It was glorious news! After seven years of war, peace had been negotiated at Versailles. England had been triumphant over the French. She was now mistress of the greatest Empire the world had seen since the days of Rome. In the American colonies there was toasting in the taverns, fireworks everywhere and joyous celebrations in the streets. After 150 years the French menace from Canada was gone. The victory had been costly. England was in debt. Who should pay? During the war the colonies had grown accustomed to a wide degree of liberty. The new king, George the Third, and Parliament, looked to America for revenue. Having enjoyed more than century of "salutary neglect," the colonies resisted Parliament's demands. The years 1763-1775 were tumultuous and violent. On April19, 1775, "the decisive day," the issue was decided , the Revolution began.
All Winter Lecture Series talks are free and open to the public, held in beautiful Hamilton Hall at Essex Meadows, 30 Bokum Road, Essex. Doors open at 2:30 pm, and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, please contact EHS at 860-767-0681 or mjosefiak@essexhistory.org
About the Speaker
William M. Fowler, Jr. the former director of the Massachusetts Historical Society is Distinguished Professor of History, Emeritus Northeastern University. Professor Fowler received his undergraduate degree from Northeastern University and his Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame. Professor Fowler lives in Reading where he has served on the HstoricalCommission as well as the Library Building Committee.
He is the former editor of The New England Quarterly and the author of a number of books relating to American history including: William Ellery A Rhode Island Politico and Lord of Admiralty; Rebels Under Sail: The Navy in the Revolution; The Baron of Beacon Hill: A Biography of John Hancock; Jack Tars and Commodores: The American Navy 1783-1815; Silas Talbot : Captain of Old Ironsides ; Under Two Flags: The American Navy in the Civil War; Samuel Adams: Puritan Radical; Empires at War: The French and Indian War and the Struggle For North America, 1754-1763; American Crisis: George Washington and the Dangerous Two Years After Yorktown, 1781-1783; Steam Titans: Cunard, Collins and The Epic Struggle for Commerce on the North Atlantic; and most recently, George Washington and the Creation of the American Republic. He wrote the “Introduction” and “Epilogue” to Boston Looks Seaward, and he is co-author of America and The Sea: A Maritime History of America.
At Northeastern Professor Fowler taught courses in American History, American Colonial and Revolutionary History, History of Canada, Military History, the History of Boston, Maritime History and the History of New England. He has also taught at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Mystic Seaport Museum and lectured at the Smithsonian Institution, the United States Naval War College, Fort Ticonderoga, and the Sea Education Association. He is a trustee of The Paul Revere Memorial Association and a former trustee/director of The Ralph Waldo Emerson Association; The Sears House Association; and the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities. He is a member of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, (past president), the New England Historic Genealogical Society (past president), the American Antiquarian Society, and an Honorary Member of the Boston Marine Society and the Society of the Cincinnati. He is a Fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society and the Pilgrim Society. He received an honorary degree from Northeastern University in 2000. In 2018 Boston’s Mayor Marty Walsh declared January 25 William Fowler Day in Boston.