UPDATE: IN-PERSON SEATING IS NOW FULL. YOU MAY JOIN THE WAIT LIST OR WATCH VIA ZOOM (SEE BELOW).
Four months before the “shot heard round the world” was fired at Lexington and Concord in April 1775, the farmers and fishermen of Seacoast New Hampshire rose up to defy British authority at Fort William and Mary. This is a part of New Hampshire history with which area residents are quite familiar. Less well known is the story of how the colonist’s resistance movement came together. Textbooks recall their recitation of grievances: taxes and tyranny; and their demands: relief from impositions on their liberty and recognition of their right to representation. But books seldom explore what these terms meant to those who protested and risked their lives and livelihoods. Prof. Morrison will explore the conditions that led the Seacoast’s communities to rebel against their king.
Dane Morrison is professor emeritus of early American history at Salem State University. He has served as president of the New England Historical Association, New England Regional World History Association and Vice President of the New England American Studies Association. He holds a B.A. from Boston College and Ph.D. from Tufts University. His research has focused on contacts between early America and the world, appearing in A Praying People: Massachusetts Acculturation and the Failure of the Puritan Mission, 1600–1690 (Peter Lang, 1995); True Yankees: The South Seas and the Discovery of American Identity (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014); Eastward of Good Hope: Early America in a Dangerous World (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2021); and the forthcoming Yankees Abroad: Critical Themes in World History (Hackett Press). He has also edited or co-edited five volumes on subjects as diverse as the history and contemporary experiences of indigenous North Americans and the 400-year history of Salem, Massachusetts.
For the 2026 Lecture Series “The Spirit of 1776: Revolution, Constitution, Independence,” each program begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Shaw Research Library (unless otherwise noted). Reservations for each program are required as seating is limited. If unable to keep a reservation, please call again to release the seat for someone else. Attendance at programs is free for Athenæum Proprietors, Subscribers and Friends. Guests and members of the public are welcome to attend the entire series by becoming a Friend of the Athenæum for as little as $25 per year, payable at the door. Admission to an individual program is $15.
Below is the Zoom link for this talk.
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Members: FREE
Proprietors, Subscribers, and Friends may attend this event for free. Membership at the Proprietor and Subscriber levels includes one complimentary spouse/partner guest pass.
Non-Members: $15
Admission to a single event.
Friend Membership: $25
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The 2026 lecture series is sponsored by Whole Wealth Management.
