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
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 »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…
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