Ben Franklin's World
722 episodes - English - Latest episode: 13 days ago - ★★★★★ - 988 ratingsThis 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. It is produced by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
281 Vast Early America Series: The Many Captivities of Esther Wheelwright
March 10, 2020 05:00 - 48 minutes - 44.9 MBColonial America comprised many different cultural and political worlds. Most colonial Americans inhabited just one world, but today, we’re going to explore the life of a woman who lived in THREE colonial American worlds: Frontier New England, Northeastern Wabanaki, and Catholic New France. Ann Little, a Professor of History at Colorado State University and the author of The Many Captivities of Esther Wheelwright, leads us through the remarkable life of Esther Wheelwright, a woman who expe...
280 Vast Early America Series: Thundersticks
March 03, 2020 06:00 - 56 minutes - 52.1 MBEarly North America was a place rife with violent conflict. Between the 17th and 19th centuries we see a lot of conflict between different Native American peoples, Native American peoples and colonists, colonists from one empire versus colonists from another empire, settlers from one state quarreling with settlers from another state, and in the 19th century, we also see strife between Americans, Canadians, and Mexicans. Today, we’re going to explore some of the causes of the violent confli...
279 Vast Early America Series: Christian Slavery
February 25, 2020 06:00 - 57 minutes - 52.9 MBBetween 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 Associate 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 Christiani...
278 Vast Early America Series: Competing Visions of Empire
February 18, 2020 06:00 - 52 minutes - 47.9 MBHow and where did the colonies of North America and the Caribbean fit within the British Empire? The answer to this question depends on whether you explore the views of a British imperial officer, such as the King of England, or a colonist who lived in one of the North American or Caribbean colonies. In today’s episode, Abigail Swingen, professor of history at Texas Tech University and author of Competing Visions of Empire: Labor, Slavery, and the Origins of the British Atlantic Empire,...
277 Vast Early America Series: Aquatic Culture in Early America
February 11, 2020 06:00 - 57 minutes - 53.3 MBThe Atlantic World has brought many disparate peoples together, which has caused a lot of ideas and cultures to mix. How did the Atlantic World bring so many different peoples and cultures together? How did this large intermixing of people and cultures impact the development of colonial America? Kevin Dawson, an Associate Professor of History at the University of California-Merced and author of Undercurrents of Power: Aquatic Culture in the African Diaspora, joins us to explore answers t...
276 Vast Early America Series: The Dutch Moment in the 17th Century
February 04, 2020 06:00 - 38 minutes - 35.5 MBThe Spanish, French, and English played large roles in the origins of colonial America. But so too did the Dutch. During the 17th century, they had a “moment" in which they influenced European colonization and development of the Atlantic World. Wim Klooster, a Professor of History at Clark University and author of The Dutch Moment: War, Trade, and Settlement in the Seventeenth Century Atlantic World, guides us through Dutch contributions to the Atlantic World. Show Notes: https://www.ben...
275 Vast Early America Series: The Little Ice Age
January 28, 2020 06:00 - 50 minutes - 46.5 MBWe’re living in a period of climate change. Our Earth has been getting warmer since the mid-19th century. So how will humans adapt to and endure this period of global warming? Will they adapt to it and endure? It turns out the people of early America also lived through a period of climate change and their experiences may hold some answers for us. Sam White, an Associate Professor at The Ohio State University and author of A Cold Welcome: The Little Ice Age and Europe’s Encounter, joins...
274 Vast Early America Series: The Other Slavery
January 21, 2020 06:00 - 46 minutes - 42.9 MBIn 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. He also played a central role in the European adoption of Indian or Native American slavery. When we think of slavery in early America, we often think of the practice of African and African-American chattel slavery. However, that system of slavery wasn’t the only system of slavery that existed in North America. Systems of Indian slavery existed too. In fact, Indians remained enslaved long after the 13th Amendment abolished African-American slavery i...
273 Vast Early America Series: Round About the Earth: Circumnavigation from Magellan to Orbit
January 14, 2020 06:00 - 43 minutes - 40.2 MBIn 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue as part of the great European quest to find new routes and shortcuts to the spice islands and territories of Asia. Columbus’ “discovery” of the Caribbean and North America caused European peoples to colonize North and South America. It also encouraged Europeans to keep up their search for new ways to access Asia. Joyce E. Chaplin, the James Duncan Phillips Professor of Early American History at Harvard University and author of Round Abo...
272 Vast Early America Series: Information & Communication in the Early American South
January 07, 2020 06:00 - 39 minutes - 36.8 MBWe 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. Alejandra Dubcovsky, an Associate Professor at University of California, Riverside and author of Informed Power: Communication in the Early South takes us th...
