The experience of young soldiers in the Revolutionary War was shaped by their drive to achieve personal independence and autonomy. The war offered an entire generation of young men unusual opportunities for social advancement, honor and distinction, but diverted those who served from the established path through young adulthood. John Ruddiman focuses on soldiers as young men and offers a new understanding of the Revolutionary War as he argues that these soldiers’ generational struggle for their personal independence was a profound force within America’s struggle for its independence.
About the Speaker
John Ruddiman is a professor of history at Wake Forest University and the author of Becoming Men of Some Consequence: Youth and Military Service in the Revolutionary War (2014). Youth and Military Service in the Revolutionary War was the inaugural Catesby Jones Lecture.