Robert J. Allison
1775: The Year the War Began
The War for American Independence began in 1775. Why? Why did armed conflict not begin sooner? Could war have been avoided? Neither side wanted a war, but each would accept war to establish its aims. What were each side’s aims, what obstacles were in the way of achieving them, and how was the situation different at the end of the year?
Bob was also a speaker at previous History Camp Bostons, including . . .
[Broadcast on June 4, 2026; recorded earlier.]
Robert J. Allison, Ph.D. (robertallisonhistory.com), is a Professor of History at Suffolk University in Boston. He chairs Revolution 250 (revolution250.org), a consortium of organizations and individuals exploring the history of the American Revolution and the ways that this story still resonates in society two and a half centuries later. Allison is also the President of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts. His books include short histories of the American Revolution, Boston, the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and the debates over the U.S. Constitution, as well as longer books on Stephen Decatur and Olaudah Equiano and The Crescent Obscured: The United States and the Muslim World 1776–1815 (University of Chicago Press). His lecture series on the Age of Franklin and on Colonial America are available through Great Courses.