271 BFW Team Favorites: Paul Revere's Ride Through History
December 31, 2019 06:00 - 1 hour - 85.4 MBOn April 18, 1775, Paul Revere rode to Lexington, Massachusetts to spread the alarm that the Regulars were marching. Revere made several important rides between 1774 and 1775, including one in September 1774 that brought the Suffolk Resolves to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia. So why is it that we remember Paul Revere’s ride to Lexington and not any of his other rides? Why is it that we remember Paul Revere on the night of April 18, 1775 and nothing about his life either b...
270 BFW Team Favorites: Slavery & Freedom in Early Maryland
December 24, 2019 06:00 - 50 minutes - 46.3 MBHow do you uncover the life of an enslaved person who left no paper trail? What can the everyday life of an enslaved person tell us about slavery, how it was practiced, and how some enslaved people made the transition from slavery to freedom? We explore the life of Charity Folks, an enslaved woman from Maryland who gained her freedom in the late-18th century. Our guide through Charity’s life is Jessica Millward, an Associate Professor of History at the University of California, Irvine an...
269 BFW Team Favorites: One Colonial Woman's World
December 17, 2019 06:00 - 46 minutes - 42.5 MBWhat was everyday life like for average men and women in early America? Listeners ask this question more than any other question and today we continue to try to answer it. Michelle Marchetti Coughlin, author of One Colonial Woman's World: The Life and Writings of Mehetabel Chandler Coit, joins us to explore the life of an average woman who lived in early New England. This episode originally posted as Episode 032. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/269 Sponsor Links Om...
268 BFW Team Favorites: Young Benjamin Franklin
December 10, 2019 06:00 - 1 hour - 57.2 MBWhat 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 Fran...
267 Thomas Wickman, Winter in the Early American Northeast
December 03, 2019 06:00 - 1 hour - 57.1 MBHow did the people of early America experience and feel about winter? Thomas Wickman, an Associate Professor of History and American Studies at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut and author of Snowshoe Country: An Environmental and Cultural Winter in the Early American Northeast, joins us to investigate how Native Americans and early Americans experienced and felt about winter during the 17th and early 18th centuries. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/267 Sponsor Link...
267 Winter in the Early American Northeast
December 03, 2019 06:00 - 1 hour - 57.1 MBHow did the people of early America experience and feel about winter? Thomas Wickman, an Associate Professor of History and American Studies at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut and author of Snowshoe Country: An Environmental and Cultural Winter in the Early American Northeast, joins us to investigate how Native Americans and early Americans experienced and felt about winter during the 17th and early 18th centuries. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/267 Sponsor Link...
266 Education in Early America
November 26, 2019 06:00 - 32 minutes - 29.7 MBHow did early Americans educate their children? How and when did Americans create a formal system of public education? You sent me these questions for Episode 200: Everyday Life in Early America. You also said you wanted to know more about how early American boys and girls learned the trades they would practice later in life. Johann Neem, a Professor of History at Western Washington University and author of Democracy’s Schools: The Rise of Public Education in America, joins us to further...
266 Johann Neem, Education in Early America
November 26, 2019 06:00 - 32 minutes - 29.7 MBHow did early Americans educate their children? How and when did Americans create a formal system of public education? You sent me these questions for Episode 200: Everyday Life in Early America. You also said you wanted to know more about how early American boys and girls learned the trades they would practice later in life. Johann Neem, a Professor of History at Western Washington University and author of Democracy’s Schools: The Rise of Public Education in America, joins us to further...
265 An Early History of the White House
November 19, 2019 06:00 - 1 hour - 55.6 MBOn July 1, 1790, Congress passed “An Act for Establishing the temporary and permanent Seat of the Government of the United States.” This act formalized a plan to move the capital of the United States from New York City to Philadelphia, for a period of 10 years, and then from Philadelphia to Washington D.C., where the United States government would make its permanent home. What buildings did Congress have erected to house the government? Lindsay Chervinsky works for the White House Histor...
265 Lindsay Chervinsky, An Early History of the White House
November 19, 2019 06:00 - 1 hour - 55.6 MBOn July 1, 1790, Congress passed “An Act for Establishing the temporary and permanent Seat of the Government of the United States.” This act formalized a plan to move the capital of the United States from New York City to Philadelphia, for a period of 10 years, and then from Philadelphia to Washington D.C., where the United States government would make its permanent home. What buildings did Congress have erected to house the government? Lindsay Chervinsky works for the White House Histor...
