Stay ConnectedThis is a multiple award-winning podcast about early American history. It’s a show for people who love history and who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.
Each episode features conversations with professional historians who help shed light on important people and events in early American history.
Copyright: © Liz Covart 2024
Common Sense didn’t just make an argument for independence—it moved through a world of newspapers, pamphlets, and personal networks that carried revolutionary ideas from one doorstep to the next. So how did political news travel in 1776, and what made print such a powerful engine of persuasion?
As we approach the 250th anniversary of Common Sense, Ben Franklin’s World Revisited returns to Episode 156 to explore how early Americans shared, debated, and embraced revolutionary ideas. You’ll discover how print and networks spread the Revolution, what made Common Sense a publishing phenomenon, and how media shaped political debate and public opinion.
Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/156
RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES
🎧 Episode 091: Rumors, Legends, and Hoaxes in Early America
🎧 Episode 153: Committees and Congresses: Governments of the American Revolution
🎧 Episode 144: The Common Cause
🎧 Episode 243: Revolutionary Print Networks
🎧 Episode 375: Misinformation Nation: Fake News in Early America
🎧 Episode 428: America's Forgotten Quest to Link Two Oceans
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Benjamin Rush was one of early America’s most fascinating figures. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a leading Philadelphia physician, and a thinker who believed that a healthy body was the foundation of a healthy republic.
In this episode, historian Sarah Naramore, author of Benjamin Rush, Civic Health and Human Illness in the Early American Republic, introduces us to Rush as both doctor and political philosopher.
We’ll explore:
Rush may be what Sarah calls a “B-list Founding Father,” but his influence on early American science, politics, and public health was anything but minor.
Sarah’s Website | Book |
Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/430
EPISODE OUTLINE
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:06 Episode Introduction
00:04:48 Who Was Benjamin Rush
00:13:52 Benjamin Rush's Medical Practice
00:17:01 The American System of Medicine
00:22:30 Rush's Ideas about Civic Health
00:29:07 Rush's Approach to Mental Health
00:33:53 Rush's Views on Addiction
00:48:00 Rush's Legacy
00:52:13 Time Warp
00:55:00 Conclusion
RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES
🎧 Episode 174: Yellow Fever in the Early American Republic
🎧 Episode 193: Partisans: The Friendship & Rivalry of Adams & Jefferson
🎧 Episode 263: The Medical Imagination
🎧 Episode 279: Benjamin Rush, Founding Father
🎧 Episode 301: From Inoculation to Vaccination, Part 1
🎧 Episode 302: From Inoculation to Vaccination, Part 2
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British officials had a problem: Their American colonists wouldn't stop smuggling. Even after Parliament slashed tea prices and passed laws to make legal imports cheaper, colonists kept buying Dutch and French goods on the black market.
So what was really going on? If it wasn't just about saving money, what drove thousands of merchants and consumers to risk fines, seizure, and worse?
In this revisited episode, we follow the illicit trade networks that connected colonial port cities to the "Golden Rock,” Sint Eustatius, a tiny Dutch island that became the Atlantic World's busiest smuggling hub.
You'll discover why American merchants risked everything to trade there, how these underground networks shaped revolutionary resistance, and what Britain's crackdown on smuggling reveals about the deeper economic and political tensions that ignited the Revolution.
Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/161
RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES
🎧 Episode 021: Smuggling in Colonial America & Living History
🎧 Episode 112: The Tea Crisis of 1773
🎧 Episode 121: The Dutch Moment in the 17th-Century Atlantic World
🎧 Episode 159: Dangerous Economies
🎧 Episode 160: The Politics of Tea
🎧 Episode 288: Smugglers & Pirates in the 18th-Century Atlantic World
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Think the Boston Tea Party made America a coffee-drinking nation? Historian Michelle McDonald reveals the truth: colonists were already choosing coffee over tea because it was cheaper.
Michelle Craig McDonald, the Librarian/Director of the Library & Museum at the American Philosophical Society and author of Coffee Nation: How One Commodity Transformed the Early United States, explains how coffee shaped American identity long before the Revolution.
You'll hear about Revolutionary-era women storming a Boston warehouse to seize hoarded coffee and sell it at regulated prices. You'll discover why Parliament protected coffee while taxing tea. And you'll learn how enslaved Caribbean laborers made America's favorite beverage possible.
From colonial coffee houses to debates about caffeine addiction in the early republic, discover how one imported commodity became distinctly American.
