In conjunction with the exhibit Revolution at Penn?, learn about the significance of Philadelphia’s coffeehouses as major sites of political activity and debate in the decade leading up to the Declaration of Independence.
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Hosted by: Kislak Center
Philadelphia’s coffeehouses were major sites of political activity and debate in the decade leading up to the Declaration of Independence. Indeed, it would not be wrong to describe the American Revolution as the world’s first caffeine-fueled rebellion. And yet, few people know the history behind when and why coffee became part of North American daily life.
Join Michelle Craig McDonald (American Philosophical Society), author of the forthcoming book Coffee Nation: How One Commodity Transformed the Early United States (Penn Press, May 2025), and Emma Hart (McNeil Center for Early American Studies and History) to learn more about the vital connections between independence and the hot beverage that still gets most of us out of bed in the morning.
This event is held in conjunction with the exhibit Revolution at Penn?, which examines the formation of the university, the debates that divided the school during the American Revolution, and the compromises that reorganized it as the University of Pennsylvania in 1791.
Featured image: Frontispiece, from Part 4 of Vulgus Britannicus, or the British Hudibras (London: Woodward, 1710) (Forrest PR3757 W8 V8)
The University of Pennsylvania, located in the heart of the city, was at the center of the dramatic events of 1776 and the Revolution that followed. 250 years later, partners across the university are exploring how history can help us better understand the present and create a sustainable and inclusive future.