The past is never dead. It's not even past
An Independence Within an Empire When the thirteen British colonies declared their independence in 1776, the world witnessed not only the birth of a new nation but also a decisive shift in the balance of global power. As historians such as Jeremy Adelman, J. H. Elliott, and Anthony Pagden have noted, the American Revolution unfolded […]
Introduction: a figure at the margins American historical memory abounds with the names of explorers and pioneers: Hernando de Soto, associated with the European discovery of the Mississippi; John Smith and the English settlers of Jamestown; the pilgrims of the Mayflower; and, in Texas, Davy Crockett and the Alamo have become mythic symbols. Yet few […]
When British forces surrendered at Yorktown in 1781, few would have imagined that the decisive blow had been financed not from Paris or Philadelphia, but from Havana. Behind this unexpected twist stood Francisco de Saavedra, a Spanish official whose name is absent from most American textbooks but whose actions helped change the course of the […]