Homosexuality, Single Men and the American Revolution | S1E20 AAR
A secret homosexuality trial inside the British Army. Single men taxed but denied the vote. Colonies that feared unmarried men more than same-sex relationships.
This interview examines parts of Revolutionary America that most Americans never learned in school: how rumors, sexuality, bachelorhood, military service, and citizenship shaped colonial society during the American Revolution.
The conversation also examines why some Americans quietly tolerated what Britain increasingly tried to suppress — and how the Revolution itself changed the status of single men in the new United States.
📄 Interview transcript & takeaways [https://bit.ly/AAR-S1E20-Homosexuality-SingleMen]
🚩About My 217th Guest: Dr. John G. McCurdy
Dr. John G. McCurdy [https://www.emich.edu/history-philosophy/history/faculty/j-mccurdy.php] is a Professor and Graduate Coordinator at the Department of History and Philosophy of Eastern Michigan University. He specializes in colonial and Revolutionary America, gender, and LGBTQ+ history, and his research explores the cultural history of the eighteenth-century Anglo Atlantic.
Dr. McCurdy has published extensively on these subjects, including the following books:
--"Vicious and Immoral: Homosexuality, the American Revolution, and the Trials of Robert Newburgh" (this interview)
--"Citizen Bachelors: Manhood and the Creation of the United States" (this interview)
--"Quarters: The Accommodation of the British Army and the Coming of the American Revolution" (Part II of this interview)
▶️Other Related AAR Interviews:
►Dr. McCurdy Part II - coming on Fri., May 29
►Dr. Kathleen Brown - Women, Race and Revolution [https://bit.ly/AAR-S1E16-Women-Revolution]
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▶️About Featured Image:
Image of Adel Aali (program host) and his guest, Prof. Joel Richard Paul, superimposed on the Betsy Ross flag, along with images of a man dressed as a macaroni with huge wig topped by a small tricorn hat, and carrying a tasseled cane and sword. This image is a satire of fashion in the 18th century, and the man is also referred to as a "fop". Also in this image are covers of two books by Dr. John G. McCurdy, our program guest: "Vicious and Immoral: Homosexuality, the American Revolution, and the Trials of Robert Newburgh", and "Citizen Bachelors: Manhood and the Creation of the United States". All images in public domain.
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📑 Video Chapters:
00:00 Selected Highlights
01:25 Guest Introduction
02:49 Homosexuality in colonial America
05:41 Proving and punishing sodomy
09:53 Rich homosexuals
11:05 Robert Newburgh's trial
19:55 No natural order
23:36 A capital crime
25:17 Citizen bachelors
29:47 Single men military service
34:49 Changes after Revolution
36:31 Just One Point
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All images are in the Public Domain
🎵Music Attributions:
"Yankee Doodle" in our videos:
► Choral, U.S. Army Band (Public Domain)
We incorporate parts of this fabulous performance in the beginning and end of our videos.
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