Author Brendan McConville will visit Washington Crossing Historic Park (PA) to discuss his book, “The Brethren: A Story of Faith and Conspiracy in Revolutionary America,” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 24 in the park’s visitor center.
Less than a year into the American Revolution, a group of North Carolina farmers plotted to assassinate the colony’s leading patriots, including the governor. The men called themselves the Brethren, and the scheme became known as the Gourd Patch or Lewellen Conspiracy. McConville’s book tells the dramatic story of ordinary people who came to fear that their Revolutionary leaders were trying to undermine religious freedom and individual liberty—the very causes now ascribed to the Founding generation.
McConville has written several books on early American history, including “The King’s Three Faces: The Rise and Fall of Royal America, 1688–1766.” A professor of history at Boston University, he is co-chair of the David Center for the Study of the American Revolution at the American Philosophical Society and co-host of the Boston-area radio program, “The Historians.”
This lecture is free, but registration is required at WashingtonCrossingPark.org/events. McConville’s visit is hosted by the David Center for the Study of the American Revolution at the American Philosophical Society.
The visitor center is located at 1112 River Road in Washington Crossing, Pa.
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