Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Washington Crossing the Delaware, Emanuel Leutze, 1851 Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Special Report

America’s 250th Anniversary

To mark the 250th anniversary of America’s founding on July 4, 1776, Smithsonian magazine is highlighting the people, places and events that shaped the United States’ fight for independence from Great Britain

Nathan Hale was captured and executed by the British within days of his arrival on Long Island. David Maltbie evaded detection for a much longer time, although he, too, was eventually caught by the enemy.

New Research

This Connecticut Teenager Spied on the British During the American Revolution, Succeeding Where Nathan Hale Failed

Newly uncovered documents reveal the story of David Maltbie, who relayed intelligence to the patriots in 1776, narrowly avoiding execution as a spy

A John Trumbull painting of George Washington's capture of Hessian soldiers in Trenton, New Jersey, in December 1776

History

The Hessians Were Supposed to Quickly End the American Revolution. Instead, They Endured Years of Battles and Suffered Thousands of Casualties

Some 30,000 German soldiers fought for the British during the war. Contrary to popular belief, they weren’t mercenaries, and not all were actually Hessians

The Destruction of Tea at Boston Harbor, Nathaniel Currier, 1846

Smart News

A Historian at MIT Discovered the Surprising Truth About This Chinese Label Long Thought to Be a Souvenir of the Boston Tea Party

The saga of the artifact displayed at Boston’s Old South Meeting House demonstrates how the study of history evolves

Before this document was discovered, only ten copies of the Exeter Declaration were known to exist.

Smart News

A Volunteer Stumbled Upon a Strange Document in the U.K. National Archives. It Turned Out to Be a Rare Copy of the Declaration of Independence Printed in July 1776

Michael Scurr, a retired insurance broker, found the text while cataloging boxes of 18th-century correspondence housed at the London archives. It’s the only known copy of its kind outside the United States

A lithograph by Nathaniel Currier, printed between 1835 and 1856, depicting the signing of the Declaration of Independence, is on display in the new exhibition.

Smart News

Thomas Jefferson’s Original Rough Draft of the Declaration of Independence Can Now Be Seen at the Library of Congress

The new exhibition, which shows how the document was edited, also features an early copy of the Gettysburg Address

Big Boy No. 4014 stopped in Philadelphia.

Smart News

The Largest Operating Steam Locomotive in the World Weighs 1.2 Million Pounds. Now, the Historic Train May Be Coming to Your Town

Built in the 1940s, Big Boy No. 4014 retired in 1961 after traveling for more than one million miles. It’s now making its way across the country in honor of America’s 250th birthday

More From the Archives

Graves of unidentified soldiers who died at the Battle of Camden

History

DNA Reveals the Identity of a Teenager Who Died in the Revolutionary War, Cracking a Nearly 250-Year-Old Cold Case

John Pumphrey was still a boy when he enlisted in the Continental Army in 1777. After archaeologists discovered his remains, a genetic genealogy analysis identified 20,000 DNA matches for living relatives

Established in 1660, the Granary Burying Ground is Boston’s third-oldest cemetery. 

Smart News

The City of Boston Discovered One of the Oldest Known Gravestones of a Free Black American, Who Shared a Name With the Massachusetts Capital

Also known as Sebastian, he died in 1729 and is buried alongside Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Paul Revere. His life tells a story of slavery and freedom in the North before the American Revolution

Bernardo de Gálvez by José Nicolás de la Escalera on display in the National Portrait Gallery exhibition “Out of Many: Portraits from 1600 to 1900.”

At the Smithsonian

This Spanish Officer Besieged the British During the American Revolution, Giving George Washington Time to Plan a Pivotal Attack

Bernardo de Gálvez indirectly contributed to the Continental Army’s victory at the 1781 Siege of Yorktown. A rare painting of him is now on view at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery

The country’s oldest specialty smallpox hospital in New York City

Smart News

The Oldest Black Church in the U.S., the Wright Brothers’ Home and a New York Hospital Are Among the American Heritage Sites in Urgent Need of Preservation

For its “Irreplaceable America” list in honor of the 250th birthday of the United States, the World Monuments Fund chose endangered historic sites of innovation, creativity and spirituality to publicize and support

Founders and Unsung Heroes

This painting, titled <em>Excelsior</em>, shows Liberty and Justice as allegorical figures. A new exhibition “moves past symbolism to center the real expertise and labor of women who navigated a world of blurred allegiances to help found the United States,” says Louise Mirrer, president and CEO of the New York Historical.

