Breen on “The Will of the People” in Concord, 30 Oct.

On Wednesday, 30 October, the Concord Museum will host T. H. Breen speaking on the topic of his latest book, The Will of the People.

Here’s an extract from the book at LitHub:

During the course of this evolving political crisis, a colonial rebellion gave birth to a genuine revolution. Although the precise moment varied from region to region, there can be no doubt that the transformation brought forth a new political culture.

The driving force behind the creation of a regime based on the will of the people can be found in the quotidian experiences of managing local affairs, of actually participating in a political system in which ordinary Americans found that they had to negotiate power with other ordinary Americans, people who insisted that they were as good as any other member of civil society, in essence discovering a powerful sense of mutual equality that remains the rhetorical foundation of our political culture.

A government by the people was not something that the revolutionaries could take for granted; it had to be discovered and then reaffirmed by living through a challenging period of political change.

Breen is the John Kluge Professor of American Law and Governance at the Library of Congress and Founding Director of the Chabraja Center for Historical Studies at Northwestern University. He is the author of many books, including George Washington’s Journey, winner of the History Prize of the Society of the Cincinnati, and Marketplace of Revolution, winner of the Society of Colonial Wars Book Award.

This talk is scheduled to start at 7:00 P.M., and will be followed by a reception and book signing in partnership with the Concord Bookshop.

This is the museum’s annual Sally Lanagan Lecture, named in honor of a long-time volunteer. It is free and open to the public. Register for a seat here.