Insurgency, Public Outcry, And Protest—

Historian To Discuss Themes Common To American Revolution, Modern Struggle

DANBURY — Hostile discussions about insurgency, public outcry about infringement of human rights, and calls to organize boycotts are at the forefront of today’s public debate in America — just as they were more than 200 years ago on the eve of the American Revolution.

Much has changed on both the foreign and domestic fronts since the 1770s, but the struggles of today’s “average” Americans grappling with emotional responses in tumultuous times echo the colonists’ own tussles.

Respected historian Dr Timothy H. Breen will explore the passions that ignited the American Revolution and the present-day relevance when he visit Western Connecticut State University for the President’s Lecture Series in March. The topic has modern-day implications as Americans continue to debate the war in Iraq or fret about the country’s lack of energy independence.

Dr Breen will discuss “It Rained Cats and Dogs the Day the Revolution Began: Ideology and Popular Resistance, 1775” at 7:30 pm on Monday, March 12, in Room 125 of WCSU’s Science Building, on Osborne Street (at the corner of Dr James Roach Avenue).

The event is free and open to the public. In case of inclement weather, Dr Breen will speak on Tuesday, March 13.

Dr Breen’s publishing credits include Marketplace of Revolution: How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence, which details the ways ordinary consumers transformed their shopping power into political power and triggered the American Revolution.

“The word ‘insurgency’ is loaded in our time,” said Dr Breen, who is director of the Center for Historical Studies and the William Smith Mason Professor of American History at Northwestern University in Illinois. “It’s also a term that’s not often applied to the American Revolution.

“In our fondness for ‘Founding Father’ stories, we’ve removed the people from our own revolution,” Dr Breen said. “We’ve removed the discussions about the emotions of revenge, anger, betrayal, and passion that played a role in our insurgency.”

“Dr Breen is one of the most eminent historians of early America,” WestConn President James W. Schmotter pointed out. “His latest book has been hailed as one of the most innovative interpretations of the beginnings of the American Revolution in decades. This work focuses on American colonists’ attitudes about their role as consumers and tells how these attitudes led to political action in the form of boycotts and buy-American campaigns.”

Dr Breen has taught at Yale University, the University of Chicago, and the California Institute of Technology. He has received numerous fellowships and awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, and The Alexander von Humboldt Prize. He is the author of eight books and dozens of articles exploring early American history.

The annual WCSU President’s Lecture Series features noted authorities from a variety of fields addressing topics of interest. For more information, call the WCSU Office of the President at 837-8754 or the Office of University Relations at 837-8486.