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

Was the early United States a “Christian nation?” Did most of its citizenry accept God and the Bible as the moral authority that bound them together as one nation? Scholars have taken a binary stance on these questions. Some argue that early America was a thoroughly religious place and that even those who didn’t attend church were on the same basic page as those who did. While others argue early America boasted an increasingly secularized society. Christopher Grasso, a professor of history at William & Mary and the author of Skepticism and American Faith: From the Revolution to the Civil War, challenges and complicates these two ideas by offering a third explanation: the religious landscape of early America was a continuum where many people experienced both faith and doubt over the course of their lives. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/214   Seattle Meet Up Details Alaskan Sourdough Bakery and Restaurant 3pm  Copperworks Distilling Company Distillery Tour 5pm   Sponsor Links Omohu

In 1621, the Pilgrims of Plimoth Colony and their Wampanoag neighbors came together to celebrate their first harvest. Today we remember this event as the first Thanksgiving. But what do we really know about this holiday and the people who celebrated it? So much of what we know about the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving comes to us through myth and legend, which is why Rebecca Fraser, author of The Mayflower: The Families, The Voyage, and the Founding of America, joins us to help suss out fact from fiction. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/213   Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute Babbel (Use promo code BFWorld to save 50% on first 3 months)   Seattle Meet Up Details Alaskan Sourdough Bakery and Restaurant 3pm  Copperworks Distilling Company Distillery Tour 5pm   Complementary Episodes Episode 095: Rose Doherty, A Tale of Two Bostons Episode 104: Andrew Lipman, Saltwater Frontier: Native Americans and Colonists on the Northeastern Coast Episode 121: Wim Klooster, The Dutch

How do historians and biographers reconstruct the lives of people from the past? Good biographies rely on telling the lives of people using practiced historical methods of thorough archival research and the sound interrogation of historical sources. But what does this practice of historical methods look like? In this final episode of the Omohundro Institute’s Doing History series about biography, Erica Dunbar, the Charles and Mary Beard Professor of History at Rutgers University and author of Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave Ona Judge, takes us into the archives to show us how she recovered the life of Ona Judge. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/212   Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute John Marshall Foundation Babbel (Use Code BFWorld to save 50% off first 3 months) OI Reader App Nastassia Parker-Gross   Complementary Episodes Episode 137: Erica Dunbar, The Washingtons’ Runaway Slave, Ona Judge Episode 173: Marisa Fuentes, Colonial Port Cit

As part of the Omohundro Institute's Doing History series on biography, Episode 212 offers us a new conversation with Erica Dunbar, the author of Never Caught: The Washington’s Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave Ona Judge. The new episode will explore how historians and biographers reconstruct the lives of people from the past using the story of Ona Judge. In preparation for this new episode, here is our original conversation with Erica Dunbar about Ona Judge. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/137   Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute Doing History Series   Complementary Episodes Episode 209: Considering Biography Episode 210: Considering John Marshall, Part 1 Episode 211: Considering John Marshall, Part 2   Helpful Show Links Ben Franklin's World Facebook Page Ben Franklin’s World Twitter: @BFWorldPodcast Join the Ben Franklin's World Community Sign-up for the Franklin Gazette Newsletter Ben Franklin's World iOS App Ben Franklin's World Android App   *Books purchas

Can a biography help us explore big historical questions? Can knowing about the life of John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, help us better understand the Supreme Court and how it came to occupy the powerful place it has in the United State government? The Doing History: Biography series continues and explores these questions with Richard Brookhiser, author of John Marshall: The Man Who Made The Supreme Court. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/211   Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute John Marshall Foundation Richard Brookhiser’s Virginia Museum of History & Culture Talk OI Reader App for Bonus Content   Complementary Episodes Episode 055: Robb Haberman, John Jay: Forgotten Founder Episode 068: Richard Brookhiser, Founders’ Son: A Life of Abraham Lincoln Episode 180: Kate Elizabeth Brown, Alexander Hamilton and the Making of American Law Episode 203: Joanne Freeman, Alexander Hamilton Episode 204: James Lewis Jr., The Burr Conspiracy Episo

