Summoned by riders from Boston—William Dawes, Samuel Prescott, and the more-renowned Paul Revere—in the early morning hours of April 19, 1775, a motley crew of armed farmers and shopkeepers gathered on Lexington Green to face hundreds of British regulars marching out from Boston. The British had come to confiscate or destroy the militia’s stores of…

In August 1755, George Washington had been made commander in chief of Virginia’s colonial forces. A year later, however, the 25-year-old commander became incensed at being passed over for a royal commission. He was also bitter over the manner in which his fellow Virginians, those who had “behaved like men and died like soldiers,” had…

No one truly knows exactly when Daniel Morgan (circa 1736–1802) was born. He may have been born in 1736, or possibly 1735. What is indisputable is that Morgan was born just in time for one of the world’s great revolutions. Morgan was born to Welsh immigrants in New Jersey. Though he hardly ever spoke of…

Throughout the ages, heroic men and women—real and mythological—have roused the spirits of those who hear or read about their exploits. Achilles, Hector, Antigone, Aeneas, and other Greco-Roman figures galvanized entire cultures. In story and song, the Middle Ages celebrated Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, Charlemagne, Richard the Lionheart, Joan of Arc,…

“My only ambition has been to engrave my name at the feet of great men and in the service of grand ideas,” wrote Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi. French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi circa 1880. New York Public Library Archives. (Public Domain) Today Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi is most known for one colossal work of sculpture that he…

When the first settlers of Virginia arrived in 1607, a bountiful land extending west through rolling hills, forested mountains, and fertile river valleys lay before them. It might have seemed like Eden until the colonists faced the droughts of summer and the long deprivation of winter. Though the first colonists barely survived, the land proved…

It is a little known fact that in addition to being the foremost Founding Father, George Washington was unwittingly involved in the first world war. What Americans call the French and Indian War, which Europeans call the Seven Years’ War, took place because of a fight over Pittsburgh. This fight was begun by no other…

Abigail Adams has been lauded by historians and at least one president, Harry Truman, for her grit and keen insight. As the second of the first ladies, Abigail experienced firsthand the fight for a nation and the establishment of America. In fact, it was perhaps the Revolutionary War that shaped who she would become as…

It was the spring of 1781, and war had come to Virginia. Many Virginians were fighting elsewhere with George Washington’s forces, weakening the ability of the state to resist British advances. King George’s troops, some of them commanded by defector Benedict Arnold, had earlier that winter conducted raids and fought skirmishes with Americans along the…

In 1782, John Jay traveled to Paris with Benjamin Franklin and John Adams to discuss peace terms with the British. He, in particular, fought for British recognition of the United States and for all of the land east of the Mississippi, doubling the size of the nation. But doubling the nation was only a fraction…