Michelle's Website | Book |
Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/429
EPISODE OUTLINE
RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES
🎧 Episode 160: The Politics of Tea
🎧 Episode 161: Smuggling and the American Revolution
🎧 Episode 288: Smugglers & Patriots in the 18th-Century Atlantic World
🎧 Episode 294: 1774, The Long Year of American Revolution
🎧 Episode 319: Cuba: An Early American History
🎧 Episode 401: Tea, Boycotts, & Revolution
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In the 1820s, American entrepreneurs, engineers, and politicians dared to dream big. They believed they could cut a canal, not through Panama, but through the wild, rain-soaked terrain of Nicaragua. Their goal: To link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and transform global trade forever.
But what inspired these ambitious "canal dreamers?” And why did they believe Nicaragua held the key to controlling the future of commerce?
Jessica Lepler, Associate Professor of History at the University of New Hampshire and author ofCanal Dreamers: The Epic Quest to Connect the Atlantic and Pacific in the Age of Revolutions, joins us to explore this nearly forgotten story of innovation, illusion, and international ambition in early American history.
Jessica’s Website | Book
Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/428
EPISODE OUTLINE
00:01:00 Introduction
00:04:05 Desire to Build a Canal Across Central America
00:08:01 Political Landscape of Central America During the 1820s
00:09:55 Creating a Stable Central American Government
00:11:55 Geography of the Nicaraguan Canal Route
00:16:03 Economic Opportunities of an Interoceanic Canal
00:17:57 Individual vs. State Interest in a Nicaraguan Canal
00:21:58 Why Americans Sought A Private Canal Contract
00:26:44 Information Canal Dreamers Relied On to Build a Canal
00:33:12 Competitive Advantages of American Canal Dreamers
00:35:40 American Surveys of a Central American Canal Route
00:39:12 Influence of the Erie Canal
00:42:32 Why the Nicaraguan Canal Failed
00:44:50 What Canal Dreamers Reveal About the Early United States
0046:40 Overview of the Panama Canal
00:49:50 Time Warp
00:56:00 Conclusion
RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES
🎧 Episode 028: Building the Erie Canal
🎧 Episode 090: The Age of American Revolutions
🎧 Episode 113: Building the Empire State
🎧 Episode 165: The Age of Revolutions
🎧 Episode 186: The New Map of Empire
🎧 Episode 329: Freemasonry in Early America
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As we look ahead to the 250th anniversary—the semiquincentennial—of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, communities and commissions across the United States are asking big questions:
How should we commemorate this historic milestone?
What’s the right balance between celebration and education? And how can this moment bring people together across political divides, generational gaps, and complex histories?
To explore these questions, I’ve invited my friend, colleague, and Clio Digital Media co-founder Karin Wulf to guest host a special conversation with two people who are leading the way: Gregg Amore, Chair of the Rhode Island 250 Commission, and Carly Fiorina, Chair of the Virginia 250 Commission.
Together, they reveal how their states are planning commemorative programs that center civic engagement, local storytelling, and inclusive history—and how the 250th can be more than a moment. It can be a spark.
Karin’s Website | Book |
Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/427
EPISODE OUTLINE
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:10 Welcome & Episode Overview
00:04:45 Guest Introductions
00:07:32 Virginia & Rhode Island's Commemorative Plans
00:11:21 State Efforts and Collaborations
00:16:32 Engaging Young People
00:20:11 Educational Initiatives
00:22:13 Ken Burns's The American Revolution
00:24:30 Navigating the Political Climate
00:32:05 Reflections on the Bicentennial
00:35:00 Challenges to Achieving Commemorative Goals
00:42:51 Conclusion and Future Opportunities
00:46:53 Final Thoughts
RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES
🎧 Episode 250: Virginia, 1619
🎧 Episode 373: The Gaspee Affair
🎧 Episode 417: Roger Williams, Rogue Puritan
🎧 Episode 416: Lineage: Genealogy in Early America
🎧 Episode 424: Dunmore's Proclamation & the American Revolution in Virginia
🎧 Episode 425: Ken Burns's The American Revolution
SUPPORT OUR WORK
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Each November, we Americans come together to celebrate Thanksgiving, a holiday that invites us to reflect on gratitude, community, and the stories we tell about our past.
But what do we really know about the origins of this holiday? What did the “First Thanksgiving” look like, and who were the people who made it happen?
In honor of Thanksgiving, we’re revisiting our 2018 conversation with Rebecca Fraser, author of The Mayflower: The Families, The Voyage, and the Founding of America. This rich conversation offers a look at the English Separatists or Pilgrims who settled in Massachusetts. It explores who they were, why they came to North America, and what their life was like in the early years of Plymouth Colony.
Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/213
RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES
🎧 Episode 095: A Tale of Two Bostons
🎧 Episode 104: The Saltwater Frontier
🎧 Episode 121: The Dutch Moment in the 17th-Century Atlantic World
🎧 Episode 182: The Great Awakening in New England
🎧 Episode 290: The World of the Wampanoag, Part 1
🎧 Episode 291: The World of the Wampanoag, Part 2
SUPPORT OUR WORK
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As Thanksgiving approaches, many Americans are gathering to reflect on gratitude, family—and of course—food.
