On July 3, 1775, George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts. The appointment came as tensions and hostilities began to rise between Massachusetts and England following the Battles of Lexington and Concord in that April. After vocal appeals from the…
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In the feverish days leading up to American independence, when the fate of the colonies teetered between rebellion and subjugation, the Continental Army faced not only threats from British redcoats but from within its own ranks. On June 28, 1776, Thomas Hickey—a private in…
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On June 13, 1777, a young French aristocrat named Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette, landed near Charleston, South Carolina, to join the American Revolutionary cause. Barely 19 years old, Lafayette arrived not as a representative of the French crown, but as an…
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On May 10, 1775, delegates from across the American colonies gathered in Philadelphia for the opening of the Second Continental Congress, a meeting that began as an emergency response to war and soon became the central political body of the American Revolution. The Congress…
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In the early years of the United States, the issue of establishing a permanent navy was a matter of considerable debate and concern. The fledgling nation, emerging from its War of Independence, recognized maritime power’s importance for defense and commerce and took action. On…
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On the morning of March 17, 1776, the people of Boston watched a sight that would have seemed impossible only months earlier: the most powerful army in the world quietly abandoning the city it had occupied since the opening shots of rebellion. Red-coated soldiers…
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On March 15, 1783, in a small meeting hall in Newburgh, New York, General George Washington delivered one of the most consequential speeches in American history. With the Revolutionary War effectively won but the new nation still fragile, Washington confronted a crisis that threatened…
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The Washington Monument stands proudly on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., a towering tribute to the nation’s first president, George Washington. Its dedication, a momentous occasion in American history, marked the culmination of years of planning, fundraising, and construction. The monument’s dedication on…
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On February 4, 1789, George Washington unanimously won the Electoral College, becoming the first winner of a presidential election. Washington’s reluctance to assume the presidency further solidified his image as a leader of virtue and selflessness and, in many ways, contributed to the unanimity.…
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In January 1787, the future of the United States of America and its newly-formed nation appeared to be unraveling at the seams when hundreds of Revolutionary War veterans launched an insurrection. The rebellion took place in western Massachusetts during 1786 and 1787, led by…
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