Salvaged Tea and Street Riots: Early American Politics with Peter Messer
In this episode of Historians & Their Histories, Prof. Peter Messer discusses his research on early American political culture, focusing specifically on the local complexities of revolutionary-era events in Massachusetts. He shares how his work re-evaluates the 1773 "salvaged tea" controversy in Wellfleet, Massachusetts and the 1768 Liberty Riot, exploring the frequent disconnect between immediate local grievances and the broader Whig Republican rhetoric often associated with the American Revolution.
Prof. Messer is a recipient of the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati fellowship from the MHS.
To learn more about MHS fellowships and how to apply, please visit this page.
Episode Special Guest:
Peter Messer is an associate professor of history at Mississippi State University. A student of politics and culture his work focuses on how eighteenth-century Americans negotiated the question of legitimate authority against the backdrop of environment, economic, and political change.
This episode uses materials from:
Colocate by Podington Bear (Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported)