It's the time of year when we may think about the so-called "First Thanksgiving" and imagine scenes of Pilgrims and Native peoples gathering in Massachusetts to share in the bounty of their fall harvests.
But how much do we really know about the food systems and agricultural knowledge of Indigenous peoples of North America? In what ways were the Wampanoag people able to contribute to this harvest celebration—and what have we gotten wrong about their story?
Michael Wise, Associate Professor of History at the University of North Texas and author of Native Foods: Agriculture, Indigeneity, and Settler Colonialism in American History, joins us to challenge four persistent myths about Indigenous food practices. Discover how Native communities shaped and stewarded the land and its agriculture long before European colonists arrived—and why this history matters more than we might think.
Michael’s Website | Book |
Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/426
EPISODE OUTLINE
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:10 Episode Introduction
00:03:43 Guest Introduction
00:04:30 Myths about Indigenous Agriculture
00:11:29 Indigenous and European Gender Roles
00:15:56 Wampanoag Agriculture
00:17:29 Wampanoag Corn Cultivation
00:25:59 Wampanoag Cuisine
00:27:52 Indigenous Disspossession in New England
00:32:58 Cherokee Agriculture
00:37:13 The Cherokee Hunter Myth
00:40:53 The Origin of the Myths about Native American Agriculture
00:45:40 Future Projects
00:47:13 Closing Thoughts & Resources
RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES
🎧 Episode 131: Thomas Jefferson's Empire of Liberty
🎧 Episode 189: The Little Ice Age
🎧 Episode 278: Polygamy: An Early American History
🎧 Episode 290: The World of the Wampanoag, Pt 1
🎧 Episode 291: The World of the Wampanoag, Pt 2
🎧 Episode 323: American Expansion and the Political Economy of Plunder
SUPPORT OUR WORK
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What does it take to bring the American Revolution to life?
How can an event that took place 250 years ago be conveyed to us through modern-day film?
Ken Burns and his team worked to answer these questions in their new, epic six-part documentary, Ken Burns’ The American Revolution. Their work promises to deepen, complicate, and transform our understanding of the Revolution over 12 hours of film.
But how did Burns and his team make this film? What stories did they choose to tell? And what challenges did they face in telling those stories?
Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, the two co-directors of Ken Burns’ The American Revolution, join us for a behind-the-scenes tour of their film and how they made it.
Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/425
EPISODE OUTLINE
00:00:00 Introduction
00:03:09 Guest Introduction
00:04:42 Becoming Involved in the Documentary
00:07:57 Approach to Telling the Story of the Revolution
00:18:57 Images and Representation
00:21:53 Challenges Faced
00:27:03 Choosing Which Stories to Include
00:39:00 Relevance and Meaning of the Revolution
00:45:45 Time Warp
00:52:15 Conclusion
RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES
🎧 Episode 307: History and the American Revolution
🎧 Episode 314: Native Americans in Early American Cities
🎧 Episode 327: Ken Burns' Benjamin Franklin
🎧 Episode 352: James Forten and the Making of the United States
🎧 Episode 382: Hessians
🎧 Episode 408: The Memory of 1776
SUPPORT OUR WORK
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In November 1775, as tensions between the British Empire and its rebellious colonies continued to escalate, Virginia’s royal governor made a radical—and to some, terrifying—proclamation: Any enslaved person who fled a revolutionary enslaver and joined the British Army would gain their freedom.
Known to history as Dunmore’s Proclamation, this single decree changed the course of the American Revolution in the South. It offered a lifeline to thousands of enslaved men, women, and their families, ignited fierce debates about loyalty and liberty, and revealed deep contradictions at the heart of a revolution that claimed to fight for freedom.
In honor of the 250th anniversary of Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation, we’re taking a deeper look at the man behind it: John Murray, Fourth Earl of Dunmore, and at the Revolution in Virginia, which he helped fuel.
Our guide for this exploration is Andrew Lawler, an award-winning journalist and author of A Perfect Frenzy: A Royal Governor, His Black Allies, and the Crisis that Spurred the American Revolution.
Andrew's Website | Book |
Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/424
RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES
🎧 Episode 109: The American Enlightenment & Cadwallader Colden
🎧 Episode 162: Dunmore's New World
🎧 Episode 252: The Highland Soldier in North America
🎧 Episode 322: Running From Bondage in Revolutionary America
🎧 Episode 333: Disruptions in Yorktown
🎧 Episode 398: The Shawnee-Dunmore War, 1774
SUPPORT OUR WORK
🎁 Make a Donation to Ben Franklin’s World
REQUEST A TOPIC
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WHEN YOU'RE READY
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