Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

American Revolution

Close-up of tent detail in Verplancks Point watercolor

Newly Discovered 235-Year-Old Watercolor Shows Off General Washington’s Wartime Tent

The painting offers a unique glimpse into the Revolutionary War

Cool Finds

Excavations Begin on Paul Revere’s Privy

Archaeologists in Boston hope the outhouse will reveal the diet and detritus of the families that lived on the site

A view of the Nevis volcano on the island of Nevis where Alexander Hamilton was born.

Walk in the Footsteps of Alexander Hamilton on This Tiny Caribbean Island

The island of Nevis was no paradise for young Hamilton

New genealogical scholarship reveals more of the history of an enslaved man, named Chance Bradstreet, who once lived in this house in Ipswich, Massachusetts.

Newly Uncovered Documents Address the Mystery of One Slave’s Life

New details surrounding the identity of the enslaved man who once lived in the storied Ipswich house at the American History Museum

French privateers and the newly reformed U.S. Navy fought in the Quasi War. "Despite these effective U.S. military operations, however, the French seized some 2,000 U.S. vessels during this conflict," writes historian Nathaniel Conley.

This Unremembered US-France ‘Quasi War’ Shaped Early America’s Foreign Relations

America wasn’t officially at war with France between 1798 and 1800, but tell that to the U.S. Navy

When the writing box is unfolded, it offers a slanted writing surface, a drawer to hold inkwells and quills, and plenty of room for paper.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

History Was Writ Large on This Desk Belonging to Thomas Jefferson

The ingenuity of this clever writing box was matched only by the young republic’s innovative declaration for nationhood

Charleston, South Carolina, was founded in 1670 and is the state's oldest city. The drawing depicts it in 1860.

What Did Independence Day Mean to Southerners About to Secede?

As secession loomed, the Fourth of July took on new significance

The ledger will now be stored in the Albany County Hall of Records, shown here.

Cool Finds

Rare Colonial Court Documents Found on eBay

Thanks to a historian’s spidey sense, they’re now housed in a New York archive

John Trumbull's painting, Declaration of Independence, depicting the five-man drafting committee of the Declaration of Independence presenting their work to the Congress.

At Its Core, the Declaration of Independence Was a Plea for Help From Britain’s Enemies

The intended audience for the document could be found in the royal houses of France and Spain

Lock Dating to Revolutionary War Period Found at Michigan Fort

The 250-year-old lock was unearthed in a fur trader’s house at Michilimackinac Fort

Bronze sculpture of Mercy Otis Warren stands in front of Barnstable County Courthouse, Massachusetts.

The Woman Whose Words Inflamed the American Revolution

Mercy Otis Warren used her wit to agitate for independence

A View in Louisburg in North America

Canada

When Nova Scotia Almost Joined the American Revolution

New England expats felt a strong allegiance to the struggles felt by their American friends to the south

The flag of North Carolina includes the dates traditionally associated with the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence and the 1776 Declaration of Independence.

The First Declaration of Independence Drafted in the 13 Colonies Was (Probably) a Hoax

Although some are still very invested in the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, the scholarly community maintains it was never real

Monument Avenue In Richmond, Virginia

What Richmond Has Gotten Right About Interpreting Its Confederate History

And why it hasn’t faced the same controversy as New Orleans or Charlottesville

This copy of the first chart of the Gulf Stream was printed in 1786, ten years after Benjamin Franklin first drew it up.

Benjamin Franklin Was the First to Chart the Gulf Stream

Franklin’s cousin, Timothy Folger, knew how the then-unnamed current worked from his days as a whaler

The Sybil Ludington commemorative stamp was issued by USPS in 1975.

Was There Really a Teenage, Female Paul Revere?

Sybil Ludington has been honored for her contributions to the American Revolution, but there’s little to indicate they were real

Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben was a Prussian soldier designated inspector general of the American Continental Army. He was in charge of training the troops in 1778 during the period of the American Revolutionary War.

The Prussian Nobleman Who Helped Save the American Revolution

When American troops faltered, Baron von Steuben helped whip them into shape

John Adams's official presidential portrait, painted circa 1792 by John Turnbull.

John Adams Was the United States’ First Ambassador as Well as Its Second President

Adams’s house in the Hague was the first-ever U.S. Embassy

Paul Revere gets all the credit, but he had a little help from his friends.

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere and Some Other Guys

The midnight ride wasn’t so much a solo operation as it was a relay

British sailors board a Man of War to recapture the British Hermione in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, two years after the crew had mutinied. Painting by John Augustus Atkinson; Fry & Sutherland; Edward Orme.

How the Bloodiest Mutiny in British Naval History Helped Create American Political Asylum

Outrage over the revolt spurred the U.S. to deliver on a promise of the Revolution

Page 10 of 13