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.
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 »Virtual Lunch Bite—The Revolution’s First Winter: Loyalist Thomas Ainslie’s Account of the 1775 American Assault of Quebec
The Institute’s library director, Thomas Lannon, discusses the American invasion of Canada during the first winter of the Revolution and the failed attempt to capture Quebec to rally support against Britain and bring Canada into the rebellion as the hoped-for “fourteenth colony.” With unrest spreading in the southern colonies, British leaders worried rebellion might cross into Canada. That fear was justified and Canada figured prominently in the American strategy for an opening campaign in the Revolution. Congress authorized the invasion in…
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