For 34 years, John Marshall presided as the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. During his service, Marshal transformed the nation’s top court and its judicial branch into the powerful body and co-equal branch of government we know it as today. The Doing History: Biography series continues as Joel Richard Paul, a professor of law at the University of California, Hastings Law School and author of Without Precedent: Chief Justice John Marshall and His Times, joins us to explore the life of John Marshall and how he wrote his biography. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/210   Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute John Marshall Foundation John Marshall Papers (Use 01BFW to save 40 percent) OI Reader App for Bonus Content   Complementary Episodes Episode 107: Mary Sarah Bilder, Madison’s Hand: Revising the Constitutional Convention Episode 117: Annette Gordon-Reed: The Life and Ideas of Thomas Jefferson Episode 143: Michael Klarman, The Making of the United States Constitutio

Biography. Since the earliest days of the United States, and even before the thirteen colonies came together to forge a nation, Americans have been interested in biography. But why? What is it about the lives of others that makes the past so interesting and fun to explore? This episode marks the start of the Omohundro Institute’s 4-episode Doing History series about biography. This series will take us behind-the-scenes of biography and how historians and biographers reconstruct the lives of people from the past. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/209   About the Series The Doing History: Biography series explores the genre of biography, how it relates to and is different from the genre of history, and how historians and biographers can best uncover and understand the lives of people from the past. The Doing History series explores early American history and how historians work. It is part of Ben Franklin’s World, which is produced by the Omohundro Institute.    Sponsor Links Omohundro In

2018 marks the 241st anniversary of the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga and the 240th anniversary of the Franco-American Alliance. But was the victory that prompted the French to join the American war effort, truly the "turning point" of the War for Independence? National Book Award-winner Nathaniel Philbrick joins us to explore the two events he sees as better turning points in the American War for Independence: Benedict Arnold’s treason and the French Navy’s participation in the war. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/208   Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute Babbel (Free Trial) Follow Us onTwitter: @BFWorldPodcast   Complementary Episodes Episode 026: Robert Middlekauff, George Washington’s Revolution Episode 037: Kathleen DuVal, Independence Lost Episode 071: Bruce Venter, Saratoga and Hubbardton, 1777 Episode 081: Don Glickstein, After Yorktown: The Final Struggle for American Independence Episode 122: Andrew O’Shaughnessy, The Men Who Lost America Episode 161: Smugg

What in the first 40 years of his life made Benjamin Franklin the genius he became? Benjamin Franklin serves as a great window on to the early American past because as a man of “variety” he pursued many interests: literature, poetry, science, business, philosophy, philanthropy, and politics. But one aspect of Franklin’s life has gone largely unstudied: his childhood and early life. Nick Bunker, author of Young Benjamin Franklin: The Birth of Ingenuity, joins us to explore Benjamin Franklin’s early life and how family, childhood, and youthful experiences shaped him as a scientist and diplomat. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/207   Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute Babbel.com (Free Trial) Follow Us onTwitter: @BFWorldPodcast   Complementary Episodes Episode 086: George Goodwin, Benjamin Franklin in London Episode 112: Mary Beth North, The Tea Crisis of 1773 Episode 160: The Politics of Tea Episode 169: Thomas Kidd, The Religious Life of Benjamin Franklin Episode 175: Daniel Mar

Between 1500 and the 1860s, Europeans and Americans forcibly removed approximately 12 million African people from the African continent, transported them to the Americas, and enslaved them. Why did Europeans and Americans enslave Africans? How did they justify their actions? Katherine Gerbner, an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Minnesota and author of Christian Slavery: Conversion and Race in the Protestant Atlantic World, leads us on an exploration of ways Christianity influenced early ideas about slavery and its practice. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/206   Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The OI Reader App (Android | iOS) Babble (Free Trial)   Complementary Episodes Episode 047: Emily Conroy-Krutz, Christian Imperialism Episode 064: Brett Rusthforth, Native American slavery in New France Episode 135: Julie Holcomb, Moral Commerce Episode 139: Andrés Reséndez, Indian Enslavement in the Americas Episode 170: Wendy Warren, Slavery in Early New England

