The Unfinished Revolution
The Atlantic examines the founding of the United States and brings the nation’s history to bear on its present—and its future.
November 2025
In This Issue
The Unfinished Revolution: At 250, how the nation's founding bears on its present and future, with articles on mad King George, Franklin vs. Franklin, the Black Loyalists, reenactors, filming the Revolution, a radical duke, the insurrection problem, Native nations, Rip Van Winkle, Colonial Williamsburg, Eliza Schuyler, patriotism, and more.
Cover Story
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Editor's Note: The American Experiment
At 250, the Revolution’s goals remain noble and indispensable.
Behind The Atlantic’s November 2025 Issue Cover
Capturing the Revolutionary era in its complexity, contradictions, and ingenuity. Plus: A guide to the figures.
Chapter One: Defiance
Illustration by Lola Dupre. Source: Piemags / Alamy. The Myth of Mad King George
He was denounced by rebel propagandists as a tyrant and remembered by Americans as a reactionary dolt. Who was he really?
Illustration by Maggie O’Keefe No One Gave a Speech Like Patrick Henry
How he roused a nation to war
Amani Willett for The Atlantic Why Concord?
The geological origins of the American Revolution
Chapter Two: Conflict
The American Revolution Film Project / Florentine Films / Megan Ruffe What We Learned Filming The American Revolution
The co-directors of the new PBS series describe how they made a documentary about a war distant in time and shrouded in myth.
Illustration by Maggie O’Keefe Why Did Benjamin Franklin’s Son Remain Loyal to the British?
One of the most influential and ardent Patriots couldn’t persuade his son to join the Revolution.
Illustration by Paul Spella. Source: Paul Popper / Popperfoto / Getty. The Black Loyalists
Thousands of African Americans fought for the British—then fled the United States to avoid a return to enslavement.
Scott Rossi for The Atlantic You Have No Idea How Hard It Is to Be a Reenactor
Benedict Arnold’s boot wouldn’t come off, and other hardships from my weekend in the Revolutionary War.
Chapter Three: Independence
West Sussex Record Office, Add Mss 8981 Secrets of a Radical Duke
How a lost copy of the Declaration of Independence unlocked a historical mystery
Illustration by Matt Huynh The Insurrection Problem
Violence has marred the American constitutional order since the founding. Is it inevitable?
Illustration by Studio Duco So Much Madeira
What the Founding Fathers ate—and drank—on July 4, 1777
Illustration by Colin Hunter. Sources: Heritage Images / Getty; Universal History Archive / Getty. Whose Independence?
The question of what Jefferson meant by “all men” has defined American law and politics for too long.
Illustration by Colin Hunter The Moral Foundation of America
The idea that everyone has intrinsic rights to life and liberty was a radical break with millennia of human history. It’s worth preserving.
Hulton Archive / Getty How Native Nations Shaped the Revolution
The Founders were inspired—and threatened—by the independence and self-governance of nations like the Iroquois Confederacy.
Chapter Four: Memory
Illustration by Nicolás Ortega. Source: Library Of Congress. What the Founders Would Say Now
They might be surprised that the republic exists at all.
Illustration by Matt Huynh What Is Colonial Williamsburg For?
Telling the full story of the town’s past is an easy way to make a lot of people mad.
Illustration by Vivian Dehning. Source: ART Collection / Alamy. The Many Lives of Eliza Schuyler
She lived for 97 years. Only 24 of them were with Alexander Hamilton.
Illustration by Jonelle Afurong. Sources: Library of Congress; VCG Wilson / Corbis / Getty; Pierce Archive / Buyenlarge / Getty. The Lincoln Way
How he used America’s past to rescue its future
Ken Welsh / Design Pics / Universal Images Group / Getty Wake Up, Rip Van Winkle
Washington Irving’s story isn’t just about a very long nap. It’s about the making of America.
Chapter Five: Crisis
Illustration by Matt Huynh The Beacon of Democracy Goes Dark
For nearly 250 years, America promoted freedom and equality abroad, even when it failed to live up to those ideals itself. Not anymore.
Illustration by Nicolás Ortega. Sources: RugliG / Getty; Wikimedia. America Needs a Mass Movement—Now
Without one, America may sink into autocracy for decades.
Illustration by Nicolás Ortega. Sources: Photodisc / Getty; Impaint / Alamy. I Don’t Want to Stop Believing in America’s Decency
I want to feel, as Walt Whitman did, that America and democracy are inextricable.
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