Spanish Florida

Captain Bernard Romans and the Capture of Fort George

February 16, 2026 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Just who was Captain Bernard Romans, the man who captured of Fort George in 1775? Where was he from, and how did he end up at Lake George?

Bernard Romans, (ca.1720-1783) was a surveyor, cartographer, naturalist, engineer, and soldier. His surveys and mapping of the Alabama coastline along with Eastern and Western Florida provided the first look at the land and the flora and fauna that the British had acquired at the end of the French and Indian War in 1763. [Read more…] about Captain Bernard Romans and the Capture of Fort George

How France and Spain Helped Win the American Revolution

February 5, 2026 by Dr. Liz Covart Leave a Comment

It’s easy to focus on the American Revolution‘s famous battles, like Saratoga and Yorktown, its iconic leaders, like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, or its foundational documents, like the Declaration of Independence.

But International alliances — especially with France and Spain — played a critical role in securing the United States’ independence. [Read more…] about How France and Spain Helped Win the American Revolution

Pontiac’s Uprising: The American Indian War for Independence

January 7, 2026 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

In April 1763, the American Indian War for Independence (1763-1766) — also called Pontiac’s Rebellion or Pontiac’s Uprising for the Ottawa Nation leader who organized a coalition against European colonial powers — started with the siege of Fort Detroit.

In July 1764, an English colonial force that included 500 Native fighters departed from Oswego for operations against Pontiac’s forces to the west. Attacks by Native forces spread east and south as a result of continued European colonists’ trespassing and settlement on Native lands. [Read more…] about Pontiac’s Uprising: The American Indian War for Independence

Queen Anne’s War: The Second Contest for North America, 1702–1713

September 18, 2025 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Although King William’s War (1689–1697) had established the basic disputes between New France and the English colonies, the conflict had resolved little beyond making it clear that the smaller French colony was more than capable of defending itself.

When news of the War of Spanish Succession (1701–1714), or Queen Anne’s War as it would become known in North America, arrived in 1702, few envisioned that the resumption of the previous conflict would grow to engulf eastern North America from Newfoundland to Florida, pitting the Spanish, English, and French colonies along with their respective native allies into a concerted contest for control of the continent. [Read more…] about Queen Anne’s War: The Second Contest for North America, 1702–1713

Fugitive Slaves, Kidnapping & State Government Response

August 17, 2025 by Guest Contributor 3 Comments

Although not authorized to do so by a strict constructionist reading of the Constitution’s fugitive slave clause, Congress enacted the first Fugitive Slave Act in 1793. Northern states blocked effective enforcement of the federal law, leading to a southern outcry for more stringent legislation.

The sectional crisis precipitated by the California Statehood Act in 1850 provided the opportunity for passage of a harsher Fugitive Slave Act, which became part of the Compromise of 1850. [Read more…] about Fugitive Slaves, Kidnapping & State Government Response

The Stono Rebellion, The Negro Act of 1740 & New York City

May 16, 2024 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

On May 10, 1740, the colony of South Carolina’s General Assembly enacted the “Bill for the better ordering and governing of Negroes and other slaves in this province,” also known as the Negro Act of 1740.

The law prohibited enslaved African people from growing their own food, learning to read, moving freely, assembling in groups, and earning money. It also authorized white enslavers to whip and kill enslaved Africans for being “rebellious.” [Read more…] about The Stono Rebellion, The Negro Act of 1740 & New York City

A Republic of Scoundrels: Schemers, Intriguers, and Adventurers

January 24, 2024 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

We now have a more clear-eyed understanding of Founding Fathers such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton; even so, they are often considered American saints, revered for their wisdom and self-sacrificing service to the nation.

However, within the generation of founders of the United States there lurked many unscrupulous figures — men who violated the era’s expectation of public virtue and advanced their own interests at the expense of others.

