History

Founded

Founded is a history podcast that takes a look at the stories you missed in history class about the founding of the United States of America. Instead of boring you with dates to memorize, we’re digging into the drama of the Founding Fathers because that tea was piping hot before AND after they dumped it into the harbor on that Boston night! There still might be a test though so listen up and learn something but most importantly, let’s have fun finding out who FOUNDED the United States of America.

Latest Episodes:

Behind The British Scenes: Moments Before The Revolutionary Stamp Act Oct 03, 2025

Show notes

How much do you know about the beginning of the American Revolution? How about Benjamin Franklin? Do you know what the relationship between Great Britain and the 13 colonies was like? Why was the phrase “No taxation without representation” used? Have you ever heard of The Stamp Act of 1765? You’ve probably heard of The Boston Tea Party, but that event happened closer to the start of the war than the beginning of the revolution. And that revolution? It wasn’t about taxes. Taxes were a symptom of the problem.

On this episode of Founded we’re exploring what was happening in Britain in the months leading up to The Stamp Act of 1765 and the debates that ensued. We’re also going to find out what the relationship between the mother country and her colonies was like along with reasons both sides were unhappy.

Key Players:

George Grenville: Prime minister, the man behind the actsBenjamin Franklin: London agent for the colony of Pennsylvania and huge loyalist (at this point in his life)

Charles Townshend: Member of parliament, future antagonist of the colonies

Colonel Isaac Barre: Veteran of the 7 years war in England, supporter of the colonies

General Conway: Veteran of the 7 years war in England, supporter of the colonies

Sources

We want to hear from you! What did you find interesting? What do you want to find out next? Email us: foundedhistory@gmail.com

Founded is a part of the Airwave Media network. Please contact ⁠advertising@airwavemedia.com⁠ if you would like to advertise on our podcast.

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What Led Regular People To Revolution? Sep 26, 2025

Show notes

How much do you know about Samuel Adams and John Hancock? What about Thomas Hutchinson and James Otis Jr? You've probably heard Samuel Adams name before, but do you know why he is considered the father of the American Revolution? John Hancock's signature stands out on the Declaration of Independence, do you know why? Thomas Hutchinson was the Lt. Governor of Massachusetts, a loyalist, how does he fit into this story? On this episode of Founded we’re exploring how these people went from ordinary British subjects to the main characters in a story that would lead to an entire new nation being founded. They weren't born radicals, they became radicalized in their determination for liberty. Even more importantly we are exploring how they were connected in early 1765. Thomas Hutchinson wasn't a super villain that just showed up one day, he'd been there the whole time. Hutchinson knew the patriot leaders before they knew they had something so big to lead, he worked with them and against them. In early 1765 The Sugar Act had already passed and soon The Stamp Act would too; they had no idea that everything was about to change.

Key Players:

Samuel Adams- Harvard grad, failure in business, started a whole revolution

James Otis Jr- Prominent lawyer in Boston, whig

Thomas Hutchinson- Held way too many positions in government, Lt Governor of Massachusetts Bay, loyal to the crown

John Hancock- Super wealthy merchant, gets a position in politics to stay out of politics

We want to hear from you! What did you find interesting? What do you want to find out next? Email us: foundedhistory@gmail.com

Sources

Founded is a part of the Airwave Media network. Please contact ⁠advertising@airwavemedia.com⁠ if you would like to advertise on our podcast.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

STAMPS! Because I Said So Sep 19, 2025

Show notes

How much do you know about the first steps towards colonial union that led to the American Revolution? You might have heard that King George III was a tyrant or that the colonists just really hated taxes, but there is so much more to the story. There WAS a problematic George who put England on a speed run to ruin, but it wasn’t the king (It was also the king, but he wasn’t the main character causing problems- yet). It was his right hand man, Grenville.

On this episode of Founded you’ll find out about the secret plotting, lying and endless amount of mail that planted the seeds for rebellion.

Key Players:

George Grenville- Prime Minister under King George III, came up with the plans to make money from the colonies with his tax schemes

Thomas Whately- Secretary of the Treasury under George Grenville, made it his mission to figure out how to best execute Grenville’s plans

Thomas Hutchinson- Lt. Governor of Massachusetts Bay, member of the MA assembly. Wrote a history book about the colony that I use as a source

Francis Bernard- Royal Governor of Massachusetts Bay, loved writing letters, tried to keep the peace by writing letters and shutting down the government

Jasper Mauduit- London agent for Massachusetts Bay, took several measures to stop the Stamp Act from coming

Samuel Adams- Patriot, Harvard grad who was bad at business but great at politics, spent a lot of time writing for his cause of liberty

James Otis Jr- Patriot, enemy of Thomas Hutchinson, prominent lawyer, in cahoots with Samuel Adams

Sources

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Secrets In The Sugar Act Sep 12, 2025

Show notes

How much do you know about what led to the American Revolution? You’ve probably heard about “No Taxation Without Representation”, Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride, or The Shot Heard Around The World (though the details you’ve learned may not have been accurate). What do you know about George Grenville, though? Do you know about the 18th century politics that brewed a revolution that dismantled an empire?

What if I told you that the roots of the American Revolution are buried deep in a set of resolutions presented to the British House of Commons in March of 1764. You’ll find out all about it on this episode of Founded.

Key Players:

James Otis Jr- Prominent patriot lawyer and politician, enemy of Thomas Hutchinson

Thomas Hutchinson- Prominent politician, Lt Governor of Massachusetts Bay colony, loved the king

Francis Bernard- Royal Governor of Massachusetts Bay, passively cared about the colonists, mostly wanted to keep the peace

George Grenville- Prime minister of England, really wanted money from the colonies, great at coming up with schemes, not great at executing them

We want to hear from you! Email us at FoundedHistory@gmail.com and let us know what you found interesting and what you want to find out next!

