Episode 181: Virginia DeJohn Anderson, The Martyr and the Traitor: Nathan Hale & Moses Dunbar

by Holly WhiteApril 10, 2018

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Why did early Americans choose to become patriots or loyalists during the American Revolution?

How did they make the decision to either stand with or against their neighbors?

Did political beliefs really drive them to support one side of the imperial conflict over the other?

In this episode, we explore answers to these questions about how and why Americans chose to support the sides they did during the American Revolution, by looking at the lives of two young soldiers from Connecticut: Moses Dunbar and Nathan Hale.

Taking us through the lives, politics, and decisions of these young men is Virginia DeJohn Anderson, a professor of history at the University of Colorado-Boulder and author of The Martyr and the Traitor: Nathan Hale, Moses Dunbar, and the American Revolution.

About the Show

Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.

It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.

Each episode features a conversation with a historian who helps us shed light on important people and events in early American history.

Ben Franklin’s World is a production of the Omohundro Institute.

Episode Summary

Virginia DeJohn Anderson, a professor of history at the University of Colorado-Boulder and author of The Martyr and the Traitor: Nathan Hale, Moses Dunbar, and the American Revolution, takes us through the lives, politics, and decisions of Nathan Hale and Moses Dunbar.

As we explore the lives of Dunbar and Hale, Virginia reveals biographical details about Moses Dunbar and Nathan Hale; Information about the political atmosphere in Connecticut both before and during the American Revolution; And details about what drove Moses Dunbar and Nathan Hale to support the imperial and revolutionary causes during the American Revolution.

What You’ll Discover

Nathan Hale
Moses Dunbar
Connecticut politics and society before the American Revolution
Consequences of having out-of-wedlock children in colonial New England
Inheritance practices in colonial Connecticut
Nathan Hale’s experiences as a student at Yale College
How the escalating imperial crisis impacted Hale, Dunbar, and the people of Connecticut
Why young men joined the army during the Revolution
Nathan Hale’s experience in the Connecticut and Continental forces
How Nathan Hale became a Continental Army spy
Nathan Hale’s intelligence gathering mission
Hale’s famous last words and whether he said them
Why Moses Dunbar chose to become a vocal loyalist and join the British Army

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Time Warp Question

In your opinion, what might we know or come to understand about the American Revolution if more historians took the time to study the loyalists who stayed in the United States after the Revolution? 