VIRTUAL AUTHOR TALK – Taking Sides in Revolutionary New Jersey: Caught in the Crossfire

The American Revolution in New Jersey lasted eight long years, during which many were caught in the middle of a vicious civil war. Residents living in an active war zone took stands that varied from “Loyalist” to “Patriot” to neutral to “trimmer” (those who changed sides for a variety of reasons). Men and women, Blacks and whites, Native Americans, and those from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds, with different religious affiliations all found themselves in this difficult middle ground. When taking sides, sometimes family was important, sometimes religion, or political principles; the course of the war and location also mattered. Please join us as we celebrate Patriots Week as Maxine Lurie analyzes the difficulties faced by prisoners of war, the refugees produced by the conflict, and those Loyalists who remained, left as exiles, or surprisingly later returned.

Maxine N. Lurie is a professor emerita of history at Seton Hall University in South Orange. She is the editor of A New Jersey Anthology and coeditor of Encyclopedia of New Jersey, Mapping New Jersey: An Evolving Landscape, New Jersey: A History of the Garden State, and Envisioning New Jersey: An Illustrated History of the Garden State, all from Rutgers University Press.

Click Here to Register!