La Presidente? The Presidentess? The First Lady of the Land? The Second Article of the United States Constitution defines the Executive Branch of the government, the powers it has, and the role of the chief executive, the President of the United States. But what about the position of the President’s spouse? Jeanne Abrams, a Professor at the University Libraries and the Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Denver, joins us to explore the lives and work of the first First Ladies of the American Republic with details from her book, First Ladies of the Republic: Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, and Dolley Madison and the Creation of an Iconic American Role. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/205   Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute OI Special Events   Complementary Episodes Episode 005: Jeanne Abrams, Revolutionary Medicine Episode 074: Mary Wigge, Martha Washington Episode 137: Erica Dunbar, The Washingtons’ Runaway Slave, Ona Judge Episode 150: Woody Holton, Abigail Adams: R

Aaron Burr: Revolutionary War hero, talented lawyer, Vice President, and Intriguer of treason? Between 1805 and 1807, Aaron Burr supposedly intended to commit treason by dividing the American union. How did Americans learn about and respond to this treasonous intrigue? James Lewis Jr., a Professor of History at Kalamazoo College and author of The Burr Conspiracy: Uncovering the Story of an Early American Crisis, guides us through what we know and don’t know about about Aaron Burr’s supposed plot to divide the American union. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/204   Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute Cameron Strang, Frontiers of Science: Imperialism and Natural Knowledge in the Gulf South Borderlands, 1500-1750 (Use promo code 01BFW to save 50 percent)   Complementary Episodes Episode 091; Gregory Dowd, Rumors, Legends, & Homes in Early America Episode 167: Eberhard Faber, The Early History of New Orleans Episode 177: Martin Bruckner, The Social Life of Maps in America Episode 200: E

Hamilton the Musical hit Broadway in August 2015 and since that time people all around the world have been learning about a man named Alexander Hamilton. Or, at least they’ve been learning about the musical’s character Alexander Hamilton. But who was Alexander Hamilton as a real person? Joanne Freeman, a Professor of History and American Studies at Yale University, and one of the foremost experts on the life of Alexander Hamilton, joins us to explore this large question so we can discover more about the man who helped to create the United States. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/203   Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The History List (Use promo code BEN to save $5)   Complementary Episodes Bonus: The Marquis de Lafayette and the Hermione Episode 094: Cassandra Good, Founding Friendships Episode 153: Committees and Congresses: Governments of the Revolution Episode 179: George Van Cleve, Governance During the Critical Period Episode 180: Kate Elizabeth Brown, Alexander Hamilton a

On September 17, 1787, a majority of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention approved the new form of government they had spent months drafting and submitted it to the 13 states for their ratification and approval. On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the 9th state to ratify the Constitution, which prompted the transition to the government of the United States Constitution. Matt Wasniewski, the Historian of the United States House of Representatives and Terrance Rucker, a Historical Publications Specialist in the Office of the Historian at the United States House of Representatives, lead us on an exploration of why and how the United States Constitution established a bicameral Congress and how and why the House of Representatives took the shape and form that it did during its early meetings. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/202   Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Great Courses Plus (Free Month Unlimited Trial)   Complementary Episodes Episode 040: Kata Bartoloni-Tuazon,

What kind of character should Americans have? Is it possible to create a shared sense of national character and identity that all Americans can subscribe to? Americans grappled with many questions about what it meant to be an American and a citizen of the new republic after the American Revolution. They grappled with these questions because the people who made up the new United States hailed from many different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. So they wondered: How do you unite the disparate peoples of the United States into one national people? Catherine Kelly, author of Republic of Taste: Art, Politics, and Everyday Life in Early America, joins us to explore the world of art, politics, and taste in the early American republic and how that world contributed to the formation of American character and virtue. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/201   Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute Babbel (Use promo code BFWorld to save 50 percent off your first 3 months) OI Books Flash Sale (Use promo

