AMERICAN HERITAGE

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.”

The Genius of America: Our Constitution

by Eric Lane

America’s extraordinary success is directly related to its unique form of government embodied in the Constitution.

They Turned the World Upside Down

by Richard Bell

American patriots began a conflict that spread around the globe.

“The Law is King”

by Matthew Spalding

The Rule of Law is the great foundation of our Constitution and our Nation.

America 250!

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.

Lafayette: A Hero Among Heroes | Summer 2021, Vol 65, No 5

By Harlow Giles Unger

No figure in the Revolutionary era inspired as much affection and reverence as Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette

With Little Less Than Savage Fury | Fall 2010, Vol 60, No 3

By Thomas B. Allen

America’s first civil war took place during the Revolution, an ultra-violent, family-splitting, and often vindictive conflict between "patriots" and loyalists.

Big Guns For Washington | April 1955, Vol 6, No 3

By Clay Perry

How tough Henry Knox hauled a train of cannon over wintry trails to help drive the British away from Boston

American Rebels at Sea | Summer 2022, Vol 67, No 3

By Eric Jay Dolin

An estimated 1500 privateering ships played a crucial role in winning the American Revolution, but their contributions are often forgotten.

Classic Essays from the Archives

America: Experiment or Destiny? | June 1977, Summer 2025, Vol 70, No 3

By Arthur Schlesinger Jr.

We can take pride in our nation, not as we pretend to a commission from God and a sacred destiny, but as we struggle to fulfill our deepest values in an inscrutable world.

Did Castro Okay the Kennedy Assassination? | Winter 2009, Vol 58, No 6

By Gus Russo

Incriminating new evidence has come to light in KGB files and the authors' interviews of former Cuban intelligence officers which indicates that Fidel Castro probably knew in advance of Oswald's intent to kill JFK.

Finding the Real Jamestown | Winter 2008, Summer 2025, 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.