How the Declaration of Independence was written in 1776 — and what its language and silences meant for Native nations, treaties, and Indigenous sovereignty.
Category: American Revolution
Battle of Long Island
Battle of Long Island (1776): how Haudenosaunee diplomacy and Lenape homeland shaped America’s first great defeat — and Washington’s daring retreat.
The Culper Spy Ring – Facts, Code & Importance
Explore the Culper Spy Ring: how Benjamin Tallmadge’s network spied for George Washington, exposed Benedict Arnold, and shaped Revolutionary War intelligence.
Benjamin Franklin’s Kite Experiment: What Do We Know?
Discover the true history of Benjamin Franklin’s 1752 kite experiment—what scholars confirm, what remains legend, and how it shaped the American Revolution.
Siege of Yorktown
The Siege of Yorktown (1781) ended the American Revolution — but for Native nations, the Treaty of Paris in 1783 ceded homelands without their consent. Explore the untold Indigenous history.
George Washington Gave America This Advice the First Time He Tried to Retire
George Washington’s 1783 Circular Letter shaped the young U.S. republic — and its unresolved reckoning with Native nations, treaties, and sovereignty.
Winter at Valley Forge: George Washington’s Most Dismal Christmas Ever
Valley Forge 1777: Washington’s starving, freezing army nearly dissolved — and his bold Christmas Eve attack on Philadelphia was never launched.
How Benjamin Franklin’s Viral Political Cartoon United the 13 Colonies
How Benjamin Franklin’s 1754 ‘Join or Die’ snake cartoon failed at unity but became America’s first viral political image—and what it obscured about Native nations.
American Revolution
How Native nations shaped and survived the American Revolution: Haudenosaunee alliances, wampum diplomacy, Joseph Brant, and the betrayals of 1783.
7 Historical Figures Who Grew Up as Orphans
How seven famous orphans — Hamilton, Jackson, Bolívar, Poe, Fitzgerald, Monroe, Malcolm X — connect to Native American dispossession and the American Revolution.
George Washington’s Hair Found in 18th-Century Almanac
A lock of George Washington’s hair discovered in a 1793 almanac at Union College reveals 18th-century keepsake traditions and Indigenous hair customs.
5 Ways the French Helped Win the American Revolution
How French aid won the American Revolution—and how Native Nations like the Haudenosaunee shaped its frontier, treaties, and tragic aftermath.