Hudson River Maritime Museum Lecture Series: Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution: The True Story of Robert Townsend and Elizabeth

Join Claire Bellerjeau for a talk about her new book, ?Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution: The True Story of Robert Townsend and Elizabeth? and discover the story of Elizabeth, or Liss, enslaved by the Townsend family whose son Robert was Washington's spy in Manhattan as part of the Culper Spy Ring. As Robert and Elizabeth?s story unfolds, prominent figures from history cross their path, including Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Jupiter Hammon, Benedict Arnold, John André, and John Adams, as well as participants in the Boston Massacre, the Sons of Liberty, the Battle of Long Island, Franklin?s Paris negotiations, and the Benedict Arnold treason plot. Her escape with the British, re-enslavement, and struggle for freedom gives a new perspective to the country's founding, from the point of view of an enslaved Black woman seeking personal liberty in a country fighting for its own.