Princeton and the Revolution

In 1783, looking back after eight years of war, professors at the college realized that their once-sleepy town had earned a new reputation: Princeton had been, as they put it, “a nursery of rebellion.” Swept up in colonial resistance, seized by revolutionary fervor, occupied by the British, ravaged by battle, overrun by competing armies, and turned briefly into a new nation’s makeshift capital, Princeton was upended by the American Revolution. Its inhabitants saw their world transformed. Many seized the Revolution as an opportunity to improve their lives—some out of conviction, others out of desperation. Others sought simply to survive the violence, privation, and loss. All, in some way, confronted the profound choice to support or oppose independence.This selection of material helps visitors see America's Revolution through a local lens, exploring the diversity of revolutionary experiences. Not only on the battlefield and at the statehouse but also in ordinary people’s homes, shops, and classrooms, the selection of materials showcases the University’s archival treasures and lesser-known sources to investigate the Revolution across differences of background, status, and allegiance. 

Their experiences reveal that amid the idealistic quest for liberty and republican government, the Revolution reached most people in communities like Princeton as, first and foremost, a war. The letters, diaries, and other documents they left behind enable us, 250 years later, to feel the tragic weight of war, to sense the jubilation of independence, and to glimpse the Revolution up close. 

A DPUL online exhibition was also built as a companion to "Nursery of Rebellion": Princeton and the American Revolution Exhibition" - a 2026 exhibition in the Ellen and Leonard Milberg Gallery at Firestone Library.  Curated by Michael Blaakman, Associate Professor of History, Gabriel Swift, Librarian for Early American Collections, and Zoe Zimmermann, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of History; Assistant Curator.