Skip to main content

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.

American patriots began a conflict that spread around the globe.

The Rule of Law is the great foundation of our Constitution and our Nation. 

America 250!

Glover and the “Indispensables” Save Washington’s Army | Spring 2024, Vol 69, No 2

By Patrick K. O'Donnell

John Glover and the men of Marblehead saved the Continental Army several times, and then helped it cross the Delaware to victory at Trenton and Princeton.

washington delaware

Leadership of the Founders | Winter 2026, Vol 71, No 1

By Joseph J. Ellis

Our nation came into being thanks to an unexpected explosion of political talent in an emerging nation on the fringe of the Atlantic world.

founding fathers

Discovered: First Maps of the American Revolution  | Spring 2025, Vol 70, No 2

By Edwin S. Grosvenor

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.

first maps

Rethinking the Boston Massacre | Special Issue - George Washington Prize 2018, Vol 63, No 2

By Eric Hinderaker

It is one of the most notorious incidents in American history, and also one of the least understood.

American Heritage Logo

Why Is the American Revolution So Important? | Spring 2024, Vol 69, No 2

By Jack D. Warren

Our 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.

congress

Classic Essays from the Archives

Who Invented Scalping? | April 1977, Vol 28, No 3

By James Axtell

In recent years many voices—both Native-American and white—have questioned whether Indians did in fact invent scalping. What is the evidence?

scalping

Alice Paul: “I Was Arrested, Of Course…” | February 1974, Summer 2025, Vol 25, No 2

By Robert S. Gallagher

An interview with the famed suffragette, Alice Paul

alice paul

The Hawthornes In Paradise | December 1958, Summer 2025, 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.”

Hawthorne Peabody

SUPPORT AMERICAN HERITAGE BY BUYING A NEW EBOOK!