Ben Franklin's World: A Podcast About Early American History

We read and hear a lot about money. We read and hear about fluctuations in the value of the Dollar, Pound, and Euro, interest rates and who can and can’t get access to credit, and we also read and hear about new virtual currencies like Bitcoin and Facebook’s Libra. We talk a lot about money. But where did the idea of money come from? Did early Americans think about money a lot too? Jeffrey Sklansky is a Professor of History at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the author of Sovereign of the Market: The Money Question in Early America. Jeff is an expert in the intellectual and social history of capitalism in early America and he’s agreed to lead us on an investigation of the world of money in early America. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/254 Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop Complementary Episodes Episode 099: Mark Hana, Pirates & Pirate Nests  Episode 109: John Dixon, The American Enlightenment & Cadwallader Colden  Episode 127: Caroline Wi

What can a family history tell us about revolutionary and early republic America? What can the letters of a wife and mother tell us about life in the Caribbean during the Age of Revolutions? These are questions Susan Clair Imbarrato, a Professor of English at Minnesota State University Moorhead, set out to answer as she explored an amazing trove of letters to and from a woman named Sarah Gray Cary. 
 Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/253 Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop Complementary Episodes Episode 110: Joshua Taylor, How Genealogists Research Episode 114: Karin Wulf, The History of Genealogy Episode 145: Rosemarie Zagarri, Mercy Otis Warren Episode 150: Woody Holton, Abigail Adams Episode 228: Eric Hinderaker, The Boston Massacre Episode 231: Sara Georgini, The Religious Lives of the Adams Family Listen! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Ben Franklin's World iOS App Ben Franklin's World Android App Helpful Links Join the

Much of early American history comprises stories of empire and how different Native, European, and Euro-American nations vied for control of North American territory, resources, and people. 
 In this episode, Matthew P. Dziennick, an Assistant Professor of History at the United States Naval Academy and author The Fatal Land: War, Empire, and the Highland Soldier, presents us with one of these imperial stories. Specifically, we’re going to investigate the world of the eighteenth-century Scottish Highlands and how the 12,000 soldiers the Highlands sent to North America shaped the course of the British Empire during Seven Years’ War and the American Revolution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What did early Americans think about science? And how did they pursue and develop their knowledge of it? Cameron Strang, an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Nevada, Reno and author of Frontiers of Science: Imperialism and Natural Knowledge in the Gulf South Borderlands, 1500-1850, joins us to investigate the early American world of science and how early Americans developed their scientific knowledge. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/048 Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop Get 40 percent off Frontiers of Science (Use Promo Code 01BFW) Complementary Episodes Episode 037: Kathleen DuVal, Independence Lost Episode 109: John Dixon, The American Enlightenment & Cadwallader Colden Episode 140: Tamara Thornton, Nathaniel Bowditch Episode 174: Thomas Apel, Yellow Fever in the Early American Republic Episode 186: Max Edelson, The New Map of the British Empire Episode 204: James Lewis Jr., The Burr Conspiracy   Listen! Apple Podcasts

2019 marks the 400th anniversary of two important events in American History: The creation of the first representative assembly in English North America and the arrival of the first African people in English North America. Why were these Virginia-based events significant and how have they impacted American history? Cassandra Newby-Alexander, a scholar of African American and American History and the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Norfolk State University, helps us find answers. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/250 Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop The Roller-Bottimore Foundation Bibliography: 1619 and Virginia Virginia 1619: Slavery and Freedom in the Making of English America (Save 40 percent with promo code 01BFW) Complementary Episodes Episode 079: Jim Horn, What is a Historical Source?  Episode 206: Katherine Gerbner, Christian Slavery Episode 212: Erica Dunbar, Researching Biography Episode 220: Margaret Ellen Newell, New England In

Between 1789 and 1825, five men would serve as President of the United States. Four of them hailed from Virginia. Many of us know details about the lives and presidencies of Washington, Jefferson, and Madison. But what do we know about the life and presidency of the fourth Virginia president, James Monroe? Sara Bon-Harper, Executive Director of James Monroe’s Highland, joins us to explore the public and private life of James Monroe. This episode originally posted as Episode103. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/249      Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop   Complementary Episodes Episode 094: Cassandra Good, Founding Friendships Episode 150: Woody Holton, Abigail Adams: Revolutionary Speculator Episode 167: Eberhard Faber, The Early History of New Orleans Episode 183: Douglas Bradburn, George Washington’s Mount Vernon   Listen! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Ben Franklin's World iOS App Ben Franklin's World Android App   Helpful

Not all historians publish their findings about history in books and articles. Some historians convey knowledge about history to the public in public spaces and in public ways. We conclude the “Doing History: How Historians Work” series with a look at how historians do history for the public with guest historian Lonnie Bunch, the Founding Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. This episode originally posted as a Bonus Episode in 2016. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/248     Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop   Complementary Episodes Episode 137: Erica Dunbar, The Washingtons’ Runaway Slave, Ona Judge Episode 157: The Revolution’s African American Soldiers Episode 166: Freedom and the American Revolution Episode 176: Daina Ramey Berry, The Value of the Enslaved from Womb to Grave Episode 212: Researching Biography   Listen! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Ben Franklin's World iOS App

