{"id":2112,"date":"2026-06-13T14:24:40","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T18:24:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essexheritage.org\/rev250\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=2112"},"modified":"2026-06-14T13:34:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T17:34:13","slug":"1776-why-independence","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/essexheritage.org\/rev250\/event\/1776-why-independence\/","title":{"rendered":"1776: Why Independence?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Join Dr. Robert Allison as he discusses the challenges, opportunities, and the role of Essex County as America declared independence in 1776.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why did the American colonies declare Independence in 1776? What were the challenges, and what potential opportunities did they see? How did their thinking change from trying to preserve their long-cherished charter rights to announcing their arrival as an independent entity, equal among the powers of the earth to all other nations? What was the role of Essex County in this momentous decision?<\/span><\/p>\n

Robert Allison,<\/b>\u00a0a professor of history at Suffolk University, also teaches at the Harvard Extension School. He has written a series of short books about the American Revolution, as well as histories of Boston and of Cape Cod. His longer works include publications on the Barbary Wars and Naval hero Stephen Decatur. He edited an edition of \u201cThe Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African.\u201d Allison created two classes for The Teaching Company\u2019s series \u201cThe Great Courses,\u201d one focused on colonial America (\u201cBefore 1776: Life in the American Colonies) and the other on Benjamin Franklin (\u201cThe Age of Benjamin Franklin\u201d) His work draws from his teaching, which has covered all phases of American history, though his primary focus is the American Revolution and the early American republic. He is president of the\u00a0<\/span>Colonial Society of Massachusetts<\/span><\/a>, a scholarly organization which publishes primary documents on early American history, a life-trustee of the USS CONSTITUTION Museum, and as chair of Revolution 250, Allison hosts its\u00a0<\/span>weekly podcast,<\/span><\/a>\u00a0a series of conversations on the Revolution with historians, museum curators, and reenactors.<\/span><\/p>\n

While admission is free space is limited; registration is strongly encouraged.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

CLICK HERE<\/strong><\/a> to Register<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This program is part of the\u00a0<\/em>Conflict & Community: Salem, Essex County, and the American Revolution<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0lecture series. This series is a partnership between Essex Heritage and Salem Maritime National Historical Park and highlights the unique role of Essex County communities during the American Revolution.\u00a0<\/em>CLICK HERE<\/strong><\/em><\/a>\u00a0for more information about\u00a0<\/em>Conflict & Community\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>programs.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Join Dr. Robert Allison as he discusses the challenges, opportunities, and the role of Essex County as America declared independence in 1776. Why did the American colonies declare Independence in…","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":2113,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"tribe_events_cat":[],"class_list":["post-2112","tribe_events","type-tribe_events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n1776: Why Independence? - Rev 250<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/essexheritage.org\/rev250\/event\/1776-why-independence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"1776: Why Independence? - Rev 250\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Join Dr. Robert Allison as he discusses the challenges, opportunities, and the role of Essex County as America declared independence in 1776. 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