Cheers to the Republic with Kirsten Wood

If you go to a tavern today, you are most likely looking for a meal and perhaps an alcoholic beverage. However, taverns functioned more broadly between the 1780s and the 1850s. Following the Revolutionary War in the new United States, taverns were legally mandated to offer lodging along with spirits. These establishments were vital hubs of travel, commerce, politics, and sociability. From stagecoach stops to informal train stations, taverns anchored the infrastructure of a growing nation.

Taverns also served as a microcosm of American society, both shaping and reflecting the cultural tensions of the era. Reform movements, economic negotiations, and the evolving ideas of citizenship transformed these simple buildings from within, revealing everyday ways people claimed belonging in the young and rapidly changing nation.

Dr. Lynn Price Robbins is joined by Dr. Kirsten E. Wood to discuss her new book, Accommodating the Republic: Taverns in the Early United States.

Hosted by Dr. Lynn Price Robbins. Executive producers are Dr. Jim Ambuske, Jeanette Patrick, and Patrick Long. Audio and video editing by Patrick Long. Revolutions in Retrospect is a joint production of Primary Source Media and Revolutionary Histories.