Taverns were not just places to drink during the American Revolution. They were communication hubs, recruiting centers, political clubs, propaganda networks, and spaces where ordinary colonists transformed anger into rebellion.

Long before independence, many colonists saw themselves as deeply British — until fights over taxation, liberty, and imperial power turned taverns into centers of resistance.

In this conversation, we discuss rum punch, liberty poles, mob violence, class divisions, the Sons of Liberty, and why revolutionaries gathered in taverns before marching into the streets.

We also examine the darker side of these spaces: slavery, exclusion, disorder, violence and revolutionary intimidation.

📄 ⁠⁠Interview transcript & takeaways⁠⁠

🚩About My 214th Guest Scholar: Dr. Vaughn Scribner

Dr. Vaughn Scribner is a professor of British American history at the University of Central Arkansas, where he teaches (1) British history, (2) Colonial & Revolutionary America, (3) the Enlightenment, (4) the Atlantic slave trade and (5) historical methods.

His scholarship reflects his broad interests, as evident in the following works:

—"Under Alien Skies: Environment, Suffering, and the Defeat of the British Military in Revolutionary America", a book that won The Society of the Cincinnati Prize;

—"Merepeople: A Human History", a book about humanity's obsession with merfolk since ancient times; and

—"Inn Civility: Urban Taverns and Early American Civil Society", which is the subject of this interview.

You can learn more about Dr. Scribner here:

-Personal Website

-Academic Homepage

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📑 Video Chapters:

00:00 Selected Highlights

01:17 Guest Introduction

02:57 What is tavern?

05:19 tavern vs. coffee house

06:52 tavern vs. pub

10:06 Dr. Alexander Hamilton

15:22 Imperial Pubs… Spaces of Empire

21:19 Benjamin Franklin

23:25 inequality in taverns

27:02 religion & taverns

28:46 taverns & American Revolution

32:51 revolutionary tavern meetings

37:41 a royal disappointment

42:05 Washington's farewell address

44:15 Dr. Scribner's research

46:23 Just One Point

48:37 London coffeehouses

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