Second President of the United States John Adams held the post of envoy to the Netherlands from 1780 to 1782. He secured the States General’s recognition of American independence in April 1782, the second country in the world to do so, after France; obtained a five million guilders loan (carrying an interest rate of five percent) from a consortium of Amsterdam bankers; and signed a “Treaty of Amity and Commerce” between the two nations. While his wife Abigail remained in America, he had brought his sons John Quincy and Charles with him, living in the heart of Amsterdam at Keizersgracht 529. [Read more…] about Medical History: Vaccination Science & The Transatlantic Bridge
Virginia
John Brown Farm: Abolitionist Vision to Memorial Site
North Country writer Sandra Weber recently joined the ADK Talks podcast to discuss John Brown Farm: From Abolitionist Vision to Memorial Site (Purple Mountain Press, 2026), is a book devoted entirely to the history and meaning of the John Brown Farm State Historic Site in North Elba, Essex County, NY. [Read more…] about John Brown Farm: Abolitionist Vision to Memorial Site
The Escapes of David George: Slavery, Freedom & The American Revolution
When most Americans think of slavery, they do not picture the colonial or revolutionary eras. Yet, in fact, one of six inhabitants of the thirteen original colonies was enslaved.
The Escapes of David George: an Odyssey of Slavery, Freedom, and the American Revolution (St. Martin’s Press, 2026) reveals a remarkable, untold experience of the American revolutionary period ― a Black man’s quest for the freedom espoused by our Founders, but denied him and other enslaved people. [Read more…] about The Escapes of David George: Slavery, Freedom & The American Revolution
Pontiac’s Uprising: The American Indian War for Independence
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
Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation at 250
In November 1775, as tensions between the British Empire and its rebellious colonies continued to escalate, Virginia’s royal governor made a radical proclamation: Any enslaved person who fled a revolutionary enslaver and joined the British Army would gain their freedom.
Known to history as Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation, this single decree changed the course of the American Revolution in the South. It offered a lifeline to thousands of enslaved men, women, and their families, ignited fierce debates about loyalty and liberty, and revealed deep contradictions at the heart of a revolution that claimed to fight for freedom. [Read more…] about Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation at 250
The British, Enslaved People & The American Revolution
As the American Revolution broke out in New England in the spring of 1775, dramatic events unfolded in Virginia that proved every bit as decisive as the battles of Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill in uniting the colonies against Britain.
A Perfect Frenzy: A Royal Governor, His Black Allies, and the Crisis That Spurred the American Revolution (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2025) relates the largely untold story of rebellion in Virginia that should forever change our understanding of the American Revolution. [Read more…] about The British, Enslaved People & The American Revolution
Maritime Encounters Around Long Island During the American Revolution
New York saw its fair share of military action during the American Revolution. This spring, Dr. Daria Merwin, an underwater archaeologist by training and Co-Director of the Cultural Resource Survey Program at the New York State Museum spoke at the Museum about maritime military encounters that pitted Revolutionaries against full might of the British Navy.
What follows is extracted from her talk, which you can find here in its entirety. [Read more…] about Maritime Encounters Around Long Island During the American Revolution
Deportations, Convict Ancestors, Rattlesnakes & American Identity
For Europeans planning or being forced to migrate, the concept of the United States as a virtually border-less society remained alive until the passing of the Immigration Act of 1917 (this was not the case for other groups). It offered an opportunity to governments to “shovel out” troublesome subjects.
The German term Übersiedelung (literally: relocation) was used by officials of the Kingdom of Hanover to describe the practice of exiling “unwanted” subjects to America. From the early 1830s to 1866 (when Hanover was conquered by Prussia), some three thousand individuals – most of them petty criminals or paupers – were expelled from the territory. [Read more…] about Deportations, Convict Ancestors, Rattlesnakes & American Identity
Confederate Flag Captured by Vermonters Being Sold At Auction
A rare Confederate flag, captured by Vermont soldiers during Pickett’s Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg, is being sold at auction by Fleischer’s Auctions in Columbus, Ohio, later this month.
The trophy of war is the only known privately-owned Confederate battle flag captured during Pickett’s Charge. [Read more…] about Confederate Flag Captured by Vermonters Being Sold At Auction
Patrick Henry: From “Give Me Liberty” to Saving the Union
Patrick Henry is one of the most famous voices of the American Revolution. A Virginian, his first trip to the north was for business to the city of New York in 1770.
Henry was known in his own time for his powerful speeches and his unwavering commitment to liberty. But did you know that later in life he opposed the United States Constitution? Did you know that during the political crisis of 1798/99, George Washington wrote to Patrick Henry and asked him to save the nation? [Read more…] about Patrick Henry: From “Give Me Liberty” to Saving the Union
Black History, Birthright Citizenship & Civil Rights
Very few protections existed under state laws for free Black people during the era of enslavement and their actions were strictly regulated.
