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Featured Essays
As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, our founding charter remains central to our national life, unifying us and paving the way for what we have long called “the American Dream.”
America’s extraordinary success is directly related to its unique form of government embodied in the Constitution.
America 250!
Why Is the American Revolution So Important? | Spring 2024, Vol 69, No 2
By Jack D. WarrenOur nation is free because, 250 years ago, brave men and women fought a war to establish the independence of the United States and created a system of government to protect the freedom of its citizens.
Memory and America’s Birthday | Winter 2026, Vol 71, No 1
By Wilfred M. McClayWhile we “know” more and more about the American past, too many of our citizens are ignorant of who we are and where we came from.
The Shots Heard Round the World | Spring 2025, Vol 70, No 2
By John FerlingWhat 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 Battle that Led to Victory at Yorktown | Fall 2019 - George Washington Prize Books, Vol 64, No 5
By Nathaniel PhilbrickLargely overlooked in histories of the Revolution, the Battle of the Chesapeake is in fact one of the most important naval engagements in history, leading to the American victory at Yorktown.
Samuel Adams Starts a Revolution | May 2023, Vol 68, No 3
By Stacy SchiffEnlisting an army of alter egos, Adams used the Boston press to make the case for American independence and to orchestrate a burgeoning rebellion.
Classic Essays from the Archives
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.
Two Intimate Enemies | September 2000, Summer 2025, Vol 51, No 5
By Joseph J. EllisWhen John Adams was elected president, and Thomas Jefferson as vice president, each came to see the other as a traitor. Out of their enmity grew our modern political system.
The Day The Civil War Ended | June/July 1978, Vol 29, No 4
By Bruce CattonAt the Gettysburg reunion fifty years after the battle, it was no longer blue and gray. Now it was all gray.
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