Event

1775: A Society on the Brink of War and Revolution - Day 1

Thursday, April 10, 2025 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM EST
In Person (not at MHS) / NOTE: times are shown in EST

The Concord Museum, the David Center for the American Revolution at the American Philosophical Society, and the Massachusetts Historical Society will hold a conference on 10-11 April 2025 on the theme “1775”. The conference will be convened at the Concord Museum and marks the 250th anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord. There will be opportunities for attendees to visit historic sites and view objects and collections significant to the Revolution.

The conference and workshop will take place at the Concord Museum in Concord, MA on 10-11 April 2025. Learn more about the conference here

All attendees must register to attend the conference in advance. Note that conference presenters and commenters do NOT need to register.

Register to attend here.

Conference registration is $20 and includes the Thursday evening reception and a boxed lunch on Friday. The registration fee is waved for graduate students and adjunct faculty.

Questions about registration? Email Allison Shilling, Deputy Director & Director of Engagement at the Concord Museum (ashilling@concordmuseum.org). 

Header Image: A View from the Town of Concord, by Timothy Martin Minot. Massachusetts, about 1825. Concord Museum Collection, Bequest of Mrs. Stedman Buttrick, Sr.; Pl414.

Day 1 of the conference will take place at the Concord Museum in Concord, MA. The keynote address will be held in a hybrid format, with in-person and virtual attendance options.

By registering you are agreeing to abide by the MHS Visitor Code of Conduct.

Upcoming Events

Social Reform and Identity Formation in the 17th Century - A Panel Discussion
Social Reform and Identity Formation in the 17th Century - A Panel Discussion
Hybrid / NOTE: times are shown in EST
Tuesday, April 1, 2025 5:00 PM - 6:15 PM EST
This panel investigates forms of social control in 17th century New England. Arthur George Kamya’s paper examines the regulation of distilled liquor in 17th century Massachusetts Bay Colony, exploring how authorities navigated competing moral, economic, and security imperatives. Initially targeting a cross-section of colonists, liquor laws evolved to focus on servants, Native Americans, and eventually African Americans. The colony's approach shifted from moral censure to pragmatic revenue generation, with officials using fines and licenses to fund government operations. Kamya’s study illuminates how alcohol regulation became a tool of social control, state-building, and the construction of racial hierarchies in colonial New England, offering insights into the complex interplay between commerce, governance, and identity formation in early America. As discussed in Alice King’s work, Connecticut adopted a notable strategy towards certain Indigenous populations during the initial decades of settlement, attempting to control and exploit Native communities by turning them into colonial tributaries who would provide essential supplies, wampum, and military aid. King’s paper considers the evolution of tributary politics at the end of the seventeenth century after the Dominion of New England and Glorious Revolution had destabilized colonial authority and left colonists vulnerable to attack by French and Native forces, including the Wabanaki Confederacy during King William’s War, 1689-1697, when Connecticut leaders sought to raise soldiers for New England’s defense from these historic tributary communities.
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