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.
September 2025
Author’s Talk—Republic and Empire: Crisis, Revolution, and America’s Early Independence
At the time of the American Revolution, the British Empire had colonies in India, Africa, the Caribbean, the Pacific, Canada, Ireland and Scotland. The thirteen rebellious American colonies accounted for half of the total number of provinces in the British world after the Seven Years’ War. As much as the Revolution was an event in the history of the United States, the conflict was an imperial event produced by the upheavals of managing a far-flung set of imperial possessions during…
Find out more »October 2025
Author’s Talk— Washington’s Lieutenants: Major Versus Brigadier Generals in the Revolutionary War
While the Continental Army’s commander-in-chief, Gen. George Washington, directed some of the army’s battles during the Revolution, his strategy for the most part was carried out—and most battles were won or lost—by his subordinates, the army’s major and brigadier generals, whose backgrounds, experience and abilities varied. Drawing from his new book, historian Douglas Branson explores some of Washington’s most colorful generals, including Hugh Mercer, Peter Muhlenberg, Nathanael Greene, Henry Knox, Robert Howe and Horatio Gates, to show the relationships and…
Find out more »The 2025 Society of the Cincinnati Prize Presentation & Reception
The 2025 Society of the Cincinnati Prize honors Vaughn Scribner, Ph.D., for his book Under Alien Skies: Environment, Suffering, and the Defeat of the British Military in Revolutionary America (University of North Carolina Press, 2024), which illustrates how foreign soldiers’ perceptions of the American environment during the Revolution merged with harsh wartime realities to elicit considerable physical, mental, and emotional anguish. The Revolutionary War is often celebrated as marking the birth of American republicanism, liberty and representative democracy, yet for…
Find out more »Lecture —The Formation of the Continental Army
In 1775, the rebellious Americans had to form a standing army to protect their rights and defend themselves against occupying British forces. On June 14, 1775, shortly before the Battle of Bunker Hill in Boston, the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution that authorized the creation of an army that represented unity between the thirteen colonies, called the Continental Army, and appointed Gen. George Washington as its commander-in-chief. To commemorate the 250th anniversary of its inception, historian Holly Mayer, Ph.D.,…
Find out more »Virtual Lunch Bite—A Portrait of Continental Navy Officer Silas Talbot
The Institute’s museum collections and operations manager, Paul Newman, discusses a 1785 portrait of Continental Navy officer Silas Talbot, painted by Ralph Earl. Though he was born in Massachusetts, Silas Talbot first took up arms against the British for his adopted state of Rhode Island in 1775. As a captain in the militia, Talbot first served at the Siege of Boston before being commissioned into the Continental Army and later tasked with creating and launching a fireship against British vessels…
Find out more »