Welcome to what I pray will become a valuable online resource for history students and enthusiasts alike. This blog, aka the PINSTRIPE PRESS, spent the last 5+ years focusing on the American Civil War. Today it is officially reborn as BLOG or DIE, a completely new site dedicated to the Revolutionary War and Colonial-period. The title comes from the famous “Join or Die” flag, based on a well-known political cartoon, created by Benjamin Franklin and first published in his Pennsylvania Gazette on May 9, 1754. It is in the spirit of Dr. Franklin’s call to action that this blog is rededicated. From now-on, this site will deal specifically with the politics, rebellion, and military affairs that guided our nation’s path toward securing liberty and freedom, as well as how these events and their participants are remembered today. Particular attention will be paid to Thomas Jefferson and the Founding Fathers.

As I announced a few weeks ago, my focus as an author and historian has moved entirely from the War Between the States to America’s Fight for Independence. Since then I have become a serious student of the period and a contributing writer for Patriots of the American Revolution magazine. My goal with this blog is to use the same style of presentation, including video, to introduce readers to stories from our country’s earliest history. The first official blog will be posted in the coming days and will share the complex and controversial subject of race and remembrance at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. This was a feature article that appeared in the January/February issue of PAR. Future articles will include a book review of Flight from Monticello: Thomas Jefferson at War by Michael Kranish and a feature on George Washington’s exploits in western Pennsylvania. In addition, I am hoping to incorporate some crossover postings from The Jefferson Project, a collective effort of multi-racial essays written by a diverse group of historians.

I will occasionally post on my previous era of study including updates on the National Civil War Life Foundation, the Angel of Marye’s Heights documentary, Mort Kunstler commissions, and upcoming talks on Confederate encampments in Spotsylvania County and Jackson’s 1862 Valley Campaign, but they will be far and few between. Like this blog, I am completely changing my focus and commitment. I hope you will join me on this journey and that we will both grow to have a deeper understanding and appreciation for the birth of our nation. Stay tuned for the inaugural post…