Originally published on September 16, 2022 (Episode 281)
Introduction
In 1815, John Adams reflected on the revolutionary impact of the Boston Committee of Correspondence, calling it an “engine” that helped produce not just American independence but also inspired upheaval across Europe. Adams, with his usual flair for exaggeration, warned that such committees were “dangerous machines”—but he also admitted they were world-changing.
My guest Micah Alpaugh argues that Adams was right. In his book Friends of Freedom: The Rise of Social Movements in the Age of Atlantic Revolutions (Cambridge University Press, 2022), Alpaugh demonstrates how the exchange of letters and ideas created transatlantic networks that helped ignite revolutions in America, France, and beyond.
About the Guest
Micah Alpaugh is Professor of History at the University of Central Missouri. His work focuses on revolution, protest, and political culture in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Friends of Freedom is his second book.
For Further Investigation
Micah Alpaugh, Friends of Freedom: The Rise of Social Movements in the Age of Atlantic Revolutions (Cambridge University Press, 2022)
James Gillray’s political cartoons targeting the London Corresponding Society:
Related conversations:
Men on Horseback, with David Bell on charisma and revolutions
A New Age Now Begins, a short history of the French Revolution with Jeremy Popkin
The Fall of Robespierre, with Colin Jones
💬 Listen & Discuss
Do you now agree with John Adams that committees of correspondence were “engines” indispensable for freedom? Were they also double-edged swords? Share your reflections in the comments, and pass this episode along to someone interested in world revolution.
