Free Republic

Loyalists, those colonists that affirmed Britain’s authority over the colonies, were described at the time as "persons inimical to the liberties of America." In the republican ideology of the new nation, tories were vilified as offenders against the public good who acted out of ignorance, cupidity, or moral obtuseness. But if the political complexion between 1775 and 1783 is accurately described as equally divided among patriots, loyalists, and those diffident or disaffected, understanding loyalism is essential to unlocking the puzzle of revolutionary America. Between 60,000 and 80,000 Americans chose to go into exile after 1783. Among these were many of...

America has just done its own Brexit on steroids! This, if we do it right, might be a second 1776!! It’s 3 AM my time, election night, and my feet have not touched the ground for the past couple of hours. The last active brain cells in my head are rattling around like a couple of BBs in a coffee can. The suspense of yesterday’s election was chilling, to say the least, and I am shot. I’m sure many of my readers are just as incredulously elated as I am. Finally shutting my eyes on a year of anticipation, these...

The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, fought on August 27, 1776, was the first major battle of the American Revolutionary War to take place after the United States declared its independence on July 4, 1776. It was a victory for the British Army and the beginning of a successful campaign that gave them control of the strategically important city of New York. In terms of troop deployment and fighting, it was the largest battle of the entire war.After defeating the British in the Siege of Boston on March...

On August 22, Howe’s large army landed on Long Island, hoping to capture New York City and gain control of the Hudson River, a victory that would divide the rebellious colonies in half. On August 27, the Red Coats marched against the Patriot position at Brooklyn Heights, overcoming the Americans at Gowanus Pass and then outflanking the entire Continental Army. Howe failed to follow the advice of his subordinates and storm the redoubts at Brooklyn Heights, and on August 29 General Washington ordered a brilliant retreat to Manhattan by boat, thus saving the Continental Army from capture. At the Battle...

We cannot find the smallest part of the personal weight of Washington in the narrative of his exploits.  The largest part of his power was latent.  This is that which we call Character, -- a reserved force which acts directly by presence, and without means.  What others effect by talent or by eloquence, this man accomplishes by some magnetism.  "Half his strength he put not forth."  His victories are by demonstration of superiority, and not by crossing of bayonets.  He conquers, because his arrival alters the face of affairs. R.  W.  Emerson, Character from Essays: Second Series (1844) While...

A few paces west of the public beach in Yorktown, Virginia, is a little cave looking out toward the water. We all know Yorktown from history class. This is where, in October 1781, the British army commanded by Lord Cornwallis surrendered to the Americans under General George Washington and the French under the Comte de Rochambeau. It’s not much of a cave, really, but tourists by the thousands stop to peep into it, as they have for more than two centuries. It is known to this day as “Cornwallis’s Cave,” and for most of our history visitors have been told...

On March 28, 1776, Captain Juan Bautista de Anza and a small band of settlers reached San Francisco and laid the groundwork what would become the city's first major landmarks: the Presidio and Mission San Francisco de Asis. Captain de Anza's arrival in San Francisco was the culmination of a long trek from Arizona with 247 soldiers, women and children. The expedition was commissioned by the Mexican viceroy, who hoped to establish a permanent settlement there.

In the early days of the Revolutionary War, the British held a tight grip on the city of Boston. On April 19, 1775, colonial forces attempted to confront the British in Lexington and Concord. Although the British prevailed, this was the beginning of the siege of Boston.General Artemas Ward was given control over the various groups of militia by Brigadier General William Heath on April 20. Ward found it difficult to fully control the different militias but managed to position them in a siege line that ran from Roxbury to Chelsea which blocked in Boston and Charlestown.Ward’s forces were bolstered...

You've heard the speculation. But what if it really happens? What do We collectively or individually do if Obama invokes martial law under some pretext? What if he orders American military forces to fire upon American citizens? Is there no chance this will happen? Or is there every chance this will happen?

