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Bathsheba Spooner: Revolutionary Crime & Punishment
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Join Old North and Andrew Noone on Zoom for a talk about Bathsheba Spooner, the first American woman executed following the Declaration of Independence.
In the midst of the American Revolution, a sensational “true crime” story shocked the people of Worcester, MA. Bathsheba Ruggles Spooner, the daughter of prominent Loyalist Timothy Ruggles, was convicted of conspiring with American and British soldiers to murder her husband. For this crime, she was hanged before a crowd of 5,000 spectators — despite being 5 months pregnant.
Why did the state exact such a brutal punishment on Bathsheba Spooner? Was it her family’s Loyalist leanings? Was it that she defied gender norms? Was it a reaction to the chaos of the war? Andrew Noone, the author of Bathsheba Spooner: A Revolutionary Murder Conspiracy, will unpack the volatile mix of cultural, economic, and political forces that led to Spooner’s disturbing demise.
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