American Revolution – The UncommonWealth

Archives

The Seal of Virginia

Between August 1774 and July 1776, Virginia held five Revolutionary Conventions. These conventions selected and instructed the Virginia delegates to Congress, organized military preparation, arranged…

Brent TarterJuly 1, 2026

Newspapers Virginia Authors

Peggy Vahle and her Poodle Poo on America’s Bikecentennial

In 1976, Peggy Vahle rode her bicycle across the country, accompanied by her poodle, Poo, sitting in a handlebar bag. Before beginning her trip, a…

Guest ContributorJune 22, 2026

Archives

George Mason and the Virginia Declaration of Rights

The Virginia Declaration of Rights that members of the Fifth and last of the Virginia Revolutionary Conventions unanimously adopted on June 12, 1776, was one…

Brent TarterJune 10, 2026

Archives Education & Programming

“Declare the United Colonies free and independent”

Virginia's fifth Revolutionary Convention began on May 6, 1776, the same day that the House of Burgesses gathered as a body for the last time.…

Mari JulienneMay 13, 2026

Archives

Peter Francisco, or “A Horse, A Horse, My Petition for A Horse”

I am a relatively new hire at the Library of Virginia, having joined in January of this year as the coordinator of a VA250-funded project,…

Eric JohnsonMarch 16, 2026

Education & Programming

“A Fashionable Suit of Tar and Feathers”

One August day in 1775, Anthony Warwick found himself surrounded by a group of patriots angered by his refusal to stop importing and selling British…

Mari JulienneAugust 13, 2025

Archives Newspapers

Banditti of Brothers: Irregulars and Plunderers During the Revolution

During armed conflicts, there are some participants who recognize the opportunities for ill-gotten gains. In the upheaval of the American Revolution, combatants from both sides…

Vince BrooksAugust 6, 2025

Newspapers

How the Bicycle Boom of the 1970s Prepared the Way for the Bikecentennial

Fifty years ago, a front page photograph in the February 28, 1974 issue of Southwest Times, published in Pulaski, Virginia, showed Dr. David Stanley, a…

Guest ContributorJuly 16, 2025

Archives

Norfolk Burning

By February of 1776, the once bustling Borough of Norfolk lay in ruins. After being routed at Great Bridge in early December of 1775, Royal…

Paige NealJanuary 3, 2025

Newspapers

Lafayette’s 1824 Visit to the United States: Return of a Revolutionary War Superhero

Whether an exactly true account or not, the above dispatch from Boston reported in the Richmond Enquirer is just one small example of the extensive…

Errol SomayNovember 22, 2024

Archives

Whatever Happened to Virginia’s Black Patriots? Stories from the Declarations for Revolutionary War Pensions

Crispus Attucks, Peter Salem, James Lafayette. The first person to die in the American Revolution at the Boston Massacre, a soldier responsible for killing a…

McKenzie LongAugust 7, 2024

Archives Education & Programming

Unfinished Business from the Bicentennial of Independence Left to the 250th Anniversary

I went to work in the Virginia State Library (now the Library of Virginia) on July 1, 1974, in the capacity of an assistant to…

Brent TarterJuly 5, 2024

Archives Highlights

Records of the Virginia Revolutionary Conventions, 1774-1776 Now Online.

The first set of records from the Virginia Revolutionary Conventions, 1774-1776 collection are now available on the Library of Virginia’s Digital Collections Discovery site. The…

Greg CrawfordFebruary 7, 2024

Archives Manuscripts & Special Collections

Revolutionary Provenance: Washington’s Letter and Cornwallis’ Cup at the Library of Virginia

Every record and artifact at the Library of Virginia not only tells a story, but also has a story. The latter is referred to as…

Kenneth ForestJune 5, 2023

Archives

Guns, Ships, and Petitions for Payment

The partnership between the French and the Continental Army during the American Revolution has been long celebrated and venerated. A prime example is the Marquis…

Emeline AlexanderJuly 20, 2022