Supporting scholarship and promoting popular understanding of the American Revolution is central to the work of the American Revolution Institute. The Institute welcomes distinguished scholars and authors to share their insights and discuss their latest research with the public at Anderson House through lectures, author's talks and panel discussions. The Institute also hosts a variety of other historical programs throughout the year, including our Lunch Bite object talks, battlefield tours, special Anderson House tour programs and other events. Many of the events we offer are free.
January 2023
Lecture – Environmental Legacies: How the War of Independence Affected the Natural World in Predictable and Surprising Ways
When one considers the effects of war on the environment, their thoughts probably turn to modern events such as the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki or the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam. The American Revolution, however, also had a major impact on the natural world in the eighteenth century. At Valley Forge, during the winter of 1777-1778, Continental soldiers cut down over 127,000 trees to build their log huts, leading to short-term and long-term effects of deforestation.…
Find out more »Lunch Bite – A Captured British Light Dragoon Carbine
Join Deputy Director and Curator Emily Parsons for a discussion of a British Pattern 1756 light dragoon carbine and the winding road it took to seeing action in the American Revolution. In May 1776, just two months after the British had evacuated Boston, a Massachusetts privateer captured an armed British transport ship, the Hope, near Boston Harbor. The enemy ship was filled with arms and equipment meant for the king’s troops, including one thousand carbines, several cannon and nearly fifteen…
Find out more »Lecture – The Real Miracle at Valley Forge: George Washington’s Political Mastery
Throughout the punishing winter at Valley Forge, Gen. George Washington preserved the Continental Army while also forging it into an effective fighting force. This achievement not only reflected military leadership but also deft political action that allowed the commander-in-chief both to repel an attempt to supersede him and to command the congressional and national support he needed to remake the army. Historian David O. Stewart examines Washington’s masterful navigation of politics and leadership during the daunting 1777-1778 winter encampment. Registration…
Find out more »Virtual Lecture – The Battle of St. Louis and the Attack on Cahokia
Compared to events in the East, the American Revolutionary War in the West has received sparse attention despite its major impact on the geographical extent of the United States after the war. In 1779, in response to George Rogers Clark conquering the Illinois country and Spain entering the war, Lord George Germain set in motion a grand plan to conquer the entire Mississippi River Valley for the British. The lynchpin of the plan was a simultaneous attack by over one…
Find out more »February 2023
Lunch Bite – Charles Stedman’s History of the Origin, Progress, and Termination of the American War
Historical Programs Manager Andrew Outten discusses Charles Stedman’s History of the Origin, Progress, and Termination of the American War that contains detailed annotations made by British general Sir Henry Clinton. Stedman, who served as an officer in the British army for most of the Revolutionary War, wrote a detailed history of the conflict that was published in 1794. Immediately upon its publication, Gen. Sir Henry Clinton meticulously assessed Stedman’s history of the war before publishing a response with corrections that…
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