Virtual Lecture - The Wrong Side of History: Loyalists in the American Revolution

Date: Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Location: Zoom Virtual Lecture

Time: 7 pm (EST)

The loyalists were the losers of the American Revolution. The Americans who rejected independence and who fought to keep the colonies safely within the bosom of the British Empire lost almost everything when the patriots declared victory at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781. History quickly lost sight of them in the years afterwards and looking back now, it’s hard to understand why so many ordinary Americans were actually bitterly opposed to the break with Britain and the birth of a new nation. Join University of Maryland historian Richard Bell as he takes us back in time to examine the American Revolution from their perspective. Focusing on individuals with compelling personal stories, Bell challenges deep-rooted stereotypes of loyalists as sycophantic, cowardly, and selfish persons of means and demonstrates that to understand who the loyalists were, and what they experienced, is to better understand the stakes of the entire American Revolution.

Registration required.

Cost: $15 per household for General Admission; $10 per household for HA Members and Volunteers
 

This lecture will be offered virtually by Zoom, an online video conferencing platform. Upon registration, you will be sent the link for the video conference to join on the evening of the lecture. If you do not receive your confirmation email after you register, please check your Spam folder, or email Carolyn Currin at carolyn.currin@annapolis.org. To learn more about Zoom and to download the app to your computer, visit the Zoom website.

About our Presenter: Dr. Richard Bell is Professor of History at the University of Maryland. He holds a PhD from Harvard University and is author of the new book Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home, which is shortlisted for the George Washington Prize and the Harriett Tubman Prize. He has won more than a dozen teaching awards, including the University System of Maryland Board of Regents Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, the highest honor for teaching faculty in the Maryland state system. He has held major research fellowships at Yale, Cambridge, and the Library of Congress and is the recipient of the National Endowment of the Humanities Public Scholar award. He serves as a Trustee of the Maryland Historical Society, as an elected member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and as a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.    

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