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Featured Essays
As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, our founding charter remains central to our national life, unifying us and paving the way for what we have long called “the American Dream.”
America’s extraordinary success is directly related to its unique form of government embodied in the Constitution.
America 250!
American Rebels at Sea | Summer 2022, Vol 67, No 3
By Eric Jay DolinAn estimated 1500 privateering ships played a crucial role in winning the American Revolution, but their contributions are often forgotten.
“The Die is Now Cast” | November/December 2024, Vol 69, No 5
By Joseph J. EllisAmerican resistance to British authority developed with stunning speed 250 years ago in response to George III’s inflexibility.
Drama at the Old North Bridge | Spring 2025, Vol 70, No 2
By Rick Atkinson“Now the war has begun and no one knows when it will end,” said one minuteman after the fight.
The Revolution Could Have Started Here | Summer 2024, Vol 69, No 3
By Bob ThompsonAt a curious stone tower in Somerville, Massachusetts, panic in 1774 could have sparked a war seven months before Lexington and Concord entered the history books.
Why Is the American Revolution So Important? | Spring 2024, Vol 69, No 2
By Jack D. WarrenOur nation is free because, 250 years ago, brave men and women fought a war to establish the independence of the United States and created a system of government to protect the freedom of its citizens.
Classic Essays from the Archives
Finding the Real Jamestown | Winter 2008, Summer 2025, Vol 58, No 1
By William M. KelsoThe archaeologist who discovered the real Jamestown debunks myths, and answers age-old mysteries about North America's first successful English colony.
The Conversion of Harry Truman | November 1991, Vol 42, No 7
By William E. LeuchtenburgA child of the South's "Lost Cause," Truman broke with his convictions to make civil rights a concern of the national government for the first time since Reconstruction. In so doing, he changed the nation forever.
Did Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson Love Each Other? | Fall 2008, Summer 2025, Vol 58, No 5
By Annette Gordon-ReedTo call it a loaded question does not begin to do justice to the matter, given America’s tortured racial history and its haunting legacy.
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