He was born the year before the Revolution began. His mother died before his 7th birthday. His father ended up in debtor's prison and provided material aid to men involved in Shay's Rebellion. Yet his story is known to many and has been portrayed in song, story and animated movies across the world. This is the story of John Chapman, aka "Johnny Appleseed" who left his impoverished home in Longmeadow, Massachusetts and spent the rest of his life wandering the Northwest Territory creating nurseries for apple trees as far away Ohio and Indiana. Join Professor Robert Allison in conversation with Melissa M. Cybulski, Vice President of the Longmeadow Historical Society as she shares with us the role of the Chapman Family, Longmeadow & Western Massachusetts in the age of the American Revolution.

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For the last 250 years Americans remain conflicted over the meaning and legacy of the Revolution—including the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. All of the social and political movements of the last two centuries have been shaped by the work of the founders and they in turn shape the way the next generations view the founding of the nation. Join Professor Robert Allison in conversation with Michael Hattem, author of "The Memory of '76" (Yale University Press) on how we have, and do, remember the American Revolution.

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On July 4, 1776, two hundred miles northwest of Philadelphia, on Indigenous land along the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, a group of colonial squatters declared their independence. They were not alone in their efforts. This bold symbolic gesture was just a small part of a much broader and longer struggle in the Northern Susquehanna River Valley, where diverse peoples, especially Indigenous nations, fought tenaciously to safeguard their lands, sovereignty, and survival. We talk with Christopher Pearl about his new book, Declarations of Independence: Indigenous Resilience, Colonial Rivalries, and the Cost of Revolution, which examines this intense struggle among Indigenous Americans, rebellious colonial squatters, opportunistic land speculators, and imperial government agents which shaped the American Revolution.

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Congregationalists--clergy and congregations—were the driving force in New England's Revolution. Interpreting liberty through their own religious framework, which included principles of autonomy, fellowship, and consensus, Congregationalists had much to say about liberty in church records, letters, and sermon literature. Kyle Roberts, Executive Director of the Congregational Library and Archives, and Tricia Peone, Project Director for New England Hiddien Histories, join us to talk about their new on-line exhibit Religion of Liberty, and what we can learn from the Congregational Library about the beginnings of the American Revolution.

https://www.congregationallibrary.org/

https://www.congregationallibrary.org/events/open-house-2024

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In between the abortive call from Governor Thomas Gage for the legislature to convene in Salem on the 5th of October 1774, and the formation by those same legislators of a Provincial Congress on the 7th October 1774, a terrible fire took place in Salem. The fire destroyed more than a dozen buildings and numerous homes and caused more than £20,000 in damage. Join Professor Robert Allison in conversation with retired National Parks Ranger Curtis White as we examine the evidence of the fire and debate the causes of the fire. Was it carelessness or a deliberate attempt to prevent the formation of the Provincial Congress.

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Was it the embattled farmers and Sons of Liberty, or the indebted planters shouting "Give me Liberty or give me Death!" that brought on the Revolution? Who held the first Provincial Convention or Congress? Who was first to resist the Crown's troops? Join us for a debate between Robert A. Gross, author of The Minutemen and their World, and Woody Holton, author of Forced Founders, and hear what lead these two very different places to revolution. Moderated by the ever-impartial Robert Allison.

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June 14, 2025 will be the 250th anniversary of the formation of the US Army by the 2nd Continental Congress. In preparation to celebrate the Army's birthday and to comemmorate the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution, the National Museum of the United States Army at Fort Belvoir will debut a new exhibit on April 19, 2025. Bringing together more than 200 artifacts from around the nation, the Army Museum will commemorate the leaders and men who formed the first army. We talk with Chief Curator of the National Museum of the United States Army, Paul Morando.

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A conversation with award-winning author Ray Anthony Shepard, who is introducing young readers to stories from American history focused on race. He has written on the the vaunted 54th Regiment of Massachusetts Infantry, as well as a book about Ona Judge, a seamstress who escaped from the Washington household, and is has just finished The Forgotten: Patriots of Color at Lexington & Concord,, focusing on the 19th of April 1775 from the perspective of African-Americans who were there that day fighting or observing---alarm-rider Abel Benson, soldiers Prince Estabrook and Peter Salem, Hartwell Tavern keeper Violet Thayer. We talk about the challenges of engaging younger readers and the importance of understanding the American story in all its complexity.

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