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REASSESSING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION




The First Division Museum at Cantigny Park continues its acclaimed Date with History series with an online program featuring author and historian Woody Holton. He will discuss his 2021 book, “Liberty is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution.”

The free presentation (via Zoom) is on Thursday, May 5, at 7 pm CT. To receive a link, register in advance at FDMuseum.org.

‘Liberty Is Sweet’ explores countless connections between the patriots of 1776 and other Americans whose passion for freedom often brought them into conflict with the Founding Fathers.

Holton describes the origins and crucial battles of the Revolution from Lexington and Concord to the British surrender at Yorktown, always focusing on marginalized Americans—enslaved Africans and African Americans, Native Americans, women, and dissenters—and on overlooked factors such as weather, North America’s unique geography, chance, misperception, attempts to manipulate public opinion, and (most of all) disease. The outcome is a book that adds fascinating new dimensions to a story we thought we already knew.

 

Holton is a professor of history at the University of South Carolina. His 2009 book, “Abigail Adams,” won the Bancroft Prize. Holton is also the author of “Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution” (2007), and “Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves, and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia” (1999). Holton’s books are required reading on more than 200 college campuses.

The First Division Museum is open daily (except Mondays) from 10 am to 4 pm. Admission is free with paid parking ($5). Visit FDMuseum.org for additional details.

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About the First Division Museum at Cantigny Park

The First Division Museum, part of the Robert R. McCormick Foundations, promotes public learning about America’s military heritage and affairs through the history of the “Big Red One”—the famed 1st Infantry Division of the U.S. Army. The museum’s main exhibit hall, First in War, transports visitors to the trenches of World War I, the beaches of World War II and the jungles of Vietnam. A second exhibit hall, Duty First, explores the 1ID’s history in more recent times. The Robert R. McCormick Research Center, open to the public, houses the museum’s library, archival and photo collections. Outside, tanks from every era are interpreted, along with artillery pieces and a personnel carrier. Solemn memorial markers and commemorative statuary also command visitors’ attention. The museum’s “Footsteps of the First” travel program, in partnership with Academic Travel Abroad, will explore Normandy and other key sites in Western Europe, October 6-15, 2022. Full details, including the itinerary and registration, are on the museum website.

 




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