It’s an ancient story: An innocent idealist sets out to change the world and in the process becomes what he hates most. “He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster,” Friedrich Nietzsche advised. That’s probably the best spin one can put on Sidney Blumenthal, the longtime Hillary Rodham Clinton aide and confidant. But it would be just that — spin — given that Blumenthal was never an idealist, never mind an innocent. He has remained the same man he was in 1976, when he co-edited Government by Gunplay: Assassination Conspiracy Theories from...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Orrin Hatch may soon give the President authority to write gun control restrictions into a “trade agreement.” So click here to contact your Senators –- whether they are liberal or conservative. Urge them to vote against the anti-gun “fast track” bill (S. 995). Will UN-style gun control be rammed down our throats? Gun import bans ... Microstamping of firearms ... Ammunition bans ... The full implementation of the anti-gun UN Arms Trade Treaty ... Illegal amnesty which locks in millions of new, anti-gun voters.

<p>LONDON (AP) — A princess is born.</p> <p>Prince William's wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, "was safely delivered of a daughter" Saturday morning, less than three hours after checking into St. Mary's Hospital in London, royal officials said.</p> <p>The newborn's name wasn't immediately announced. When her brother, Prince George, was born in 2013, royal officials waited two days before announcing his name.</p>

Former CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson has sued the Justice Department over the hacking of her computers, officially accusing the Obama administration of illegal surveillance while she was reporting on administration scandals. In a series of legal filings that seek $35 million in damages, Attkisson alleges that three separate computer forensic exams showed that hackers used sophisticated methods to surreptitiously monitor her work between 2011 and 2013.

July 4, 1776 gave birth to perhaps the most revolutionary political document in the history of civilization, submitted by men who proclaimed, “with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

Today was one of the most pivotal dates in American history in 1776, when Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee put forth a motion to the Second Continental Congress, in part: "Resolved: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." Lee's resolution was debated and eventually led to the approval and signing of the Declaration of Independence a few weeks later. Lee himself...

We Americans like to think of our revolution as not being radical; indeed, most of the time we consider it downright conservative. It certainly does not appear to resemble the revolutions of other nations in which people were killed, property was destroyed, and everything was turned upside down. We can think of Robespierre, Lenin, and Mao Zedong as revolutionaries, but not George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. We cannot quite conceive of revolutionaries in powdered hair and knee breeches. They made speeches, not bombs; they wrote learned pamphlets, not manifestos. They were not abstract theorists and they were not...

My father, Rush H. Limbaugh, Jr., delivered this oft-requested address locally a number of times, but it had never before appeared in print until it was published in The Limbaugh Letter. My dad was renowned for his oratory skills and for his original mind; this speech is, I think, a superb demonstration of both. I will always be grateful to him for instilling in me a passion for the ideas and lives of America's Founders, as well as a deep appreciation for the inspirational power of words, which you will see evidenced here:

If there is one extremely deceptive aspect of the American Revolution, it is that the Founding Fathers made revolution look easy. Since that fateful day, over two centuries ago, revolutions have ruffled across the globe, many claiming to follow in the ideals of the American Founders, or claiming to take their principles to a higher level. Almost none of them succeeded. None succeeded as fully. Quite often the result was a tyranny darker than the one overthrown. So why did the American Revolution succeed so wonderfully? Four things are necessary for a successful revolution: 1) The old order must be...

The United States may break with a controversial tradition and dip its flag to Britain's leaders at the opening ceremony for the London Olympics, U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) CEO Scott Blackmun said on Thursday.

Almost every American knows the traditional story of July Fourth—the soaring idealism of the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress's grim pledge to defy the world's most powerful nation with their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. But what else about revolutionary America might help us feel closer to those founders in their tricornered hats, fancy waistcoats and tight knee-breeches? Those Americans, it turns out, had the highest per capita income in the civilized world of their time. They also paid the lowest taxes—and they were determined to keep it that way. By 1776, the 13 American colonies had...