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Featured Essays
While Robert Morris is remembered as the "financier of the Revolution," his partner and former boss, Thomas Willing, has been lost to history despite his own contributions to early American business and finance.
Decades before the Ayatollah, even before the shah, early Americans found themselves enchanted with Iranian culture, politics, and history.
By organizing weekly gatherings of political leaders and citizens, she proved democracy works best when rivals see one another as human beings.
William Seward's 1868 attempt to acquire the Danish territory was the country's first, but not the last.
America 250!
Boston's Freedom Trail | July/August 2020, Vol 65, No 4
By Brent GlassSixteen 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.
“Boston Harbor a Tea-pot This Night!” | Spring 2024, Vol 69, No 2
By Benjamin CarpThe dumping of tons of tea in protest set the stage for the American Revolution and was a window on the culture and attitudes of the time.
The Battle that Led to Victory at Yorktown | Fall 2019 - George Washington Prize Books, Vol 64, No 5
By Nathaniel PhilbrickLargely 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.
Patriots or Terrorists? | Fall 2008, Vol 58, No 5
By Edwin G. BurrowsThe Lost Story of Revolutionary War POW’s
Leadership of the Founders | Winter 2026, Vol 71, No 1
By Joseph J. EllisOur nation came into being thanks to an unexpected explosion of political talent in an emerging nation on the fringe of the Atlantic world.
Classic Essays from the Archives
Herbert Hoover Describes the Ordeal of Woodrow Wilson | June 1958, Vol 9, No 4
By Herbert HooverThe great tragedy of the twenty-eighth President as witnessed by his loyal lieutenant, the thirty-first.
A Yankee Among The War Lords | October 1970, Vol 21, No 6
By Barbara W. TuchmanFirst of the Three Parts from STILWELL THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE IN CHINA 1911-1945
“Perdicaris Alive or Raisuli Dead” | August 1959, Summer 2025, Vol 10, No 5
By Barbara W. TuchmanJohn Hay’s ringing phrase helped nominate T. R., but it covered an embarrassing secret that remained concealed for thirty years.
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