Quarters - The Accommodation of the British Army and the Coming of the American Revolution - John Gilbert McCurdy

Jul 30, 2026

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Quarters examines how the British Army was housed in the American colonies and how that spatial relationship shaped everyday life on the eve of independence. Drawing on research into place, the book traces changes from 1755 to 1775, when professional soldiers were common in cities, to the disappearance of troops and military infrastructure after the war. It connects housing, barracks, the Quartering Act, frontier conflict, and urban eviction to the march toward independence, concluding with the Third Amendment’s shadow of quartering.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages424

Reading Time17 h 48 min

Preface and Acknowledgments

A Note on Quotations, Terminology, and Money

Introduction: The Importance of Place in the Age of Atlantic Revolutions

1. Houses: The Rise of Domestic Privacy

2. Barracks: Constructing a Colonial Military Infrastructure

3. Empire: Drafting and Implementing the Quartering Act

4. Borderland: Native Americans, Soldiers, and Colonists in the Backcountry

5. Cities and Towns: Accommodation and Eviction of the British Army

6. Nation: American Armies and the March toward Independence

Epilogue: The Third Amendment and the Shadow of Quartering

Notes

Index

QUARTERS THE ACCOMMODATION OF THE BRITISH ARMY AND THE COMING OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION JOHN GILBERT McCURDY CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS Ithaca and London CONTENTS Preface and Acknowledgments A Note on Quotations, Terminology, and Money Introduction: The Importance of Place in the Age of Atlantic Revolutions 1. Houses: The Rise of Domestic Privacy 2. Barracks: Constructing a Colonial Military Infrastructure 3. Empire: Drafting and Implementing the Quartering Act 4. Borderland: Native Americans, Soldiers, and Colonists in the Backcountry 5. Cities and Towns: Accommodation and Eviction of the British Army 6. Nation: American Armies and the March toward Independence Epilogue: The Third Amendment and the Shadow of Quartering Notes Index [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS If you ever find yourself in Ypsilanti, Michigan, get a bite to eat at Sidetrack. During a meal at Sidetrack in 2012, I noticed, across the street in front of along-abandoned building, a new historical marker, for “The Barracks.” Asthe marker explains, the building once housed Civil War recruits. Yet I was less intrigued by Company H, First Michigan Infantry, than I was by the name.“The Barracks” seemed incongruous in a modern American community, especially across the street from Sidetrack and a mile from my university. I thought of barracks as segregated from civilian life and ensconced in military bases like Fort Leavenworth. A barracks in Ypsilanti? The only thing more preposterous would be soldiers marching in the city. Quarters is my attempt to explain why “The Barracks” is so unusual. Having grown up near an active US Army base, I always have been aware of how the military both penetrates and evades civilian life. Placing that question in a historical context, I have concluded that the civilian-martial relationship is ultimately spatial and that our perceptions of it emerge from the eighteenth century, particularly the twenty years preceding the American Revolution. From 1755 to 1775, professional soldiers were a common sight in many American cities, yet after the war, troops disappeared along with the military infrastructure. Although they resurfaced at moments of mobilization, like the Civil War, they have never been the permanent fixtures they once were. Quarters fulfills my long-standing desire to write a book about the American Revolution. Digging in such well-worked fields is a daunting prospect, and when I started this project, I had no idea what insights I could add. I often tell my students who can’t find a research topic to go sit in an archives and read until they find something interesting. In January 2011, I took my own advice and went to the William L. Clements Library. After several false starts, I settled on quartering because no one had ever written a book about the Quartering Act and because of the exquisite details in the Thomas Gage Papers. As with any good research project, Quarters has opened a number of new intellectual avenues for me, including the study of place, as well as Atlantic and military history. Eight years later, I am even more convinced of the consequence of the Revolution to present-day US culture. There are many people and institutions to thank for this book. More than anything, this book is the product of two universities: Eastern Michigan University and the University of Michigan. Since 2005, EMU has been my academic home, and I have delighted in working with excellent students and colleagues. EMU provided me with a sabbatical and a faculty research fellowship, as well as several travel grants to visit archives and conferences. It also provided a Provost’s Research Support Award to defray the costs of publishing this book. I am grateful to the advice and insights of my colleagues, including George Cassar, Kathleen Chamberlain, James Egge, Jesse Kauffman, John Knight, Richard Nation, Mary-Elizabeth Murphy, Steven Ramold, Tomoyuki Sasaki, and Phi

FAQs

What central question does Quarters address?

Quarters explains why “The Barracks” was so unusual in American communities and how the civilian-military relationship took shape in space leading up to the American Revolution.

Why does the book focus on the period from 1755 to 1775?

It identifies those decades as the time when professional soldiers were widely visible in American cities, making the spatial dynamics of quartering especially clear before the Revolution.

How does Quarters connect the Quartering Act to the Revolution?

It frames the Quartering Act as a key step in drafting and implementing army accommodation, linking legal policy to lived experience and to the broader movement toward independence.

Jul 30, 2026

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