Benjamin Franklin Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution

06/20/2026

"Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a wretched situation. No theoretical checks-no form of government can render us secure. To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea, if there be sufficient virtue and intelligence in the community, it will be exercised in the selection of these men. So that we do not depend on their virtue, or put confidence in our rulers, but in the people who are to choose them."

James Madison, speech at the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 20, 1788

Image: James Madison, by Gilbert Stuart in 1804
Medium: Oil on twill weave canvas
Credit: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, gift of Mrs. George S. Robbins
Image courtesy of Encyclopedia Virginia https://encyclopediavirginia.org/5189hpr-d49cabe3fcfe733/

06/19/2026

With America250 – We just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉

06/18/2026

Formed in 1674, the British 5th Regiment of Foot had a 100-year-old record of valor and distinguished service when it arrived in Boston in July 1774 under the command of General Hugh Percy, son of the Duke of Northumberland, as part of the large force sent to quell the unrest in the city. The following April, two companies of the 5th Foot participated in the march on Concord, suffering heavy casualties in the running battles that followed. At the Battle of Bunker Hill the regiment took even more severe losses, with 27 killed and 137 wounded.

For the next three and half years the 5th Foot would be engaged in the campaigns and principal battles against Washington’s army. At the Battle of Brandywine it was the 5th which broke the American line at Chadd’s Ford and captured five pieces of artillery.

In November 1778 the 5th was sent to Saint Lucia in the West Indies and it was there that it won its greatest laurels of the war, as part of the British force that defeated a much larger French army and secured control of the island. It was after that battle that the 5th added distinctive white plumes (hackles) to their hats, having first taken them, according to regimental tradition, from dead French soldiers.

After two years in the West Indies the 5th was transferred to Ireland, where it was stationed with the Revolutionary War ended.

In 1782 the regiment was renamed the 5th Northumberland Regiment of Foot. It became the 5th Northumberland Fusiliers Regiment of Foot in 1836, the Northumberland Fusiliers in 1881, and finally the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers in 1935. In 1968 it and three other regiments were combined to form the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, which continues to exist.

The painting by Don Troiani depicts a private in the 5th Regiment of Foot, circa 1775.

06/18/2026

Act Worthy of Yourselves: A Novel of Dr. Joseph Warren and an American Rebellion

06/18/2026

06/18/2026

Giving proof that even a good man can make a mistake, today marks the anniversary of the passing of one of the worst pieces of legislation in American history. On this day in 1798, President John Adams signed into law the first of four bills which would make up the Alien and Sedition Acts.

John Adams faced many difficulties as president. His vice president, Thomas Jefferson, had been his chief opponent in the election of 1796 (this was before the 12th Amendment was passed), and the two were not getting along despite their years of friendship. The nation was being threatened with war by both Great Britain and France. And worst of all, in the eyes of the government, Adams was not Washington. There Adams contributed to his own problem by keeping Washington’s cabinet instead of choosing men who would be loyal to himself.

It was the threat of the war which precipitated the acts. Congress wished to strengthen the powers of the federal government to deal with the threats brought by suspicious foreigners living in the United States. The first act, the Naturalization Act, required that immigrants must live in the U.S. for 14 years before they apply for citizenship. Previously the requirement had only been five years. Adams did not write the act, only signed it and never enforced it, but it brought sharp criticism from the Republicans.

On June 25th, Adams signed the second bill, the Alien Act. This legislation gave to the president the authority to deport aliens even during peacetime. The next law was the Alien Enemies Act signed on July 6th expanding the powers to deport to those aliens who had ties to a nation which was an enemy of the U.S. The final act, the Sedition Act, was signed on July 14th and gave Adams the authority to define what constituted treason including the printing of materials which were false, malicious, or scandalous. Furthermore, the vagueness of the definition of treason and the power of the president to define it coupled with heavy fines and imprisonment was viewed as a very real threat to the First Amendment.

In a momentary lapse from her usual judgment, Abigail Adams urged her husband to sign these acts calling her husband’s political opponents criminal and vile.

In reaction to the Alien and Sedition Act, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson wrote the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions. They argued that the federal government did not have the authority to exercise any power which was not specifically granted to it by the Constitution.

The Alien and Sedition Acts cost John Adams the election of 1800 which went to Thomas Jefferson. They ironically strengthened the Republican Party which the acts were intended to weaken.

When we compare these events, and the results, surrounding the Alien and Sedition Acts, what lesson can we take from them? Today do we see any actions which compare to these acts? In what way?

06/18/2026

“Foreign powers also will not be idle spectators, “They will interpose, the confusion will increase, and a dissolution of the Union will ensue."

Alexander Hamilton, Madison Debates, June 18th, 1787

Image: This posthumous painting was created by Alonzo Chappel and depicts Hamilton serving with the New York Artillery.
Museum of the City of New York.
Image courtesy of National Park Service https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/alexander-hamilton-new-yorker.htm

06/18/2026

06/18/2026

An American Moment, 250 years ago, June 18, 1776. The Continental Congress gave tories the right of a hearing:

Resolved, That no man in these colonies, charged with being a tory, or unfriendly to the cause of American liberty, be injured in his person or property, or in any manner whatever disturbed, unless the proceeding against him be founded on an order of this Congress, or the Assembly, convention, council or committee of safety of the colony, or committee of inspection and observation, of the district wherein he resides; provided, that this resolution shall not prevent the apprehending any person found in the commission of some act destructive of American liberty, or justly suspected of a design to commit such act, and intending to escape, and bringing such person before proper authority for examination and trial.

John Adams writing to General Horatio Gates regarding Canada:

Philadelphia

My dear General

We have ordered you to the Post of Honour, and made you Dictator in Canada for Six Months, or at least untill the first of October. We dont choose to trust you Generals, with too much Power, for too long Time.

Journals of the Continental Congress, June 18, 1776.
Letters of Members of the Continental Congress, Vol. 1, Edmund C. Burnett, 1921, p.497.

© 2026 Clifford Olsen/1776 American Moments