William Fowler on the Newburgh Crisis, 3 Feb.

On Wednesday, 3 February, Prof. William Fowler speaks on “An American Crisis: The Newburgh Address” as part of the Friends of Minute Man’s lecture series. Bill is former editor of the New England Quarterly and president of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and is working on a book about Gen. George Washington in the closing years of the Revolution.

The more I read about the “Conway cabal” and the “Newburgh conspiracy,” the more I think that Washington was either:

• really good at spotting conspiracies before they grew, or
• a little paranoid, at least in perceiving such conspiracies as bigger and more threatening than they were.

Or maybe both. Regardless of whether there was danger of a military coup against Congress when the commander made his Newburgh Address, Washington did manage to keep the Continental Army out of direct involvement in political matters, and that was important.

Bill Fowler will speak at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Concord, 81 Elm Street, starting at 8:00 P.M., and all are welcome.