437 Civilian Life in America's Occupied Cities

About this episode

The episode explores the impact of British occupation on civilian life during the American War for Independence, focusing on personal experiences within households.

The British Army is at your door. They need a room. What do you do? For thousands of civilians living in cities occupied during the American War for Independence — Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Newport, Charleston, Savannah — this wasn't a hypothetical. It was a reality that upended daily life and revealed a side of the revolution we rarely talk about. Lauren Duval, author of The Home Front: Revolutionary Households, Military Occupations, and the Making of American Independence, joins us to explore what the War for Independence actually looked like from inside the household. Women who negotiated quartering terms and held their ground. Men who came to blows over who controlled the parlor. Enslaved people who used the chaos of occupation to reunite families and reach British lines. The revolution didn't just happen on battlefields. It happened at kitchen tables, in back gardens, and on doorsteps.Lauren's Website | Book |Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/403 EPISODE OUTLINE00:00:00 Introduction00:01:38 The Home Front of the American Revolution00:05:24 The Gensis of the Revolutionary Household00:10:49 Why Focus on Urban Port Cities00:19:46 The British Occupation's…

People in this episode

Host: Liz Covart

Guest: Lauren Duval

Topics covered

• Civilian life
• British occupation
• American Revolution
• Household experiences
• Urban life
• Quartering
• Impact on families

Keywords

• British Army
• quartering
• urban port cities
• revolutionary households
• enslaved people
• family reunification
• military occupations

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Home Front: Revolutionary Households, Military Occupations, and the Making of American Independence

Places: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Newport, Charleston, Savannah

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