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.
October 2025
Virtual Lecture—Bayou Patriots? Louisiana Militia and the American Revolution
Comprised of Spanish, Creole French, Acadian, German and free Black soldiers, the efforts of the Spanish Louisiana militia during Gen. Bernardo de Galvez’s campaign against British positions on the Gulf Coast was instrumental in forcing the British military to expend manpower and resources away from the rebellious thirteen colonies. Rhett Breerwood, command historian of the Louisiana National Guard, discusses the role of Spanish Louisiana’s militia during these events, as well as its legacy as it eventually came under American authority…
Find out more »November 2025
Author’s Talk— The American Revolution and the Fate of the World
The American Revolution was a cataclysm that pulled in participants from around the globe and fundamentally transformed how the world worked, disrupting trade, restructuring penal systems, stirring famine and creating the first global refugee crisis. Drawing from his new book that repositions the Revolution at the center of an international web, historian Richard Bell, Ph.D., of the University of Maryland discusses the impact of the Revolution at home and abroad by grounding the narrative in the gripping stories of individuals…
Find out more »Panel Discussion—The Archaeology of the American Revolution
Richard Veit, Ph.D., professor of anthropology at Monmouth University, moderates a panel of contributors to a new anthology that offers new interpretations of the Revolutionary War, The Archaeology of the American Revolution. Drawing from select works within the volume, panelists will connect historical narratives with material culture, explore how cutting-edge archaeological methods and technology have illuminated previously undiscovered sites, and examine how material remnants and memorials shape the ways the war is remembered. Registration is requested. To attend the author’s…
Find out more »December 2025
Lecture—The Battle for the Fourteenth Colony: America’s War of Liberation in Canada, 1774-1776
To commemorate the 250th anniversary of the American campaign into Canada, historian Mark Anderson examines the American colonies’ efforts to bring Quebec into the Continental confederation and free Canadians from British “tyranny.” Drawing from his research, Anderson offers new insight into the key political and military factors that ultimately doomed America’s first foreign war of liberation and resulted in the Continental Army’s decisive expulsion from Canada on the eve of the Declaration of Independence. This program accompanies our current exhibition,…
Find out more »January 2026
Virtual Author’s Talk—Money and the Making of the American Revolution
Historian Andrew Edwards, lecturer at the University of St. Andrews, discusses his new book that offers a fascinating story of power and economic ideas during America’s founding era. Everyone knows that the founders waged a revolt against taxation without representation, though the dispute over taxes was really a dispute over money: what it was, who could make it, and how to keep it from being used at the expense of the colonists in North America. Drawing from his narrative that…
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