Leader
Timothy H. Breen
William Smith Mason Professor of American History
Northwestern University
National Humanities Center Fellow
About the Seminar
This seminar will offer a revolutionary interpretation of the American Revolution. It will restore ordinary men and women to the story we tell ourselves about national independence. Moving the focus of interpretation away from the Founding Fathers, it will ask questions about resistance to imperial power on the community level. What were the sources of popular mobilization? How did the creation of committees of safety shape local resistance? What role did violence and intimidation play in the relations between neighbors? How did the directives of national congresses affect the actions of local insurgents?Presentation PDF
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Assigned Readings
- From the American Memory Timeline from the Library of Congress: The American Revolution, 1763 - 1783.
- British Reforms and Colonial Resistance, 1763-1766
- British Reforms and Colonial Resistance, 1767-1772
- The Colonies Move Toward Open Rebellion, 1773-1774
- First Shots of War, 1775
- Creating a Continental Army
- Revolutionary War: Northern Front: 1775-1777
- Revolutionary War: The Turning Point: 1776-1777
- Revolutionary War: Southern Phase: 1778-1781
- Revolutionary War: The Home Front
- Revolutionary War: Groping Toward Peace, 1781-1783
- From the National Humanities Center's primary source collection Making the Revolution, America: 1763-1791.