Introduction: The Revolution at 250: A Special Issue

Abstract: The 250th anniversary of the American Revolution is approaching at a time when the nation is fractured and divided. To what extent are our current divisions shaped by the nature, character, achievements, and limits of the American Revolution whose semi-quincentennial we will soon commemorate? Can we tell the story of the American Revolutionary era so that we do full justice to the complexity of the events and the broad mosaic of peoples who shaped and were shaped by it? How do we as historians provide the true complexity of this past while contributing to and advancing our present and ongoing civic conversations?