Dr. Brian Carroll of Moravian College will discuss the company of Algonquians from tribes across the northeast who served in the Revolutionary army in 1777-1779. The corps was formed at a time when Natives in the Northeast were experiencing a pan-Indian Christian religious revitalization known as the Brothertown Movement, which also had a political agenda bent on maintaining Indian independence and autonomy.
He will explore how the politics of the Revolution impacted the movement, the formation and history of the Indian Corps, the experience of the communities they hailed from, and their subsequent migrations westward.
About Brian Carroll
Brian D. Carroll is Visiting Associate Professor of History at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and has been on the faculty of a number of major colleges and universities. A public historian, Professor Carroll has worked extensively for museums and historical societies in the Northeast and Pacific Northwest. He has published numerous articles and book reviews in leading scholarly publications, including The William and Mary Quarterly, The New England Quarterly, Early American Studies, Ethnohistory, The Journal of Military History and The Journal of American Ethnic History. He has written extensively on the experiences of Native Americans in the colonial and Revolutionary militaries, as well as the history of gender and sexuality in early America. He is currently writing a book manuscript, Burning the Hearts of the Dead: Medicine, Migration and Vampire Belief in Early America. His research has been supported by fellowships and grants from a variety of leading research institutions, including the American Antiquarian Society, the Huntington Library, and Harvard University.