workmen laid the cornerstone of the United States Executive Mansion—an act marking the symbolic birth of what would later become known as the White House. The event unfolded amid the fields and forests of a fledgling federal city that existed mostly on paper, a…
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On September 28, 1781, the world began to turn upside down. On the battle-scarred fields of Yorktown, Virginia, the forces of destiny collided. General George Washington, leading the battle-hardened Continental Army, joined forces with French General Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Comte de Rochambeau, to…
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During September 1780, one of America’s earliest heroes turned traitor. Benedict Arnold’s treason stands as one of the most infamous acts of betrayal in American history, forever etched in the annals of the American Revolutionary War. Arnold, a prominent military leader in the Continental…
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On September 19, 1796, the father of the United States left the stage for a final time, retiring to “sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree” at Mount Vernon. “After two terms in office, Washington decided to retire from public life, writes the…
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On September 16, 1776, the morning broke with British horns sounding not the call to arms, but the mockery of a fox-hunt. From the wooded ridges above Harlem, George Washington’s battered Continentals listened to the taunt. For weeks they had known only retreat —…
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On September 10, Nathan Hale, a young schoolteacher from Connecticut, signed up to be a spy for the Continental Army, eventually becoming a hero of the American Revolution who symbolized the spirit of sacrifice and patriotism. Born in 1755, Hale came of age in…
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On September 5, 1774, Americans took one step closer toward independence with the meeting of the First Continental Congress. As tensions with Great Britain escalated, the colonies recognized the necessity of a unified response to the increasingly oppressive British policies, which many colonists believed…
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In the waning light of a summer’s afternoon on August 15, 1824, a crowd of unprecedented size pressed against the wharves of New York Harbor, eyes fixed upon the stately vessel Cadmus as church bells rang to welcome a hero. On its deck stood…
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On August 7, 1782, as the American Revolutionary War drew toward its uncertain conclusion, General George Washington issued a general order from his Newburgh, New York headquarters that would lay the foundation for one of the most enduring military honors in United States history:…
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George Washington’s presidency is often celebrated for its establishment of foundational policies and precedents in the fledgling United States. One significant and often discussed event during his administration was the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794, which marked the first major test of…
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