{"id":1183,"date":"2019-07-17T18:18:01","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T18:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wcsu.wpengine.com\/news-archives\/breen\/"},"modified":"2019-07-17T18:18:01","modified_gmt":"2019-07-17T18:18:01","slug":"breen","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/breen\/","title":{"rendered":"Insurgency, public outcry and protest"},"content":{"rendered":"
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DANBURY, CONN. <\/strong>\u2014 Hostile discussions about insurgency, public outcry about infringement of human rights and calls to organize boycotts are at the forefront of today\u2019s public debate in America \u2014 just as they were more than 200 years ago on the eve of the American Revolution.<\/p>\n

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Much has changed on both the foreign and domestic fronts since the 1770s, but the struggles of today\u2019s \u201caverage\u201d or \u201ceveryday\u201d Americans grappling with emotional responses in tumultuous times echo the colonists\u2019 own tussles.<\/p>\n

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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\u2019s Lecture Series in March. The topic has obvious modern-day implications as Americans debate the war in Iraq or fret about the country\u2019s lack of energy independence.<\/p>\n

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Breen will discuss \u201cIt Rained Cats and Dogs the Day the Revolution Began: Ideology and Popular Resistance, 1775\u201d at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, March 12, in Room 125 of the Science Building on the university\u2019s 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.)<\/p>\n

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Breen\u2019s publishing credits include \u201cMarketplace of Revolution: How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence,\u201d which details the ways ordinary consumers transformed their shopping power into political power and triggered the American Revolution. And he\u2019s writing \u201cThe Revolutionary Moment: American Insurgency, 1774-1776,\u201d which delves into the passionate, emotional responses that led average citizens to take up arms against the British.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe word \u2018insurgency\u2019 is loaded in our time,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s also a term that\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn our fondness for \u2018Founding Father\u2019 stories, we\u2019ve removed the people from our own revolution,\u201d Breen said. \u201cWe\u2019ve removed the discussions about the emotions of revenge, anger, betrayal and passion that played a role in our insurgency.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A 2005 review of Breen\u2019s \u201cThe Marketplace of Revolution\u201d in The New Yorker reads, \u201cArguing 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 \u2018the baubles of Britain\u2019: everything from fine china to Cheshire cheese. \u2026 Because they shopped together, Americans could rebel together.\u201d<\/p>\n

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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 \u201cRevolutionary Consumers: The Politics of the Ordinary People on the Eve of Independence\u201d seminar will read several chapters of \u201cThe Marketplace of Revolution\u201d before the session and then discuss the readings.<\/p>\n

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\u201cDr. Breen is one of the most eminent historians of early America,\u201d WestConn President James W. Schmotter pointed out. \u201cHis 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\u2019 attitudes about their role as consumers and tells how these attitudes led to political action in the form of boycotts and buy-American campaigns.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThese 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,\u201d Schmotter added.<\/p>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

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The annual WCSU President\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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DANBURY, CONN. \u2014 Hostile discussions about insurgency, public outcry about infringement of human rights and calls to organize boycotts are at the forefront of today\u2019s public debate in America \u2014 just as they were more than …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1183","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1183\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}