Here is Danielle Allen at The New York Times: Massachusetts abolished enslavement before the Treaty of Paris brought an end to the American Revolution, in 1783. The state constitution, adopted in 1780 and drafted by John Adams, follows the Declaration of […]
Boston
What early Americans could teach Donald Trump about this pandemic
Check out historian Andrew Wehrman‘s piece at The Washington Post: Thomas Paine, who had helped shift public opinion with “Common Sense” in the spring of 1776, wrote a new book weighing in on the French Revolution from London, titled “The Rights […]
“Don’t fire till you see the whites of their eyes?”
Who said it? Over at the Journal of the American Revolution, historian J.L. Bell (of Boston 1775 fame) answers this question for us. Here is a taste of his piece: Don’t fire till you see the whites of their eyes!” is […]
The Boston Public Library needs your help transcribing anti-slavery documents
The Boston Public Library has an impressive collection of anti-slavery documents and they are looking for volunteers to help them bring the collection online in a digital format. Here is a taste of the project: The Boston Public Library’s Anti-Slavery […]
Politically Motivated Violence Was Wrong During the Stamp Act and It Is Wrong Today. The Christian Right “Historians” Must Reckon With This
Everyone knows that the American Revolution was born through violent protest. Yes, the colonies fought a war that secured their liberty, but they also engaged in civilian violence in major British-American cities well before the outbreak of war. Here is […]
Episode 66: The Boston Massacre
What happened when British soldiers and their families arrived in Boston in 1768? In Episode 66 of The Way of Improvement Leads Home Podcast, we talk with Carleton College history professor Serena Zabin about her new book, The Boston Massacre: […]
Darryl Hart on Boston’s Park Street Church, Evangelicalism, and the “Ghost of Harold John Ockenga”
Harold John Ockenga was the pastor of Boston’s Park Street Church from 1936 to 1969. He was one of the early leaders of the neo-evangelical movement in the 1940s and 1950s. We normally associated the rise of neo-evangelicalism with people […]
When Paul Revere Got the Scoop
Many of us use Paul Revere’s image of the Boston Massacre when we teach the American Revolution. But over at the blog of the New York Historical Society, we learn that Henry Pelham was the first person to produce […]
A Writing Group of Boston-Area American Historians Gets a Story in *Publishers Weekly*
Check out Alex Green’s piece at Publishers Weekly. The writers group, known as “The Squad,” includes historians Kevin Levin, Liz Covart, Sara Georgini, Megan Kate Nelson, Heather Cox Richardson, and Nina Silber. (Covart and Georgini have been guests on the The […]
Mapping 1648 Boston
Who lived in Boston in 1648? History professor Chris Parsons and his team at Northeastern University have initiated the “Birth of Boston” project. The centerpiece of the project is an interactive map of Boston in 1648 that allows users to […]
On the Road in Late July
I am in the at the midpoint of two weeks of work with the Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History. As some of you know, this last week I was in Mount Vernon, Virginia and Boston filming a 12-week lecture course […]
What If Your Faith Makes You “Unpatriotic?”
I am in Boston this week filming a series of lectures for an on-line course on colonial America produced by the Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History. We have been shooting short introductions at places like the Long Wharf, Old South […]
The Bachelorette and American History
OK, I confess, I put the word “Bachelorette” in the title of this post just to garner a lot of hits. 🙂 But as an American historian I can’t pass up the opportunity to call your attention to Hannah Brown’s […]
The Author’s Corner with Mark Peterson
Mark Peterson is Edmund S. Morgan Professor of History at Yale University. This interview is based on his new book, The City-State of Boston: The Rise and Fall of an Atlantic Power (Princeton University Press, 2019). JF: What led you to […]
Why Did God Allow the Great Boston Fire of 1760?
Not familiar with the Great Fire of 1760? J.L. Bell of Boston 1775 fame offers a short introduction here. One the Bostonians who tried to make sense of the fire was Rev. Jonathan Mayhew. Here is a taste of Bell’s […]
James Taylor Sings the National Anthem in Fenway
Game 1 of the World Series: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNveVwCPR9E&w=560&h=315]
Become a John Winthrop Student Fellow at the Massachusetts Historical Society
I just learned about this great opportunity for high school students and their teachers at the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston: The John and Elizabeth Winthrop Endowed Fellowship encourages high school students to make use of the nationally significant documents […]
Help Transcribe Anti-Slavery Documents at the Boston Public Library
Learn more here.
Even Archbishops Wager on the Super Bowl
It looks like Archbishop Chaput (right) of Philadelphia and Cardinal O’Malley (left) of Boston have placed a friendly wager on the Super Bowl. Crux reports: NEW YORK – Ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl contest between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia […]
My Boston Trinity Academy Chapel Talk on Rural America
Get the context here. I gave this short chapel talk to the faculty and students of Boston Trinity Academy on January 16, 2018–JF I am so pleased to be back at Boston Trinity Academy. (BTA) I continue to reflect fondly […]