This project visualizes patterns of correspondence among key figures of the American Revolution, drawn from metadata (author, recipient, date, location) across 40,000+ documents in twelve documentary collections published by the University of Virginia Press's Rotunda platform.
The data spans 1771 to 1783: from the years of rising colonial tensions through independence, war, diplomacy, and the Treaty of Paris. Each visualization offers a different lens on how major figures communicated during the revolution.
Highlights
Timeline of Correspondence
Note the letter volume rise and fall with the political, military, and diplomatic events of 1773–1783 marked against the flow of correspondence.
View timeline →Geographic Flow
Where were letters written? Watch the centers of correspondence shift as the revolution unfolds.
View map →Letters Across the Mid-Atlantic
The geographic heartland of wartime correspondence: Philadelphia, New York, and the Hudson towns where Washington wintered between campaigns.
View map →Abigail Adam's Network
Who was in Abigail's address book? See her sphere of influence and her social network.
View network →The Great Correspondences
A ranking of the heaviest two-way letter exchanges to reveal the strongest relationships during the revolution.
View ranking →The Correspondence Network
Who wrote to whom across the Revolutionary era. Explore the network of correspondents and their circles.
View graph →