A “little short of madness.” That is how Thomas Jefferson responded when two delegates from New York approached him with the idea to build the Erie Canal in January 1809. Jefferson’s comment did not discourage New Yorkers. On January 4, 1817, New York State began building a 363-mile long canal to link the Hudson River and Atlantic Ocean with the Great Lakes and the Midwest. Janice Fontanella, site manager of Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site in Fort Hunter, New York, joins us to discuss the Erie Canal, its construction, and the impact that this waterway made on New York and the United States. This episode originally posted as Episode 028.   Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/247    Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop   Complementary Episodes Episode 035: Michael Lord, Historic Hudson Valley & Washington Irving Episode 051: Catherine Cangany, Frontier Seaport: A History of Early Detroit Episode 071: Bruce Venter, Saratoga and Hubbardton, 1777 Episod

Did Canada almost join the American Revolution? Bruno Paul Stenson, a historian and musicologist with the Château de Ramezay historic site in Montréal, joins us to discuss how the American Revolution played out in Canada. This episode originally posted as Episode 041. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/246   Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop   Complementary Episodes Episode 037: Kathleen DuVal, Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution Episode 038: Carolyn Harris, Magna Carta & Its Gifts to North America Episode 039: Eric Nelson, The Royalist Revolution: Monarchy and the American Founding Episode 040: Kathleen Bartoloni-Tuazon, For Fear of an Elective King: George Washington and the Presidential Title Controversy of 1789   Listen! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Ben Franklin's World iOS App Ben Franklin's World Android App   Helpful Links Join the Ben Franklin's World Facebook Group Ben Franklin’s WorldTwi

It wasn’t always fireworks on the fourth. John Adams predicted Americans would celebrate the Second of July, the day Congress voted in favor of independence, "with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other." He got the date wrong, but he was right about the festivities in commemoration of Independence Day. And yet July Fourth events have changed a great deal since 1776. How do our fireworks displays, barbecues, parades, and sporting events compare to the first and earliest celebrations of independence? How and why do we celebrate the United States and its independence as we do? Three historical experts take us through the early American origins of Fourth of July celebration. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/245 Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop Doing History series Emily Sneff, "The Sounds of Independence" blog post Complementary Episodes Episode 018: Danielle Allen, Our

There’s a saying that tells us we should walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. It’s a reminder we should practice empathy and try to understand people before we cast judgement. As it happens, this expression is right on the mark because it seems when we use shoes as historical objects, we can learn a LOT about people and their everyday lives and actions. Kimberly Alexander, museum specialist, lecturer at the University of New Hampshire, and author of Treasures Afoot: Shoe Stories from the Georgian Era, joins us to help us better understand shoes and what they can tell us about the everyday lives of early Americans. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/244 Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop Complementary Episodes Episode 024: Kimberly Alexander: Eighteenth-Century Fashion & Material Culture Episode 084: Zara Anishanslin, How Historians Read Historical Sources Episode 153: Committees and Congresses: Governments of the American Revolution Episode 160: The P

For the American Revolution to be successful, it needed ideas people could embrace and methods for spreading those ideas. It also needed ways for revolutionaries to coordinate across colonial lines. How did revolutionaries develop and spread their ideas? How did they communicate and coordinate plans of action? Joseph Adelman, an Assistant Professor of History at Framingham State University and author of Revolutionary Networks: The Business and Politics of Printing the News, 1763-1789, joins us to investigate the roles printers and their networks played in developing and spreading ideas of the American Revolution. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/243 Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop Complementary Episodes Episode 112: Mary Beth North, The Tea Crisis of 1773 Episode 144: Robert Parkinson, The Common Cause of the American Revolution Episode 200: Everyday Life in Early America Episode 207: Nick Bunker, Young Benjamin Franklin Episode 227: Kyle Courtney

Delaware may be the second smallest state in the United States, but it has a BIG, rich history that can tell us much about the history of early America. David Young, the Executive Director of the Delaware Historical Society, joins us to explore the early American history of Delaware from its Native American inhabitants through its emergence as the first state in the United States. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/242 Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop Complementary Episodes Episode 059: Eric Foner, The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad Episode 121: Wim Klooster, The Dutch Moment in the 17th-Century Atlantic World Episode 138: Patrick Spero, Frontier Politics in Early America Episode 177: Martin Brückner, The Social Life of Maps in America Episode 217: Jessica Millward, Slavery & Freedom in Early Maryland Episode 234: Richard Bushman, Farms & Farm Families in Early America   Listen! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Ben Fran

Spain became the first European power to use the peoples, resources, and lands of the Americas and Caribbean as the basis for its Atlantic Empire. How did this empire function and what wealth was Spain able to extract from these peoples and lands? Molly Warsh, an Associate Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh and author of American Baroque: Pearls and the Nature of Empire, 1492-1700, helps us investigate answers to these questions by showing us how Spain attempted to increase its wealth and govern its empire through its American and Caribbean pearl operations. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/241   Meet Ups Pittsburgh Meet Up, June 15, 2:30pm Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop Save 40 percent on American Baroque (Use Promo Code 01BFW) Complementary Episodes Episode 015: Joyce Chaplin, Round About the Earth Episode 082: Alejandra Dubcovsky, Information & Communication in the Early American South Episode 139: Andrés Reséndez, The