264 The Iroquois, United States, and the Treaty of Canandaigua 1794
November 12, 2019 06:00 - 56 minutes - 52.2 MBThe Treaty of Paris 1783 ended the American War for Independence, but it did not bring peace to North America. After 1783, warfare and violence continued between Americans and Native Americans. So how did the early United States attempt to create peace for itsnew nation? Michael Oberg, a Distinguished Professor of History at the State University of New York-Geneseo and the author of Peacemakers: The Iroquois, the United States, and the Treaty of Canandaigua, joins us to investigate how th...
264 Michael Oberg, The Iroquois, United States, and the Treaty of Canandaigua 1794
November 12, 2019 06:00 - 56 minutes - 52.2 MBThe Treaty of Paris 1783 ended the American War for Independence, but it did not bring peace to North America. After 1783, warfare and violence continued between Americans and Native Americans. So how did the early United States attempt to create peace for itsnew nation? Michael Oberg, a Distinguished Professor of History at the State University of New York-Geneseo and the author of Peacemakers: The Iroquois, the United States, and the Treaty of Canandaigua, joins us to investigate how th...
263 The Medical Imagination
November 05, 2019 06:00 - 52 minutes - 48.1 MBDid you know that imagination once played a key role in the way Americans understood and practiced medicine? Sari Altschuler, an Assistant Professor of English at Northeastern University and author of The Medical Imagination: Literature and Health in the Early United States, joins us to investigate the ways early American doctors used imagination in their practice and learning of medicine. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/263 Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Fr...
263 Sari Altschuler, The Medical Imagination
November 05, 2019 06:00 - 52 minutes - 48.1 MBDid you know that imagination once played a key role in the way Americans understood and practiced medicine? Sari Altschuler, an Assistant Professor of English at Northeastern University and author of The Medical Imagination: Literature and Health in the Early United States, joins us to investigate the ways early American doctors used imagination in their practice and learning of medicine. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/263 Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Fr...
262 Interpreting the Fourth Amendment (Doing History 4)
October 29, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 58.5 MBHistory is an important tool when it comes to understanding American law. History is what the justices of the United States Supreme Court use when they want to ascertain what the framers meant when they drafted the Constitution of 1787 and its first ten amendments in 1789. History is also the tool we use when we want to know how and why the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Constitution and its amendments have changed over time. Sarah Seo, an Associate Professor of Law at the Univer...
261 Creating the Fourth Amendment (Doing History 4)
October 22, 2019 05:00 - 58 minutes - 54.6 MBThe Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution doesn’t always make headlines, but it’s an amendment that undergirds foundational rights. It’s also an amendment that can show us a lot about the intertwined nature between history and American law. In this 3rd episode of our 4th Doing History series, we explore the early American origins of the Fourth Amendment with Thomas Clancy, a Professor Emeritus at the University of Mississippi School of Law and an expert on the Fourth Amendm...
260 Origins of the Bill of Rights (Doing History 4)
October 15, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 57.3 MBHow and why did Congress draft the First Ten Amendments to the Constitution? In the United States, we use the Constitution and Bill of Rights to understand and define ourselves culturally. Americans are a people with laws and rights that are protected by the Constitution because they are defined in the Constitution. And the place where the Constitution defines and outlines our rights is within its First Ten Amendments, the Bill of Rights. In this second episode of our 4th Doing History s...
259 The Bill of Rights & How Legal Historians Work (Doing History 4)
October 08, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 66.7 MBLaw is all around us. And the basis of American Law comes not only from our early American past, but from our founding documents. This episode begins our 4th Doing History series. Over the next four episodes, we’ll explore the early American origins of the Bill of Rights as well as the history of the Fourth Amendment. The Fourth Amendment will serve as our case study so we can see where our rights come from and how they developed from the early American past. In this episode we go inside...
258 John Dickinson: Life, Religion, and Politics
October 01, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 56 MBThe Second Continental Congress voted for independence on July 2, 1776 with 12 colonies and one abstention. The delegation from New York abstained from the vote. And Pennsylvania voted in favor of independence because two of its delegates were persuaded not to attend the vote given their opposition. John Dickinson was one of the two delegates who absented himself from the vote. Later, he would refuse to sign the Declaration of Independence. But why? Jane Calvert, an Associate Professo...
258 Jane Calvert, John Dickinson: Life, Religion, and Politics
October 01, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 56 MBThe Second Continental Congress voted for independence on July 2, 1776 with 12 colonies and one abstention. The delegation from New York abstained from the vote. And Pennsylvania voted in favor of independence because two of its delegates were persuaded not to attend the vote given their opposition. John Dickinson was one of the two delegates who absented himself from the vote. Later, he would refuse to sign the Declaration of Independence. But why? Jane Calvert, an Associate Professo...