What would you like to know about Early American History? It turns out, you wanted to know about the establishment of schools, how the colonial postal service worked, and about aspects of health and hygiene in early America. In this listener-inspired Q&A episode, we speak with Johann Neem, Joseph Adelman, and Ann Little to explore these aspects of early American history and to get answers to your questions about them. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/200   Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute Babbel (Use promo code BFWorld to save 50 percent off your first 3 months) The Great Courses Plus (Free Trial) Episode Bibliography Complementary Episodes Episode 008: Greg O’Malley, Final Passages Episode 083: Jared Hardesty, Unfreedom: Slavery in Colonial Boston Episode 108: Ann Little, The Many Captivities of Esther Wheelwright Episode 156: Information and Communication Episode 161: Smuggling and the American Revolution Episode 190: Jennifer Goloboy, Origins of the American Middle Class

When we explore the history of early America, we often look at people who lived in North America. But what about the people who lived and worked in European metropoles? What about Native Americans? We explore early American history through a slightly different lens, a lens that allows us to see interactions that occurred between Native American peoples and English men and women who lived in London. Our guide for this exploration is Coll Thrush, an Associate Professor of History at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver and author of Indigenous London: Native Travelers at the Heart of the Empire. This episode originally posted as Episode 132. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/199   Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute BFWorld Newsletter Signup   Complementary Episodes Episode 079: Jim Horn, What is a Historic Source? (Jamestown and Pocahontas) Episode 104: Andrew Lipman, The Saltwater Frontier Episode 170: Wendy Warren, New England Bound: Slavery in Early New England Episode 1

When we think of Native Americans, many of us think of inland dwellers. People adept at navigating forests and rivers and the skilled hunters and horsemen who lived and hunted on the American Plains. But did you know that Native Americans were seafaring mariners too? Andrew Lipman, an Assistant Professor of History at Barnard College, Columbia University and author of The Saltwater Frontier: Indians and the Contest for the American Coast, leads us on an exploration of the northeastern coastline and of the Native American and European peoples who lived there during the seventeenth century.  This episode originally posted as Episode 104. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/198   Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute BFWorld Newsletter Signup   Complementary Episodes Episode 079: James Horn, What is a Historical Source? (Colonial Jamestown) Episode 121: Wim Klooster, The Dutch Moment in the 17th-Centur Atlantic World EpIsode 132: Coll Thrush, Indigenous London: Native Travelers in the Heart

When we think about early American slavery, our minds evoke images of plantations where enslaved men and women were forced to labor in agricultural fields and inside the homes of wealthy Americans. These images depict the practice of chattel slavery; a practice where early Americans treated slaves as property that they could buy, sell, trade, and use as they would real estate and draught animals. But, did you know that some early Americans practiced a different type of slavery? We investigate the practice of Native American or indigenous slavery, a little-known aspect of early American history, with Brett Rushforth, author of Bonds of Alliance: Indigenous and Atlantic Slaveries in New France. This episode originally published as Episode 064.   Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/197   Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute BFWorld Newsletter Signup Bonds of Alliance: Indigenous and Atlantic Slaveries in New France (Listener-Only 40-Percent Discount Code 01BFW)   Complementary Episodes

We live in an age of information. The internet provides us with 24/7 access to all types of information—news, how-to articles, sports scores, entertainment news, and congressional votes. But what do we do with all of this knowledge? How do we sift through and interpret it all? We are not the first people to ponder these questions. Today, Alejandra Dubcovsky, an Associate Professor at University of California Riverside and author of Informed Power: Communication in the Early South, takes us through the early American south and how the Native Americans, Europeans, and enslaved Africans who lived there acquired, used, and traded information. This episode originally published as Episode 082. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/196   Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute BFWorld Newsletter Sign up   Complementary Episodes Episode 139: Andrés Reséndez, The Other Slavery: Indian Enslavement in the Americas Episode 168: Andrea Smalley, Wild By Nature: Colonists and Animals in North America Epis