History

During the Revolution, American Women Fought for Freedom, Spied on the British, Cared for the Sick and Fell in Love. A New Exhibition Reveals Their Rich Wartime Stories

Now on view at the New York Historical, "Revolutionary Women" spotlights figures with connections to the state, including a Jewish chocolatier, a Mohawk leader and a woman who disguised herself as a man to enlist in the Continental Army

A depiction of George Washington and his mother, Mary Ball Washington, attending a ball celebrating the surrender at Yorktown in 1781

History

The Reinvention of George Washington's Mother, From Paragon of Virtue to Greedy Shrew to Widow Striving for Independence

A new biography examines how 19th-century Americans remembered Mary Ball Washington, who raised the future president largely on her own after her husband’s death in 1743

William E. Leuchtenburg's new book spotlights (from left to right) George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe and John Quincy Adams.

History

What the American Revolution Taught the United States' First Presidents

A new book by historian William E. Leuchtenburg examines how the first six commanders in chief embodied the revolutionary spirit and set precedents that shaped their successors' tenures

The president of Poland, the senior United States senator from Illinois and much of the Chicago political machine gathered beneath this painting, <em>Pulaski at Savannah</em>, on the first Monday in March.

History

Discover the Short Life and Long Legacy of Casimir Pulaski, a Polish Cavalry Officer Who Became an American Revolutionary Hero

On the first Monday in March, Pulaski Day festivities at Chicago's Polish Museum of America honored the "Father of American Cavalry," 280 years after his birth

Catalysts for Revolution

This engraving by Paul Revere offered a specific argument about what happened that day in Boston.

History

A Fresh Look at the Boston Massacre, 250 Years After the Event That Jumpstarted the Revolution

The five deaths may have shook the colonies, but a new book examines the personal relationships forever changed by them too

The Bostonians’ “preferred outcome” was for the tea to be “peacefully sent back to London,” says historian Benjamin L. Carp. “It’s only when they find out … the governor is not going to let [that happen] that they say, ‘Well, we have no choice [but] to destroy [the tea].”

History

The Many Myths of the Boston Tea Party

Contrary to popular belief, the 1773 protest opposed a tax break, not a tax hike. And it didn't immediately unify the colonies against the British

None

History

At a Bold Meeting 250 Years Ago, the Continental Congress Set America in Motion

While far less famous than the coalition that met in 1775, this group of founders found agreement in their disagreements and laid the groundwork for a revolution

“Here … we claim the first blow was struck in the war of independence,” wrote Salem historian Charles Moses Endicott in his account of Leslie's Retreat.

History

Was This Little-Known Standoff Between British Soldiers and Colonists the Real Start of the American Revolution?

On February 26, 1775, residents of Salem, Massachusetts, banded together to force the British to withdraw from their town during an oft-overlooked encounter known as Leslie's Retreat

The Revolutionary War

A John Trumbull painting of the death of General Hugh Mercer at the Battle of Princeton in 1777

History

Ken Burns Says His New Documentary Forced Him to Revisit Everything He Thought He Knew About the American Revolution

Ahead of the PBS production's premiere, the legendary filmmaker and co-director Sarah Botstein share insights on their research process and the surprising, long-overlooked stories featured in the six-part series

John Hancock left this trunk of documents at a Lexington tavern. Paul Revere and fellow Bostonian John Lowell recovered the trove of papers and carried it across the village green.

History

Everyone Remembers Paul Revere's Midnight Ride. But His Forgotten Race to Secure a Trove of Documents Reveals How Government Records Helped Win the War

During the American Revolution, both the British and the patriots fought to keep sensitive papers out of enemy hands

The <em>Philadelphia</em>, a flat-bottomed gunboat, served briefly at the Battle of Valcour Island in October 1776. Thanks to Smithsonian conservators, the <em>Philadelphia</em> is coming back to life in the National Museum of American History.

At the Smithsonian

The Gunboat ‘Philadelphia’ Lasted One Day in Battle. It’s Still Telling Us About the Revolution 250 Years Later

The 29-ton ship went to war against the British, then sat at the bottom of Lake Champlain for 160 years. Now it’s a relic of ragged glory

An 1812 illustration of a private from the Fifth West India Regiment. In the 1790s, the remaining members of the Carolina Corps became part of the newly established First West India Regiment.

History

These Black Soldiers Fought for the British During the American Revolution in Exchange for Freedom From Slavery

The Carolina Corps achieved emancipation through military service, paving the way for future fighters in the British Empire to do the same