Events

Patrick Spero, director of the American Philosophical Society Library, discusses and signs copies of his book on the untold story of the Black Boys, a band of rebels on the American frontier in 1765 whose protests helped to spark the American Revolution. In 1765, as the Stamp Act riled eastern seaports, frontiersmen clashed with the British Empire over another issue: Indian relations. When British officials launched a risky diplomatic expedition into the American interior to open trade with the Indian warrior Pontiac, the Black Boys formed to stop it. Distrustful of native neighbors and suspicious of imperial aims, the Black Boys led an uprising that threatened the future of Britain’s empire. Clashing with unscrupulous traders, daring diplomats, native warriors and imperious British officials, the Black Boys evolved into an organized political movement that resisted the Crown years before the Declaration of Independence. Through its examination of this overlooked conflict, Frontier Rebels brings to life a forgotten cast of characters and sheds new light on the origins of American independence.

The talk will last about 45 minutes, followed by a book signing and refreshments.

About the Speaker

Patrick Spero is the librarian and director of the American Philosophical Society Library in Philadelphia, the oldest learned society in the United States. Frontier Rebels is his third book on the era of the American Revolution. Prior to his current position, he was associate professor of history at Williams College and historian at the David Library of the American Revolution. He earned a Ph.D. in history from the University of Pennsylvania.