Two historians in recent essays have offered different interpretations of the significance of the events of July 3, 1775, and Washington's assuming command of the American Army. These will be helpful to you in writing your essays on this topic.

In a 1999 article in the Massachusetts Historical Review Professor Fred Anderson of the University of Colorado argues that Washington's arrival was a hinge moment, a key turning point in the outcome of the Revolutionary war. You can find Professor Anderson's article in your course reader. Justin Florence, a graduate student here at Harvard, wrote an essay which is forthcoming in the Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society for a seminar taught by Professor Ulrich. Florence argues that there already was an organized American army even before Washington's arrival. Florence's essay is available here as an Adobe Pdf file. You may find it useful to print it out.

You may find the following questions helfpul in comparing the two essays. What kinds of sources do the authors rely on? How do their different source bases shape their conclusions? Which do you agree with more? Are they necessarily incompatible with each other? What other kinds of evidence could be useful in assessing the importance of Washington's arrival?