Events
September Public Program
Huzzah! Drinking with John Hancock during the American Revolution
A slideshow lecture by Brooke Barbier
Sunday, September 22, 2024
2:00 PM
Watertown Savings Bank Meeting Room
Watertown Free Public Library
123 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472
Brooke Barbier, the author of King Hancock: The Radical Influence of a Moderate Founding Father (2023), will lecture on the important role of alcohol in the culture and politics of Colonial America. When John Hancock needed to win over people, he didn't talk about resisting taxes or policy improvements; instead, he served alcohol. He offered rum punch and wine at his home and paid for lavish meals in taverns to bring people together. Guests included lower-class men, French officers and Black women and men. Throwing parties gained Hancock social and political power among myriad groups, repeatedly paying him dividends. He was consistently elected to political office, and when he smuggled Madeira into Boston, one of the most memorable and violent mobs that arose during the colonial resistance defended him.
Dr. Barbier is a public historian who received a Ph.D. in American history from Boston College based on her research of Boston's social and cultural life during and after the American Revolution. She owns a popular tour company in Boston, Ye Olde Tavern Tours, which takes guests to revolutionary sites and inside historic taverns to drink beer.
This event is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Joyce at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
This program is funded by a 2024 grant from the Watertown Community Foundation.