257 Elizabeth Seton: An Early American Life
September 24, 2019 05:00 - 52 minutes - 48.1 MBWhat was it like to live as a woman of faith in early republic America? What was it like to live as a Catholic in the early United States? Catherine O’Donnell, an Associate Professor of History at Arizona State University and author of Elizabeth Seton: American Saint, helps us investigate answers to these questions by taking us through the life of the United States’ first saint: Elizabeth Ann Seton. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/257 Atlanta Meet Up October 12, 4pm...
257 Catherine O'Donnell, Elizabeth Seton: An Early American Life
September 24, 2019 05:00 - 52 minutes - 48.1 MBWhat was it like to live as a woman of faith in early republic America? What was it like to live as a Catholic in the early United States? Catherine O’Donnell, an Associate Professor of History at Arizona State University and author of Elizabeth Seton: American Saint, helps us investigate answers to these questions by taking us through the life of the United States’ first saint: Elizabeth Ann Seton. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/257 Atlanta Meet Up October 12, 4pm...
256 Christian Koot, Mapping Empire in the Chesapeake
September 17, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 56.3 MBHow do empires come to be? How are empires made and who makes them? What role do maps play in making empires? Christian Koot is a Professor of History at Towson University and the author of A Biography of a Map in Motion: Augustine Herrman’s Chesapeake. Christian has researched and written two books about the seventeenth-century Anglo-Dutch World to better understand empires and how they are made. Today, he joins us to take us through his research and to share what one specific map, Augus...
256 Mapping Empire in the Chesapeake
September 17, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 56.3 MBHow do empires come to be? How are empires made and who makes them? What role do maps play in making empires? Christian Koot is a Professor of History at Towson University and the author of A Biography of a Map in Motion: Augustine Herrman’s Chesapeake. Christian has researched and written two books about the seventeenth-century Anglo-Dutch World to better understand empires and how they are made. Today, he joins us to take us through his research and to share what one specific map, Augus...
255 Birthright Citizenship
September 10, 2019 05:00 - 58 minutes - 53.5 MBWho gets to be a citizen of the United States? How does the United States define who belongs to the nation? Early Americans asked and grappled with these questions during the earliest days of the early republic. Martha S. Jones is a Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University and a former public interest litigator. Using details from her book, Birthright Citizens: A History of Race and Rights in Antebellum America, Martha joins us to investigate how early Americans thought about cit...
255 Martha S. Jones, Birthright Citizenship
September 10, 2019 05:00 - 58 minutes - 53.5 MBWho gets to be a citizen of the United States? How does the United States define who belongs to the nation? Early Americans asked and grappled with these questions during the earliest days of the early republic. Martha S. Jones is a Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University and a former public interest litigator. Using details from her book, Birthright Citizens: A History of Race and Rights in Antebellum America, Martha joins us to investigate how early Americans thought about cit...
254 Jeffrey Sklansky, The Money Question in Early America
September 03, 2019 05:00 - 53 minutes - 49.1 MBWe 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 Sov...
254 The Money Question in Early America
September 03, 2019 05:00 - 53 minutes - 49.1 MBWe 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 Sov...
253 Susan Clair Imbarrato, Life and Revolution in Boston and Grenada
August 27, 2019 05:00 - 45 minutes - 41.6 MBWhat 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...
253 Life and Revolution in Boston and Grenada
August 27, 2019 05:00 - 45 minutes - 41.6 MBWhat 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...
252 Matthew P. Dziennick, The Highland Soldier in North America
August 20, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 55.6 MBMuch 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 Scott...
252 The Highland Soldier in North America
August 20, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 55.6 MBMuch 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 Scott...
251 Cameron Strang, Frontiers of Science
August 13, 2019 05:00 - 53 minutes - 49.3 MBWhat 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 Om...
251 Frontiers of Science
August 13, 2019 05:00 - 53 minutes - 49.3 MBWhat 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 Om...
250 Virginia, 1619
August 06, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 70.5 MB2019 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. ...
249 BFW Road Trip: James Monroe's Highland
July 30, 2019 05:00 - 46 minutes - 43.3 MBBetween 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 ...
248 BFW Road Trip: National Museum of African American History and Culture
July 23, 2019 05:00 - 33 minutes - 31.1 MBNot 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. Sho...
247 BFW Road Trip: Schoharie Crossing
July 16, 2019 05:00 - 40 minutes - 37 MBA “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 dis...
246 BFW Road Trip: Château de Ramezay
July 09, 2019 05:00 - 43 minutes - 40.1 MBDid 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 ...
245 Celebrating the Fourth
July 02, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 66.4 MBIt 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, barbecue...