They were turncoats and traitors, opportunists and con artists, spies, and foreign intriguers. [Read more…] about A Republic of Scoundrels: Schemers, Intriguers, and Adventurers

St Augustine and Early Florida

May 31, 2023 by Dr. Liz Covart Leave a Comment

In this episode of Ben Franklin’s World, Charles Tingley, Senior Research Librarian at the St. Augustine Historical Society, joins host Liz Covart to explore the early American history of La Florida through the lens of one of its capitals: the city of St. Augustine. [Read more…] about St Augustine and Early Florida

Cuba: An Early American History

January 12, 2022 by Dr. Liz Covart Leave a Comment

One of the places that Christopher Columbus stopped at during his 1492 voyage was an alligator-shaped island at the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico, between the Yucatán and Florida peninsulas – the is the island of Cuba.

What do we know about early Cuba, the island the Spanish described as the “Key to the Indies?” What kind of relationship and exchange did early Cuba have with British North America and the early United States? [Read more…] about Cuba: An Early American History

Tis’ Death to Counterfeit: New England Counterfeiters in NY

April 30, 2018 by Brian Barrett 6 Comments

While an ongoing border dispute took place between the governments of New York and Massachusetts, Ichabod Miller eked out a living on his farm in West Stockbridge, Mass. On December 20, 1772, his pastoral life was turned upside down.

Miller was awoken to the commotion of an angry mob at his door. In a moment they had broken in the door and he faced the business end of a loaded musket. He was accused of counterfeiting. This crime could be heart stopping. If proven, the sentence was death.

Counterfeiting was fairly prevalent in the colonies at this time. It was relatively easy to do, it was extremely profitable, hard to discover, and even harder to prosecute. [Read more…] about Tis’ Death to Counterfeit: New England Counterfeiters in NY

Aaron Burr Revised: Conspiracy, Treason and Justice

June 16, 2015 by Kathleen Hulser 2 Comments

Who remembers Aaron Burr as anything more than Quick Draw McGraw shooting down the near-sighted Alexander Hamilton at dawn in 1804? But there is much more to the man, as Gore Vidal revealed in his intriguing 1973 historical novel, and other subsequent scholarship.

Two aspects of Burr’s varied career stand out in today’s world. First, his treason trial that closely examined issues of what counts as an act of war against one’s own government. And second, his relationships with a series of highly intelligent and accomplished women, reflecting his high opinion of the female sex and its potential. [Read more…] about Aaron Burr Revised: Conspiracy, Treason and Justice

Books: Aaron Burr’s Challenge to Jefferson’s America

January 8, 2012 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The name Aaron Burr instantly calls to mind one event: his duel with Alexander Hamilton, in which the latter, one of the darlings of American politics, was slain. But there was so much more to Burr, one of the most fascinating characters in American history, now revealed in American Emperor: Aaron Burr’s Challenge to Jefferson’s America (Simon & Schuster, 2011) by DC-based historian David O. Stewart.

At one time or another, Burr was considered a man of great integrity, a shoo-in for the presidency, a murderer, and a traitor. Yet the most outrageous story about Burr is known to few and understood by fewer still. As he neared the end of his vice-presidential term in 1804, he began an extraordinary scheme to create his own personal empire in North America.

For generations, historians and writers have scratched their heads over what Aaron Burr was up to when he traveled west in 1805, leaving the vice presidency while under indictment in two states for the murder of Hamilton. Did Burr mean to foment secession of America’s West? Insurrection in New Orleans? An invasion of Mexico and Spanish Florida? Or simply to lead a settlement of Louisiana lands? In American Emperor, Stewart tells this astonishing part of Burr’s story, tracing his descent from made man to political pariah to imperialist adventurer.

The same passion for history that led the New York Times to print a glowing review of Stewart’s first book, The Summer of 1787, about the writing of the Constitution, can be found in his new account that combines history with an arresting adventure story.

Note: Books noticed on this site have been provided by the publishers. Purchases made through this Amazon link help support this site.

Spanish Florida

We Need Your Help Now More Than Ever

New York Almanack receives no public funds.

It’s supported only by readers like you.

Please give today (a monthly recurring gift is best)