Early American Studies

Illustration labeled “American Stage Coach” showing a horse-drawn coach carrying passengers along a road, with a driver in front. Two white horses pull the coach at speed past a coastal landscape featuring buildings, a fence, and a body of water with a smoking ship in the distance.

"...the malignancy of others compels us to convince the Public...": Fierce competition between innkeepers hosting stagecoach stops plays out in print

Ambitious inn and tavern owners in the early 1800s understood the profitability of hosting reputable stagecoach lines. Hungry, tired travelers delivered to your doorstep are ideal clientele. One might...

Black-and-white illustration of armed colonial militia confronting British soldiers on a village green, with men firing muskets amid smoke and fallen bodies in the foreground, while organized troops advance near large colonial buildings, barns, and a church steeple in the background—depicting an early Revolutionary War skirmish.

"Huzzah!" The Semiquincentennial of American Independence is Upon Us

In June 1776, Thomas Jefferson, sequestered in a Philadelphia boarding house, drafted the Declaration of Independence as an "expression of the American mind." Just weeks later, on July 2, Congress...

From the Library of Congress. Two hand painted images of American women and British soldiers. On left a Quaker woman detains an English General with tea. On right, a woman receives British soldiers on a porch.

"Such women should read, should think, and should act": Women's Special Roles in the American Revolution

In 1780, the newly formed Culper Spy Ring successfully exposed British plans to ambush the French army in Rhode Island. By quickly alerting George Washington to the enemy's plans, the group...

An 18th-century prison scene depicting British soldiers guarding sick and emaciated prisoners inside a dark, crowded cell aboard a ship. The central figure, a red-coated guard with a musket, stands among suffering inmates—some lying on straw, others slumped or comforting one another. Light filters dimly through barred windows, highlighting the harsh and unsanitary conditions. The illustration conveys despair, illness, and confinement during wartime imprisonment.

"Rebels! Turn out your Dead!": The Prison Ship Martyrs of the American Revolution

The modern rush of life in Brooklyn's historic Wallabout neighborhood is a stark contrast to the brutal history beneath the pavement. Just a stone's throw away is Wallabout Bay where, in the winter of...

Image from New York Public Library digital library, Wikimedia Commons. Black-and-white engraving depicting the Capture of Fort Ticonderoga (1775) during the American Revolution. In the foreground, Ethan Allen, dressed in military uniform with sword raised, confronts the British commander inside the stone fort. The caption below reads: “Capture of Fort Ticonderoga. ‘By what authority?’ ‘In the name of the Great Jehovah & the Continental Congress.’”

Ethan Allen: "...farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, lay theologian, and American Revolutionary War patriot, hero, and politician..."

On September 25, 1775, Ethan Allen of Vermont was captured during the Battle of Longues-Pointe, his failed attempt to wrest Montreal from the British. After his storied capture of Fort Ticonderoga...

Black-and-white engraving of a large-scale battlefield scene showing soldiers in formation, officers on horseback, and cannons being prepared in the foreground. Dense ranks of infantry are seen advancing toward a hill under a smoky sky, with smoke and chaos at the Battle of Bunker Hill. The dramatic sky and dynamic composition convey the intensity and scale of the historical battle. From: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library.

"...devoted to his country when her soil was everywhere pressed by the foot of her enemy and peril environed her on every side...": How Revolutionary War Veterans and Heirs Petitioned Congress for Pensions

On June 14, 1775, the Second Continental Congress established the Continental Army, which was led by George Washington throughout the Revolution. In October, they established the Continental Navy, and...

Black-and-white photo of the Old Belfry in Lexington, Massachusetts, a wooden structure with a small belfry tower and a plaque above the door. Surrounded by trees and grass, this historic building is where the alarm was sounded early on April 19, 1775, summoning the Minute Men to the Lexington Common at the start of the American Revolutionary War. From the Library of Congress

"A cry of defiance, and not of fear": Did Paul Revere Ride Alone?

In June 1776, Thomas Jefferson, sequestered in a Philadelphia boarding house, drafted the Declaration of Independence as an "expression of the American mind." Just weeks later, on July 2, Congress...

Making the Presidency: How John Adams Created Presidential Customs for the 21st Century. Dr. Lindsay M. Chervinsky.

How John Adams Shaped Presidential Customs for Modern America [Video]

I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof. -John Adams On a bright morning in June...

George Washington's Farewell Address, Early American Imprints, Series 1, no. 31540_1796

George Washington's Radical Decision: A Modern Precedent

On Wednesday, July 24, 2024, President Joe Biden addressed the nation from the Oval Office. NPR reported*, "Biden tried to send the message that no one person is bigger than the country — and that...

‘Men of Meanness Preferred’: The 1798 Sedition Trial of Vermont Representative Matthew Lyon

Less than three months after President John Adams signed the Sedition Act into law on July 14, 1798, Vermont Congressman Matthew Lyon was accused of violating it. On July 31, 1798, Lyon published a...

Black and white image of the earths movement around the sun from Blair's Grammar of Philosophy. The image caption is Variations of Day & Night & the Seasons.

Seed Sown on Good Soil: Astronomy, Botany, and Medicine in Early American Books

Perhaps you’ve explored Readex’s five Origins of Modern Science and Technology collections, which include material from the latter half of the twentieth century. For an earlier perspective on the...

“Is it proper to call every Indian a savage?”: Early Printed Accounts of the Social Life and Customs of Native Peoples

Published accounts of the native peoples of North America in the late 18th and early 19 th centuries—as depicted in these wide-ranging early American imprints—were varied in accord with the beliefs of...

‘Mild as the Harmless Lamb’: Instructions on Conduct for Females

Among several common themes in early books for children, instruction in conduct recurs frequently. Searching American Children’s Books, 1654-1819, a new Readex database, whether using Suggested...

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