MA250 Event – Plymouth in the Revolution Lecture Series 2025 (Plymouth)

Lecture Series 2025 – 5 presentations-Wednesdays April 2, 9, 30 and May 7 & 14  at 7pm – Held at The Plymouth Public Library

Two hundred years ago, on 19 April 1775, American history changed. Colonial forces faced the British army at Lexington & Concord … and won. Word spread rapidly, and two regiments of Plymouth “Minute Men,” led by Colonel Theophilus Cotton, rallied to the Patriot cause. For the next six years, Plymoutheans participated in America’s battle for independence.

Although not the site of any great battles, nor the home of any triumphant generals, Plymouth is filled with the stories of the lawmakers and lawyers whose rhetoric inspired the Patriot cause, of the men who risked their lives and livelihood in military service, and of the civilians who kept the home fires burning, as well as of the Americans who, valuing loyalty above all, continued to support the King. They illuminate the complex and fascinating history of Massachusetts’ earliest town, as it embraced the movement for American independence, and the lasting impact it made on the Town’s historical landscape.

April 30: Patrick Browne – “Patriotism in a High Degree Zealous”: Ephraim Spooner & the Home Front
Ephraim Spooner—Selectman, Town Clerk, and successful merchant—was one of Plymouth’s most influential leaders. His contributions in training the militia, outfitting a privateer, dealing with local Tories, and coordinating support during a strained economy, illuminate the military, political, economic issues faced by those on the home front during the Revolution.
Patrick Browne, PhD (Boston University), is Executive Director of the Plymouth Antiquarian Society. The author of two books on local history, he was formerly Executive Director of the Duxbury Rural and Historical Society and of the Pilgrim Society/Pilgrim Hall Museum, and a lecturer on Early American History and the American Revolution at Boston University.

Upcoming Lectures:
May 7: Mark Schmidt – Choosing Sides: Loyalists in the American Revolution
May 14: Donna Curtin – Dr. James Thacher & Plymouth’s Revolutionary Generation