AMERICAN HERITAGE

Featured Articles

Discovered: First Maps of the American Revolution

Previously unknown, a map drawn by Lord Percy, the British commander at Lexington, sheds new light on the perilous retreat to Boston 250 years ago this month.

The Shots Heard Round the World

by John Ferling

What began as a civil war within the British Empire continued until it became a wider conflict affecting peoples and countries across Europe and North America.

The Forgotten Battle of Menotomy

by Michael Ruderman

Overshadowed in memory by Lexington and Concord, the Massachusetts town of Menotomy saw the most violent and deadly fighting on April 19, 1775.

Introduction: Revisiting Concord and Lexington

by Edwin S. Grosvenor

This special issue looks at the dramatic and momentous events that occurred 250 years ago this month.

Drama at the Old North Bridge

by Rick Atkinson

“Now the war has begun and no one knows when it will end,” said one minuteman after the fight.

Classic Essays from Our Archives

The Hawthornes In Paradise | December 1958, Vol 70, No 3

By Malcolm Cowley

Nathaniel was poor and sunk in his solitude; Sophia seemed a hopeless invalid, but a late-flower love gave them at last “a perfect Eden.”

The Slave Who Sued for Freedom | March 1990, Vol 41, No 2

By Jon Swan

While the American Revolution was still being fought, Mum Bett declared that the new nation’s principle of liberty must extend to her, too. It took 80 years and a far-more-terrible war to confirm the rights that she had demanded.

The Man of the Century | May/June 1994, Vol 45, No 3

By Arthur Schlesinger Jr.

Of all the Allied leaders, argues FDR's biographer, only Roosevelt saw clearly the shape of the new world they were fighting to create.

"The Sparck of Rebellion" | Winter 2010, Vol 70, No 3

By Douglas Brinkley

Badly disguised as Indians, a rowdy group of patriotic vandals kicked a revolution into motion.

Finding the Real Jamestown | Winter 2008, Vol 70, No 3

By William M. Kelso

The archaeologist who discovered the real Jamestown debunks myths, and answers age-old mysteries about North America's first successful English colony.

Ike's Son Remembers George S. Patton Jr. | Summer 2012, Vol 62, No 2

By John D. Eisenhower

The author, who once served under General Patton and whose father, Dwight D. Eisenhower, was Patton's commanding officer, shares his memories of "Ol' Blood and Guts."

Today in History

VE Day

Allied nations around the world celebrate V-E Day as the German surrender becomes official. The previous day, German officers began their formal surrender to Allied units in Rheims, France, but the surrender was not official until American, British, Soviet, and French officers signed on as witnesses.
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Truman born

33rd President Harry S. Truman is born in Lamar, Missouri. Truman became an artillery officer in World War I, commanding an American battery in France. Truman later got involved in Missouri politics, which led him to the United States Senate. He became president following the death of President Roosevelt in 1945 and authorized the atomic bombings of Japan, the containment policy towards the Soviet Union, and the desegregation of the American armed forces.
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Battle of Spotsylvania Court House

The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House begins after Confederate General Richard Anderson and his corps march through the night and control the crossroads. A Union assault against Anderson's men at Laurel Hill did not dislodge the Confederates, and the two sides would battle at Spotsylvania for nearly two weeks.
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