wanted a strong executive, while others feared the American president might become a king.

In the Age of Discovery, maps held closely guarded secrets for the kings, adventurers, and merchants who first acquired them.

America 250!

Glover and the “Indispensables” Save Washington’s Army | Spring 2024, Vol 69, No 2

By Patrick K. O'Donnell

John Glover and the men of Marblehead saved the Continental Army several times, and then helped it cross the Delaware to victory at Trenton and Princeton.

washington delaware

The Meaning of America’s Birthday | , Vol 71, No 1

By Wilfred M. McClay

While we “know” more and more about the American past, too many of our citizens are ignorant of who we are and where we came from.

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The Plight of Massachusetts Loyalists | Spring 2024, Vol 69, No 2

By Larry C. Kerpelman

In “the cradle of the American Revolution,” loyalists to the Crown faced a harsh choice: live with terrible abuse where they were, or flee to friendlier, but alien regions.

loyalists during the revolution

The Shots Heard Round the World | Spring 2025, Vol 70, No 2

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.

shots heard round the world

Boston's Freedom Trail | July/August 2020, Vol 65, No 4

By Brent Glass

Sixteen historic sites in Boston remind Americans of the events that led to our nation’s birth, from the Boston Massacre to Breed's Hill and the USS Constitution.

freedom trail

Classic Essays from the Archives

“The Miraculous Care Of Providence” | February/March 1982, Vol 33, No 2

By James Thomas Flexner

George Washington’s Narrow Escapes

washington princeton

"The Sparck of Rebellion" | Winter 2010, Summer 2025, Vol 70, No 3

By Douglas Brinkley

Badly disguised as Indians, a rowdy group of patriotic vandals kicked a revolution into motion.

boston tea party

“Perdicaris Alive or Raisuli Dead” | August 1959, Summer 2025, Vol 10, No 5

By Barbara W. Tuchman

John Hay’s ringing phrase helped nominate T. R., but it covered an embarrassing secret that remained concealed for thirty years.

perdicaris incident

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