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American Revolution

An aerial view of the Sesquicentennial International Exposition

America's 250th Anniversary

America’s 150th Birthday Celebration Was Deemed the Nation’s ‘Greatest Flop.’ What Went Wrong With the Sesquicentennial?

Philadelphia politicians hoped to replicate the success of the 1876 Centennial Exposition. Instead, the 1926 world’s fair lost millions of dollars, essentially bankrupting the city on the eve of the Great Depression

Eric Conrad donated the table to the Betsy Ross House on Flag Day.  

America's 250th Anniversary

You Can Now See Betsy Ross’ Sewing Table in Philadelphia, Thanks to a Flag Day Donation From Her Great-Great-Great-Great Grandson

The origins of the Stars and Stripes are murky, but generations of Americans have admired stories about Ross creating the first American flag

Gordon S. Wood was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama in 2011. 

America's 250th Anniversary

Four Reasons You Should Know More About Gordon S. Wood, the Scholar of the American Revolution Who Died This Week at Age 92

The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, who wrote of the “radicalism” of the country’s founding, was killed in a car collision in a parking lot

Workers recovered this cannon from the Savannah River in 2022.

Cool Finds

Workers Dredging the Savannah River Stumbled Upon 19 Cannons That Had Been Underwater Since the Revolutionary War

The centuries-old artifacts emerged from the riverbed between 2021 and 2022. Experts spent several years carefully restoring 17 of them, which will make their public debut in a new exhibition

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America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

Among All the Great Things Benjamin Franklin Invented or Discovered, His Alter Egos Gave Him the Most Freedom

Silence Dogood. Richard Saunders. Benevolus. Sidi Mehemet Ibrahim. All were pen names that allowed Franklin to say things he couldn’t have otherwise said

The view from Olana State Historic Site in Hudson, New York.

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

America’s Original Travel Influencer Drew Up a Revolutionary Itinerary 200 Years Ago. There’s Still Plenty to See Along the Way

Follow along as we retrace the route one journalist laid out in “The Fashionable Tour,” from New York City to Niagara Falls, when memories of the fight for independence were still fresh

Liberty Lager is a brew inspired by Washington’s small beer recipe.

America's 250th Anniversary

George Washington Recorded a Recipe for Beer While Leading a Militia. Thanks to the New York Public Library, You Can Imbibe That History This Summer

To celebrate America’s 250th birthday, the library partnered with a brewery to produce the founding father’s beer — and an updated version more pleasing to modern palates

This painting, titled Excelsior, 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.

America's 250th Anniversary

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

After Isaac Newton, above, revolutionized celestial mechanics, admirers such as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and Paine, left, saw in Newton’s natural laws a model for democratic self-government.

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

The American Revolution’s Overlooked Influence? Physics. How ‘Common Sense’ Spelled Out Astronomical Expectations for a New Nation

The manifesto leaned heavily on Isaac Newton’s theories in making a case for independence, and fellow founders drew on the notion to build a new system of government

Pulling Down the Statue of George III, Johannes Adam Simon Oertel, engraved by John C. McRae, published by Joseph Laing, 1859

In 1776, Angry New Yorkers Tore Down a Statue of George III With a Revolutionary Fervor. A New Exhibition Lets You Do It, Too

New York City played a pivotal role in the American Revolution. This museum brings the city’s 18th-century history to life through artifacts, immersive environments and interactive experiences

Angel Island Immigration Station 

America's 250th Anniversary

To Mark America’s 250th Birthday, See the Country’s ‘Most Endangered Historic Places’ You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

From a Revolutionary War battlefield to a civil rights-era safe haven, these historic sites are at risk, according to the latest list from the National Trust for Historic Preservation

The entrance gate to the Jewish cemetery on St. Eustatius

America's 250th Anniversary

This Jewish Community in the Caribbean Smuggled Gunpowder to the Patriots During the Revolution. A British Admiral Condemned the Island as a ‘Nest of Vipers’

A new exhibition at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, in Philadelphia, spotlights the little-known wartime contributions of the Jews of St. Eustatius

Visitors view the Star-Spangled Banner at the National Museum of American History.

The National Museum of American History Is Displaying 250 Objects to Commemorate the Country’s Big Birthday. Here’s the Story Behind Ten of the Artifacts

Featuring iconic and everyday items, including a Revolutionary War gunboat and a first-generation iPod, “In Pursuit of Life, Liberty & Happiness” is open now at the museum

A Benjamin West painting of the reception of American loyalists by Great Britain in 1783

America's 250th Anniversary

Born and Raised in Philadelphia, This Loyalist Fled to England During the American Revolution. In His Absence, the Patriots Declared Him a Traitor and Seized His Property

Matthias Aspden spent his time abroad yearning for his “native country.” His heirs later took the government to court, arguing that the estate had been confiscated unjustly

Libertas Americana medal 

America's 250th Anniversary

Benjamin Franklin Styled Lady Liberty’s Look in This Medal He Commissioned to Honor American and French Allies in the Revolutionary War

Franklin combined art with diplomacy to create the Libertas Americana. For the United States’ 250th anniversary, the Paris Mint is giving the design a refresh

The collection includes writings on Franklin’s experiments with electricity.

Before He Was a Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin Founded the Lending Library. Now His Belongings Are on Display There Before Heading to Auction

In 1731, book lover Franklin created the Library Company of Philadelphia, where this week visitors can see a collection of his papers worth an estimated $3 million to $4.5 million

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.

America's 250th Anniversary

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 HMS Victory at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard in England

How Do You Lift a 30,000-Pound Mast From a Warship Built a Record-Breaking 261 Years Ago? With a Really, Really Big Crane

HMS “Victory” served in the American Revolution, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. It’s the world’s oldest warship still in commission—but it’s in desperate need of repairs

An 1818 John Trumbull painting of the presentation of the draft Declaration of Independence to the Continental Congress

In 1776, the Declaration of Independence Was Breaking News. Here’s How the Founding Document Reached the American Public

A new book by historian Emily Sneff records the journeys of the Declaration’s first printed copies, tracking their reception in the Thirteen Colonies and overseas

Two U.S. Navy officers stroll past the sunlit Georgian splendor of Middleton Tavern in Annapolis, Maryland. Horatio Middleton established the tavern here in 1750. Today, visitors can order classic Chesapeake seafood, including oysters and rockfish.

America's 250th Anniversary

Follow in the Footsteps of the Founders and Have a Drink Where They Planned the Revolution Over a Few Beers

Taverns, public houses and inns served as meeting places before the war and unofficial headquarters during it. Some still stand—including these nine, where you can raise a glass in memory of the founders

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