The Invention of Rum in an Age of Revolution — Liberty 250® Lecture

Learn how rum impacted the American Revolution with Jordan B. Smith!

This talk, building on Jordan’s 2025 book, The Invention of Rum: Creating the Quintessential Atlantic Commodity, presents a new story of how rum was invented, made, sold, and consumed in the Atlantic world, and how those developments intersected with the American Revolution. We will explore how rum revolutionized the Atlantic world, then home in on various moments in the leadup, course, and aftermath of the American Revolution when the market for—and meanings embedded within—rum shaped the age of revolutions.*

This lecture will take place in-person and via Zoom.