On July 4, 1776, two hundred miles northwest of Philadelphia, on Indigenous land along the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, a group of colonial squatters declared their independence. They were not alone in their efforts. This bold symbolic gesture was just a small part of a much broader and longer struggle in the Northern Susquehanna River Valley, where diverse peoples, especially Indigenous nations, fought tenaciously to safeguard their lands, sovereignty, and survival. We talk with Christopher Pearl about his new book, Declarations of Independence: Indigenous Resilience, Colonial Rivalries, and the Cost of Revolution, which examines this intense struggle among Indigenous Americans, rebellious colonial squatters, opportunistic land speculators, and imperial government agents which shaped the American Revolution.

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Congregationalists--clergy and congregations—were the driving force in New England's Revolution. Interpreting liberty through their own religious framework, which included principles of autonomy, fellowship, and consensus, Congregationalists had much to say about liberty in church records, letters, and sermon literature. Kyle Roberts, Executive Director of the Congregational Library and Archives, and Tricia Peone, Project Director for New England Hiddien Histories, join us to talk about their new on-line exhibit Religion of Liberty, and what we can learn from the Congregational Library about the beginnings of the American Revolution.

https://www.congregationallibrary.org/

https://www.congregationallibrary.org/events/open-house-2024

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In between the abortive call from Governor Thomas Gage for the legislature to convene in Salem on the 5th of October 1774, and the formation by those same legislators of a Provincial Congress on the 7th October 1774, a terrible fire took place in Salem. The fire destroyed more than a dozen buildings and numerous homes and caused more than £20,000 in damage. Join Professor Robert Allison in conversation with retired National Parks Ranger Curtis White as we examine the evidence of the fire and debate the causes of the fire. Was it carelessness or a deliberate attempt to prevent the formation of the Provincial Congress.

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