Have you ever had one of those really conversations where the person was so fascinating that you wished the conversation didn’t have to end? Flora Fraser joins us for one of those conversations. We’ll talk about biography, and in doing so, she’ll tell us what it was like to grow up as the daughter and granddaughter of two famed, British biographers and about the genre of biography and how it developed in the United Kingdom. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/240 Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop Complementary Episodes Episode 209: Considering Biography Episode 210: Considering John Marshall, Part 1 Episode 211: Considering John Marshall, Part 2 Episode 212: Researching Biography   Listen! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Ben Franklin's World iOS App Ben Franklin's World Android App Helpful Links Join the Ben Franklin's World Facebook Group Ben Franklin’s World Twitter: @BFWorldPodcast Ben Franklin's World Facebook Page Sign-

How did the postal system work in Early America? How did people send mail across the North American colonies and the British Empire? Joseph Adelman, an Assistant Professor of History at Framingham State University and author of Revolutionary Networks: The Business and Politics of Printing, 1763-1789, joins us to further explore how the early American postal system worked and how people and mail traveled around early North America and the Atlantic World. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/239 Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop Complementary Episodes Episode 028: Janice Fontanella, Building the Erie Canal Episode 113: Brian Murphy, Building the Empire State Episode 156: The Power of the Press in the American Revolution Episode 200: Everyday Life in Early America Episode 219: Adrian Covert, Taverns in Early America   Listen! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Ben Franklin's World iOS App Ben Franklin's World Android App Helpful Links

Benedict Arnold is an intriguing figure. He was both a military hero who greatly impacted and furthered the American War for Independence with his bravery on the battlefield and someone who did something unthinkable: he betrayed his country. Stephen Brumwell, an award-winning historian and the author of Turncoat: Benedict Arnold and the Crisis of American Liberty, joins us to explore the life and deeds of Benedict Arnold and Arnold’s stunning metamorphosis from hero to traitor. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/238 Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop Complementary Episodes Episode 071: Bruce Venter, Saratoga and Hubbardton, 1777 Episode 158: The Revolutionaries’ Army Episode 194: Longfellow House Washington’s Headquarters, NHS Episode 208: Nathaniel Philbrick, Turning Points of the American Revolution Episode 225: Elaine Forman Crane, The Poison Plot Episode 229: Patrick Griffin, The Townshend Moment Listen! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podc

Mother’s Day became a national holiday on May 9, 1914 to honor all of the work mothers do to raise children. But what precisely is the work that mothers do to raise children? Has the nature of mothers, motherhood, and the work mothers do changed over time? Nora Doyle, an Assistant Professor of History at Salem College in North Carolina, has combed through the historical record to find answers to these questions. Specifically, she’s sought to better understand the lived and imagined experiences of mothers and motherhood between the 1750s and 1850s. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/237 Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop Maternal Bodies: Redefining Motherhood in Early America Complementary Episodes Episode 027: Lisa Wilson, A History of Stepfamilies in Early America Episode 120: Marcia Zug, A History of Mail Order Brides in Early America Episode 150: Woody Holton, Abigail Adams: Revolutionary Speculator Episode 205: Jeanne Abrams, First Ladies of the R

Who do we count as family? If a relative was born in a foreign place and one of their parents was of a different race? Would they count as family? Eighteenth-century Britons asked themselves these questions. As we might suspect, their answers varied by time and whether they lived in Great Britain, North America, or the Caribbean. Daniel Livesay, an Associate Professor of History at Claremont McKenna College in California, helps us explore the evolution of British ideas about race with details from his book Children of Uncertain Fortune: Mixed-Race Jamaicans in Britain and the Atlantic Family, 1733-1833. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/236 Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute University of North Carolina Press (Save 40 percent with code 01BFW) Complementary Episodes Episode 008: Greg O'Malley, Final Passages: The Intercolonial Slave Trade of British America Episode 052: Ronald Johnson, Early United States-Haitian Diplomacy Episode 099: Mark Hanna, Pirates & Pirate Nests in the Brit

What does early America look like if we view it through Native American eyes? Jenny Hale Pulsipher, an Associate Professor of History at Brigham Young University and author of Swindler Sachem, is a scholar who enjoys investigating the many answers to this question. And today, she introduces us to a Nipmuc Indian named John Wompas and how he experienced a critical time in early American history, the period between the 1650s and 1680s. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/235   Meet Ups & Talks Albany, New York: April 25 at the New York State Cultural Education Center. Meet up at pre-talk reception. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: April 29, 6pm at Zaffiro’s Pizza Milwaukee, Wisconsin: April 30, 6pm free public talk at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Golda Meir Library  Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute KiwiCo (Get your first crate FREE!) Complementary Episodes Episode 170: Wendy Warren, Slavery in Early New England Episode 192: Lisa Brooks, A New History of King Philip’s War Episod