Founded is a part of the Airwave Media network. Please contact

advertising@airwavemedia.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast.

Sources

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Man Who Would (Eventually) Marry Abigail Adams Sep 05, 2025

Show notes

How much do you know about the social class system in colonial America before the revolution? Although it might sound like a boring topic, it influenced how every event in the revolution unfolded.

Don't worry though, this week isn't a lecture about social hierarchies. We can start exploring the topic by finding out more about Abigail Adams's husband, the man who really wanted to be a farmer against his father's wishes, the second president of the United States, John Adams.

Key Players:

John Adams: John Adams son; born to the middle class, eventually becomes lawyer and second president of the USA

Samuel Adams: John's cousin; born to money, eventually becomes and stays in poverty on purpose, kind of starts a revolution

Abigail Adams: Strong and intelligent woman; born to a prominent family, her husband and son would become presidents

James Otis Jr: Prominent Boston Lawyer; born to a wealthy family, mentor to John Adams, hamster

We want to hear from you! Email us at FoundedHistory@gmail.com and let us know what you found interesting and what you want to find out next.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why Due Process When You Can Do Profit? Aug 29, 2025

Show notes

How much do you really know about the Bill of Rights? Do you know why it was created? This week we're exploring what amendments we can find being violated long before they were ever written down. We’re also exploring the origin story of Massachusetts Bay colony royal governor, Francis Bernard. Obviously, Samuel Adams and the Sugar Act are a part of this....also a lot of debt (Not Britain's or Samuel's this time)

Key Players:

Loyalists:

Thomas Hutchinson - Colonial born Lt Governor of Massachusetts Bay

Francis Bernard - British born Royal Governor of Massachusetts Bay

George Grenville - King George III's right hand man, prime minister of Britain

Patriots:

Samuel Adams - Rabble rouser, has personal beef with Hutchinson, neighbor of Bernard, hates them both

James Otis Jr - Mega beef with Hutchinson because of Bernard, also hates them both, besties with Samuel

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Hancock Was More Than A Signature Aug 22, 2025

Show notes

Have you ever heard about how John Hancock left such a big signature on the Declaration of Independence so that "King George would be able to read it without his glasses"? Do you believe it? If so, you might also believe that the Declaration of Independence was signed on the 4th of July, and if you believe that, you probably also think that the handwritten Declaration with all 56 signatures was the first copy of it.

My point is that we're all taught a whole lot of things that plainly weren't true, at no fault of our own. I'm happy to share that the real stories are far more interesting and make way more sense though. The truth is, without John Hancock, there probably couldn't have been a revolution.

This episode is the origin story of John Hancock, who will continue to be near the center of many stories on the path to liberty. Without understanding where someone came from, how can we understand how they got to their destinations?

Key Players:

First John: John Hancock's grandfather

Second John: John Hancock's father

Third John: The John Hancock with the signature

Thomas Hancock: Previously mentioned, signature having, John Hancock

We want to hear from you! Email us at foundedhistory@gmail.com and let us know what you found interesting and what you want to find out next

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sugar Actin' Up Aug 15, 2025

Show notes

The year is 1764 and news of George Grenville's Sugar Act has just reached the shores of Boston. Do the colonists care? Not at first, until a certain rabble rouser makes it his problem to make it everyone else's problem too.

Key Players:

Patriots:

Samuel Adams- Harvard Grad turned rabble rouser; watched his family get ruined by the land bank debacle

James Otis Jr- Successful lawyer and politician, enemy of Hutchinson, besties with Adams

Loyalists:

George Grenville- Prime Minister of England, creator of The American Duties Act (Sugar Act)

Thomas Hutchinson- Lt governor of Massachusetts, while holding many other positions, he had a lot of enemies

Frances Bernard- Royal Governor of Massachusetts, lots of power, little patience

We want to hear from you! What did you find interesting? What do you want to find out next? Email us: foundedhistory@gmail.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The American Duties Act Aug 08, 2025

Show notes

Is it possible that a single act of parliament could have triggered an entire revolution? Well yes, in a way. Especially when that act was the American Duties Act and specifically impacted Samuel Adams (who made that act his personal problem).

Today we’re talking about George Grenville and his rivalry with Lord Bute and how that somehow changed the world because of Samuel Adams and his rabble rousing tendencies.

Is there a riot? No, but with good reason, that you'll find out next time (I promise)

But what even was the American Duties Act? You’ll have to tune in to find out.

We want to hear from you, email us at ⁠FoundedHistory@gmail.com⁠ and let us know what you found most interesting and what you want to find out next!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No Taxation Without Representation: The Beginning Aug 01, 2025

Show notes

If you’ve never heard of Thomas Hutchinson and James Otis Jr; you probably should have. Hutchinson may have been a loyalist governor, but he’s as much of a main character as Samuel Adams was. While Samuel Adams isn’t a main character in today’s story, he does connect our main characters- enemy of Hutchinson, co-conspirator of Otis.

And if you’ve only learned about early American history from Hamilton (no judgment AT ALL), Hutchinson is much like Burr, and Otis is more like Hamilton

However, one of the aforementioned men is credited with popularizing the phrase we all had drilled into our heads by the 4th grade, “No taxation without representation”.

But how did it all end? Well, with lightening and/or fleeing on a boat- but we’re not focusing in on how things ended, we’re diving into the beginnings. And the American Revolution, in a way, began with Thomas Hutchinson and James Otis Jr.

We want to hear from you, email us at FoundedHistory@gmail.com and let us know what you found most interesting and what you want to find out next!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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