DANBURY, CONN. — Hostile discussions about insurgency, public outcry about infringement of human rights and calls to organize boycotts are at the forefront of today’s public debate in America — just as they were more than 200 years ago on the eve of the American Revolution.

Much has changed on both the foreign and domestic fronts since the 1770s, but the struggles of today’s “average” or “everyday” Americans grappling with emotional responses in tumultuous times echo the colonists’ own tussles.

Respected historian Dr. Timothy H. Breen will explore the passions that ignited the American Revolution and the present-day relevance when he comes to Western Connecticut State University for the President’s Lecture Series in March. The topic has obvious modern-day implications as Americans debate the war in Iraq or fret about the country’s lack of energy independence.

Breen will discuss “It Rained Cats and Dogs the Day the Revolution Began: Ideology and Popular Resistance, 1775” at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, March 12, in Room 125 of the Science Building on the university’s Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. The event will be free, and the public is invited. (In case of inclement weather, Breen will speak on Tuesday, March 13.)

Breen’s publishing credits include “Marketplace of Revolution: How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence,” which details the ways ordinary consumers transformed their shopping power into political power and triggered the American Revolution. And he’s writing “The Revolutionary Moment: American Insurgency, 1774-1776,” which delves into the passionate, emotional responses that led average citizens to take up arms against the British.

“The word ‘insurgency’ is loaded in our time,” said Breen, who is director of the Center for Historical Studies and the William Smith Mason Professor of American History at Northwestern University in Illinois.

It’s also a term that’s not often applied to the American Revolution, Breen pointed out. Typically, accounts of early American history focus on the influential and glorified political leaders, not the average people who fought for their freedom.

“In our fondness for ‘Founding Father’ stories, we’ve removed the people from our own revolution,” Breen said. “We’ve removed the discussions about the emotions of revenge, anger, betrayal and passion that played a role in our insurgency.”

A 2005 review of Breen’s “The Marketplace of Revolution” in The New Yorker reads, “Arguing that the revolution of 1776 was the first in history based on evaporating brand loyalty, Breen draws a rich portrait of a Colonial society saturated with what Samuel Adams called ‘the baubles of Britain’: everything from fine china to Cheshire cheese. … Because they shopped together, Americans could rebel together.”

In addition to the public lecture, Breen will conduct a small group seminar with WestConn history students and faculty, as well as Danbury High School history teachers. Those attending the March 13 “Revolutionary Consumers: The Politics of the Ordinary People on the Eve of Independence” seminar will read several chapters of “The Marketplace of Revolution” before the session and then discuss the readings.

“Dr. Breen is one of the most eminent historians of early America,” WestConn President James W. Schmotter pointed out. “His latest book has been hailed as one of the most innovative interpretations of the beginnings of the American Revolution in decades. This work focuses on American colonists’ attitudes about their role as consumers and tells how these attitudes led to political action in the form of boycotts and buy-American campaigns.

“These historical insights hold value for us today in an age where corporations like American Express and Nordstrom endeavor to build communities of brand-loyal shoppers; where airlines tout their frequent-flier programs; and where commodities like oil, critical minerals and even water are employed for geo-political purposes,” Schmotter added.

Breen has taught at Yale University, the University of Chicago and the California Institute of Technology. He has received numerous fellowships and awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, and The Alexander von Humboldt Prize. He is the author of eight books and dozens of articles exploring early American history.

The annual WCSU President’s Lecture Series features noted authorities from a variety of fields addressing topics of interest. Previous distinguished speakers include actor James Earl Jones, former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell, and author and futurist James Martin, among others. For more information, call the WCSU Office of the President at (203) 837-8754 or the Office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486.