In New York free Black citizens faced legal limitations on voting rights, property ownership, and social interactions, some for nearly a century after the abolition of slavery. [Read more…] about Black History, Birthright Citizenship & Civil Rights
The Shawnee-Dunmore War, 1774
After the Seven Years’ War (1754-1763, known as the French and Indian War in North America), Great Britain instituted the Proclamation Line of 1763. The Line sought to create a lasting peace in British North America by limiting British colonial settlement east of the Appalachian Mountains.
In 1768, colonists and British Indian agents negotiated the Treaties of Fort Stanwix and Hard Labour to extend the boundary line further west. In 1774, the Shawnee-Dunmore War (also known as Lord Dunmore’s War) broke out as colonists attempted to push further west. [Read more…] about The Shawnee-Dunmore War, 1774
What Does The Election of 1800 Have To Do With 2024?
Although historians generally disagree, many people think history repeats itself. Are there any parallels between the Election of 1800 and the contest for the presidency in 2024?
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had been debating different viewpoints about the Constitution since they first worked on the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Adams feared giving the people too much control while Jefferson thought the presidency had too much power. [Read more…] about What Does The Election of 1800 Have To Do With 2024?
‘Sodomy’ & Colonial America Crime and Punishment
The early conquest of overseas territories led to the application of European directives regulating life in the colonies.
Imposing rules on sexual behavior served as tools of social control and dominance. Prohibitions on “sodomy” entered legislation in New England and New Netherland with severe penalties attached. [Read more…] about ‘Sodomy’ & Colonial America Crime and Punishment
Government in Colonial Virginia
In the latest episode of Ben Franklin’s World, Katie Schinabeck, a historian of historical memory and the American Revolution and the Digital Projects Researcher at Colonial Williamsburg’s Innovation Studios, takes us on a behind-the-scenes tour of Williamsburg’s colonial Capitol building to explore how the government of colonial Virginia worked and operated.
Do you ever wonder how governments met and worked in colonial British America? [Read more…] about Government in Colonial Virginia
George Washington’s Heirs & The American Presidency
The United States Constitution of 1787 gave many Americans pause about the powers the new federal government could exercise and how the government’s leadership would rest with one person, the President.
The fact that George Washington would likely serve as the new nation’s first president calmed many Americans’ fears that the new nation was creating an opportunity for a hereditary monarch. [Read more…] about George Washington’s Heirs & The American Presidency
Solar Eclipses During The American Revolution
Recently there was tremendous interest in the solar eclipse of April 8, 2024, especially for those living in or traveling to the 110 mile swath of totality. Television news, newspapers, and other media outlets had countless stories about where to find the best viewing places, how to get there and back, and how to safely watch the eclipse, as well as plenty of post event comments and impressions. Eclipse mania prevailed!
But was there similar interest in the 18th century, particularly during the years of the American Revolution? Between 1701 and 1800, there were 251 solar eclipses worldwide, of which 62 were total. More specifically, there were 54 between 1763 and 1783, of which 13 were total. Most were not easily seen in eastern North America other than two: June 24, 1778 and October 27, 1780. [Read more…] about Solar Eclipses During The American Revolution
The Huguenot Diaspora, America’s First Consulate & The Slave Trade
Huguenots were French Protestants who followed the teachings of theologian Jean Calvin for which they suffered severe persecution in the late sixteenth century and again after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in October 1685. During these periods of bloodshed, many of them left the country and sought refuge abroad.
Although small in numbers, Huguenots began to arrive in New Netherland in the 1620s, some (eventually) settling in the Dutch-speaking town of Bushwick (Boschwyck), Brooklyn, whilst others moved to New Rochelle and New Paltz as well as Staten Island. [Read more…] about The Huguenot Diaspora, America’s First Consulate & The Slave Trade
Oneida County’s Coxe Patent: Some History
To really understand the Oneida County‘s 1770 Coxe Patent, we should start with Heath Patent, granted some 140 years earlier by King Charles I. The 1629 document gave Sir Robert Heath (1575-1649) the patent for the Province of Carolana (Carolina) “to enlarge the Christian religion as our empire and increasing the Trade and Commerce of our Kingdom.” [Read more…] about Oneida County’s Coxe Patent: Some History
Monticello: A Saga of the Catskills & New Mexico
Those familiar with Sullivan County, NY history likely know the story well: the brothers Samuel Frisbee Jones and John Patterson Jones, born in Connecticut, came here from Columbia County around 1804 and founded the community they called Monticello, which upon the erection of the County a few years later becomes the County Seat and still later the first incorporated village in the county. [Read more…] about Monticello: A Saga of the Catskills & New Mexico