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The Sad Story of Pierre Landais, Part Un
The rebellion in the Thirteen Colonies drew the Marquis de Lafayette from France, Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben from Prussia and Casimir Pulaski from Poland and many others who wanted to…
Read MoreThe Undeclared Shooting War Against France
Three unrelated events led to a war with France 15 years after the American Revolution ended. First, in September 1794, Louis XVI was deposed, ending the French monarchy. Second, in…
Read MoreSmallpox, Variolation and George Washington
In the late summer of 1775, two U.S. forces entered Canada. One, led by General Richard Montgomery came north from what is now Vermont and captured Montreal and then headed…
Read MoreL’Affaire de XYZ
By 1792, three years after the French Revolution began, Europe was again at war and President George Washington declared that the United States would remain neutral. Our position of neutrality…
Read MoreThe Republic of Vermont Versus the State of New York
In January 1777, Vermont’s citizens were having an identity crisis. The war in which we would ultimately gain our independence was still very much in down when representatives of 28…
Read MoreA Frigate for Tribute
Before the revolution, our merchant ships flew under the British flag and during the war, the French flag. Both were now gone once we won our independence and after the…
Read MoreWe Paid What for Tribute?
When the American Revolution ended in 1783, as a country we wanted to resume our trade with Europe and the duchies on the north shore of the Mediterranean. Before the…
Read MoreSix Ways We Paid for the American Revolution
During the American Revolution, the members of the Second Continental Congress were faced with a dilemma, i.e. how to pay for a war against the most powerful nation in the…
Read MoreThe Jay Treaty and Our First Use of Arbitration in an International Dispute
Once the Treaties of Peace (of which the Treaty of Paris that ended the American Revolution is one) were signed in 1783, there was no need for an alliance between…
Read MoreUnintended Consequences of the American Revolution
After Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown on October 19th, 1781, the British government decided that it wanted out of the war with their rebellious colonists. Yet fighting continued in New Jersey,…
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