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PODCAST

Ben Franklin"s World

This 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.

history

All Episodes

62:26

BFW Revisited: Disruptions in Yorktown

Ben Franklin"s World ·

2025/10/28

What did it take to end the War for Independence?When we think of the American Revolution’s final chapter, we think of the Siege of Yorktown. Between September 28 and October 19, 1781, British forces endured a siege by the Franco-American forces that ultimately led to a triumphant Franco-American victory, British recognition of American independence, and the birth of a new nation. But the real story of the Yorktown victory is far more layered. It involved international alliances, enslaved people

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71:03

423 The Forgotten Artists of the American Revolution

Ben Franklin"s World ·

2025/10/21

Have you ever noticed how conversations about the American Revolution often center on great battles, founding documents, and famous statesmen?What if, instead, we explored that world through the eyes—and the hands—of everyday people who shaped it through art? Zara Anishanslin, Associate Professor of History and Art History at the University of Delaware and Director of its Museum Studies and Public Engagement Program, joins us to uncover the hidden world of artists, artisans, and makers who

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52:51

BFW Revisited: The World of John Singleton Copley

Ben Franklin"s World ·

2025/10/14

What does it mean to be caught between two worlds? Between loyalty and liberty, artistry and commerce, and between the British North American colonies and the British Empire?We’re revisiting our exploration of the life of John Singleton Copley, one of early America’s most celebrated portrait artists. Copley’s story reveals much about the upheaval of the American Revolution and the choices people made as events unfolded around them.Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/106 RECOMMENDED NEXT

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72:45

422: Plantation Goods: How Northern Industry Fueled...

Ben Franklin"s World ·

2025/10/07

When we talk about slavery in Early America, we often focus on plantations: their large, fertile fields, their cash crops, and the people who labored on those fields to produce those cash crops under conditions of enslavement.But what about the ordinary objects that made slavery work? The shoes, axes, cloth, and hoes? What can these everyday objects reveal about the economic and social systems that sustained slavery in the early United States? Seth Rockman, a Professor of History at Brown

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62:35

BFW Revisited: Origins of American Manufacturing

Ben Franklin"s World ·

2025/09/30

When we picture the early United States, we often imagine a young nation fighting for political independence. But what about economic independence—and what did it take to achieve it?Historian Lindsay Schakenbach Regele of Miami University in Ohio joins us to explore how manufacturing became central to the nation's post-Revolution identity. Drawing from her book Manufacturing Advantage: War, the State, and the Origins of American Industry, 1776–1848, Lindsay reveals how the federal government

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61:01

421 Loyalism and Revolution in Georgia

Ben Franklin"s World ·

2025/09/23

What if loyalty, not rebellion, was the default position in revolutionary British North America?It’s easy to forget that before 1776, most colonists identified as proud Britons. They didn’t see themselves as future Americans or revolutionaries; they saw themselves as subjects of a global empire. And in the colony of Georgia, many clung to that identity longer than we might expect. Greg Brooking, a historian of the American Revolution in the South and a high school history and social studies

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70:19

BFW Revisited: Loyalism in the British Atlantic World

Ben Franklin"s World ·

2025/09/16

When we think of the American Revolution, we often focus on the patriots who fought for independence. But what about the Loyalists—those who chose to remain faithful to the British crown?In this episode, we revisit a thought-provoking conversation with historian Brad Jones of Fresno State University, author of Resisting Independence: Popular Loyalism in the Revolutionary British Atlantic. Brad challenges the long-held view of Loyalists as passive or fearful, instead revealing Loyalism as a vibrant

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80:25

420: Creating the U.S. Federal Government

Ben Franklin"s World ·

2025/09/09

When we think about the founding of the United States, we often focus on the Constitution, the Founding Fathers, and those first landmark elections.But how did the United States actually build its federal government, the entire apparatus of state that could collect revenue, manage international diplomacy, provide law and order, and extend its reach across a rapidly expanding nation? Who were the people who made that government work? And how did their service to the nation shape what it meant to

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76:19

BFW Revisited: Women & the Constitutional Moment of 1787

Ben Franklin"s World ·

2025/09/02

Each September, Constitution Day marks the signing of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787. But beyond celebration, this commemoration invites deeper reflection: Whose voices helped shape this foundational document? And who was imagined as part of the political community it created? In honor of Constitution Day and Constitution Month, we’re revisiting a pivotal conversation from Episode 339 with constitutional historian Mary Sarah Bilder. Drawing from her book, Female Genius: Eliza Harriot

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64:24

419 The North Carolina Regulator Movement

Ben Franklin"s World ·

2025/08/26

What happens when the very people meant to uphold justice become the ones exploiting it?In the 1760s, North Carolina farmers watched sheriffs pocket their tax payments, judges rule in favor of corrupt land speculators, and government officials literally steal their land, all while claiming to represent the Crown’s interests. Nathan Schultz, a public historian and the Site Manager at the Alamance Battleground State Historic Site in North Carolina, joins us to explore the North Carolina Regulator

