Liberty Poles were central to the Revolution, as Patriots raised them to symbolize their resistance, and British soldiers tore them down. Americans in the 1790s revived the custom of Liberty Poles, in opposition to the policies of the Washington and Adams administrations. We talk with Shira Lurie, author of .The American Liberty Pole: Popular Politics and the Struggle for Democracy in the Early Republic, about these symbols of liberty and the contentious politics in the Revolution era.
