Reading and Discussion Group, 2026
The Semiquincentennial of the Revolution
Howland Stone Store Museum
Description
We will be commemorating our nation’s semiquincentennial by going beyond well-known events like Lexington & Concord to engage in a deeper and more comprehensive exploration of the Revolution. The War for Independence was as much a brutal civil war as it was a military struggle for national self-determination. Our readings will take us from a sweeping global perspective of imperial conflicts that set the stage for the War for Independence to a more focused exploration of convulsive events on the frontier of upstate New York. We will concentrate particularly on the experiences of people often ignored by traditional narratives of the Revolution: settlers, working people, African Americans, Indigenous Americans, women – loyalists and pacifists as well as patriots. When all is said and done, how “revolutionary” was the American Revolution?
Please join us as we consider this and other provocative questions during our 2026 winter/spring reading & discussion series (January 18, February 8, March 1, March 22, April 12, and May 3). Books will be provided.
Schedule
January 18: Session 1 – Bloody Mohawk: The French and Indian War & American Revolution on New York's Frontier, by Richard Berleth, Part I (pp. 1–140)
This session explores the early frontier conflicts of the French and Indian War along New York’s Mohawk Valley. Discussion topics may include Native alliances, frontier settlements, and the social and political forces that set the stage for revolution.
February 8: Session 2 – The Scratch of a Pen: 1763 and the Transformation of North America, by Colin Calloway (240 pp.)
This session examines how the 1763 Treaty of Paris reshaped empires, Indigenous sovereignty, and everyday lives. Discussion topics may include shifting borders, Native resistance, imperial diplomacy, and the unintended consequences that foreshadowed the American Revolution.
March 1: Session 3 – Bloody Mohawk, Part II (pp. 141–349)
This session examines the Revolutionary War’s impact on New York’s frontier communities. Discussion topics may include divided loyalties, the collapse of Native confederacies, the reshaping of frontier society, and the enduring legacies of displacement and resilience.
March 22: Session 4 – A People's History of the American Revolution: How Common People Shaped the Fight for Independence by Ray Raphael (400 pp.)
This session draws on Raphael’s vivid accounts of ordinary men and women who shaped the Revolution. Discussion topics may include class divisions, grassroots resistance, women’s and enslaved people’s roles, and how diverse experiences challenge the traditional, hero-centered narrative of America’s founding.
April 5: Easter
April 12: Session 5 – Our First Civil War: Patriots and Loyalists in the American Revolution by H. W. Brands (444 pp.)
This session examines Brands’ portrayal of the American Revolution as a civil war among neighbors. Discussion topics may include loyalist and patriot divisions, competing visions of liberty, the personal costs of rebellion, and how internal conflict shaped the emerging American identity.
May 3: Session 6 – Angelica: For Love and Country in a Time of Revolution by Molly Beer (272 pp.)
This session explores Angelica, examining late eighteenth-century New York through the lens of one remarkable woman. Discussion topics may include gender and power, social hierarchies, moral dilemmas, and how Angelica’s life illuminates women’s agency during the Revolutionary era.
May - June TBD: Field trip to Fort Stanwix, 85 miles, 1h,45m
Join us for an immersive visit to Fort Stanwix, a reconstructed 18th-century fort pivotal in the Revolutionary War. Participants will explore the fort’s history and its strategic role in frontier defense.