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65:42

BFW Revisited: The Tory's Wife

Ben Franklin"s World ·

2025/08/19

Revolutionary upheaval didn't just reshape governments—it transformed daily life for ordinary families across colonial America.In this revisited episode, historian Cynthia Kierner reveals the remarkable story of Jane Spurgin, a woman navigating loyalty, survival, and family obligations in Revolutionary-era North Carolina. Through Jane's experience as a Loyalist's wife, we discover how political conflicts reached into homes and communities, forcing women to make difficult choices between

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62:11

418 The Driver's Story

Ben Franklin"s World ·

2025/08/12

We often learn about slavery in early America through broad economic or political terms—cotton, sugar, markets, revolutions. But what happens when we turn our focus to the lived experiences of enslaved people themselves?What did slavery feel and look like on the ground? What did survival look like day to day? And what do we make of the enslaved people who were forced into positions of authority over others, like the plantation drivers who were tasked with extracting labor from their fellow

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52:28

BFW Revisited: The Business of Slavery

Ben Franklin"s World ·

2025/08/05

When we think about slavery in early America, we often rightfully focus on the human toll–the violence, the exploitation, the dehumanization that defined the institution. But slavery wasn’t just a system of forced labor; it was also a business. Next week, in Episode 418, we’ll be investigating a different facet of the business of slavery: the story of slave drivers–enslaved people who were forced or took up positions of authority over others. To better understand the system slave drivers operated

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73:49

417 Roger Williams, Rogue Puritan

Ben Franklin"s World ·

2025/07/29

When we think of early American champions of religious liberty, one name often rises above the rest: Roger Williams. Best known as the founder of Rhode Island and a fierce advocate for the separation of church and state, Williams was a man who defied convention at every turn. He turned down a prestigious post in Boston, challenged Puritan orthodoxy, and was ultimately banished—only to build a new colony rooted in his radical ideas of liberty of conscience and religious toleration. In this episode,

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47:38

BFW Revisited: The History of Genealogy

Ben Franklin"s World ·

2025/07/22

Why do we trace our family histories? What drives our desire to know who our ancestors were and how we’re connected to past people and events? Genealogy is often seen as a modern pursuit, spurred by DNA tests and online records–but in reality, early Americans were deeply invested in understanding and documenting their familial ties. Their desire to understand these ties, however, extended far beyond sheer curiosity. Last week, in Episode 416, we were joined by Karin Wulf, who shared with us her

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66:31

416: Lineage: Genealogy in Early America

Ben Franklin"s World ·

2025/07/15

Have you ever wondered why genealogy captivates so many people?Whether it’s tracing a family tree back generations or holding on to stories told around the dinner table, genealogy offers a powerful sense of connection—a connection that can shape identities, claims of property, and even arguments for freedom. But genealogy isn’t just a modern-day hobby. In early America, genealogy was a deeply consequential practice with social, political, and legal implications. Karin Wulf, a Professor of

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78:03

BFW Revisited: A Declaration in Draft

Ben Franklin"s World ·

2025/07/08

The Declaration of Independence is one of the most iconic documents in United States history. But what do we really know about how it came to be?In our most recent episode, historian Emily Sneff helped us explore the Declaration through your questions–questions that revealed just how complex, living, and contested this document still is. So in today’s Revisited episode, we take a listen to the podcast that Emily helped to produce back in 2017: Episode 141: A Declaration in Draft. Originally part

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2:33

Lineage Book Preview

Ben Franklin"s World ·

2025/07/03

Preview of Karin Wulf’s book, Lineage: Genealogy and the Power of Connection in Early America. In eighteenth-century America, genealogy was more than a simple record of family ties--it was a powerful force that shaped society. Lineage delves into an era where individuals, families, and institutions meticulously documented their connections. Whether driven by personal passion or mandated by churches, local governments, and courts, these records appeared in diverse forms-from handwritten notes and

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64:31

415: The Many Declarations of Independence

Ben Franklin"s World ·

2025/07/01

When you picture the Declaration of Independence, what comes to mind? Most people envision a single, iconic document–parchment, signatures, maybe even a scene from National Treasure. But what if I told you, the Declaration of Independence isn’t just one document, but many documents? And that each version of the Declaration tells a different story–a story not just about American independence, but about the people who printed, read, preserved, and even re-wrote the Declaration? Emily Sneff is one of

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61:03

414 Queerness and Reputation in Revolutionary America

Ben Franklin"s World ·

2025/06/24

How do we uncover queer lives from the distant past, especially in an era when language and records often erased or obscured them?What did queerness look like in early America, and how might it have intersected with power, religion, and empire on the eve of the American Revolution? John McCurdy, a Professor of History and Philosophy at Eastern Michigan University and the author of Vicious and Immoral: Homosexuality, the American Revolution, and the Trials of Robert Newburgh, joins us to explore

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