Ben Franklin's World

Liz Covart

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.

  1. há 1 h

    448 The Declaration of Independence as American Scripture

    The engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence is on display at the National Archives building in Washington, DC. Millions of visitors flock to see it and the other Charters of Freedom. But how did it end up there and why do people approach it with religious reverence? In this episode, we explore how the Declaration took on its symbolic role as the founding text of the United States. Pauline's Book Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/403 EPISODE OUTLINE 00:00:00 Introduction 00:06:30 Introducing Mary Beth Norton 00:07:17 American Scripture: Pauline Maier 00:10:00 Graduate School with Pauline Maier 00:13:36 The State of Historians' Thinking in the 1990s 00:15:23 Other Declarations of Independence 00:21:08 Thomas Jefferson's Drafting of the Declaration 00:23:44 Why Create a Parchment Copy of the Declaration? 00:28:24 How the Declaration Became American Scripture 00:30:32 The Impact of American Scripture 00:32:10 Situating the Declaration in the American Revolution 00:35:39 The Role of the Parchment Copy Today 00:40:12 Closing Thoughts on Pauline Maier RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES 🎧 Episode 141: A Declaration in Draft 🎧 Episode 155: Pauline Maier's American Revolution 🎧 Episode 294: 1774: The Long Year of Revolution 🎧 Episode 325: Everyday People of the American Revolution 🎧 Episode 415: The Many Declarations of Independence SUPPORT OUR WORK 🎁 Make a Donation to Ben Franklin’s World REQUEST A TOPIC 📨 Topic Request Form 📫 liz@benfranklinsworld.com WHEN YOU'RE READY 🗞️ BFW Gazette Newsletter 👩‍💻 Join the BFW Listener Community 🌍 Join the History Explorers Club TAKE THE QUIZ 🧭 Discover How You Explore History (under 2 minutes) 👉 https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/quiz LISTEN 🎧 🍎 Apple Podcasts 💚 Spotify 🎶 Amazon Music 🛜 Pandora CONNECT 🦋 Liz on Bluesky 👩‍💻 Liz on LinkedIn 🛜 Liz’s Website SAY THANKS 💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 💚 Leave a rating on Spotify *Book links are affiliate links. Every purchase supports the podcast.

  2. 28 de jul. ·  Bônus

    BFW Revisited Threads of Power

    For the Haudenosaunee, the Six Nations People, the American Revolution brought not liberty, but land loss, displacement, and the dismantling of their world. The new United States seized land from Haudenosaunee nations regardless of which side they supported during the Revolution. And yet the Haudenosaunee survived, and Haudenosaunee women are central to this story. In this revisited episode, Maeve Kane, Associate Professor of History at the University at Albany and author of Shirts Powdered Red, reveals how Haudenosaunee women used cloth, trade, and cultural creativity as tools of sovereignty and survival across three centuries of colonial pressure. Maeve's Website | Book | Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/406 RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES 🎧 Episode 021: Smuggling in Colonial America & Living History 🎧 Episode 163: The American Revolution in North America 🎧 Episode 223: A native American History of the Ohio River Valley & Great Lakes Region 🎧 Episode 264: The Treaty of Canandaigua 🎧 Episode 353: Women and the Making of Catawba Identity SUPPORT OUR WORK 🎁 Make a Donation to Ben Franklin’s World REQUEST A TOPIC 📨 Topic Request Form 📫 liz@benfranklinsworld.com WHEN YOU'RE READY 🗞️ BFW Gazette Newsletter 👩‍💻 Join the BFW Listener Community 🌍 Join the History Explorers Club TAKE THE QUIZ 🧭 Discover How You Explore History (under 2 minutes) 👉 https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/quiz LISTEN 🎧 🍎 Apple Podcasts 💚 Spotify 🎶 Amazon Music 🛜 Pandora CONNECT 🦋 Liz on Bluesky 👩‍💻 Liz on LinkedIn 🛜 Liz’s Website SAY THANKS 💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 💚 Leave a rating on Spotify *Book links are affiliate links. Every purchase supports the podcast.

  3. 21 de jul.

    447 The Other Committee Members: Robert R. Livingston, Roger Sherman, and the Declaration of Independence

    Five men served on the Continental Congress’s Declaration Committee. We know three of them well: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin. But who were the other two? In this episode, we explore the lives and contributions of Robert R. Livingston of New York and Roger Sherman of Connecticut. Historians Geoff Benton and Michael Morand join us as we uncover the stories of the other Committee members. Clermont State Historic Site: Website Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/447 EPISODE OUTLINE 00:00:00 Introduction 00:04:46 The Lee Resolution and the Committee of Five 00:05:26 Robert R. Livingston's Early Life 00:06:56 Colonial New York Politics 00:11:02 Livingston's Appointment to the Second Continental Congress 00:15:20 Why Livingston Chosen for Declaration Committee 00:18:44 Livingston's feud with John Adams 00:19:18 Livingston Misses the Vote for Independence 00:20:50 Livingston Becomes Chancellor of New York State 00:24:06 Livingston's Role in Steam Navigation 00:26:15 Clermont State Historic Site 00:32:35 Roger Sherman's Early Life 00:36:47 Sherman's Family and Life in New Haven 00:37:43 Sherman's Involvement in the Imperial Crisis 00:40:38 Sherman's Role in the Second Continental Congress 00:42:28 Why Sherman Chosen For Declaration Committee 00:43:42 Sherman's Role in Drafting the Declaration 00:46:16 The Connecticut Compromise, 1787 00:50:28 What Made Sherman Effective in Legislatures 00:53:47 1776 in Context 00:58:10 Conclusion RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES 🎧 Episode 141: A Declaration in Draft 🎧 Episode 193: Partisans: The Friendship and Rivalry of Adams & Jefferson 🎧 Episode 245: Celebrating the Fourth of July 🎧 Episode 277: Whose Fourth of July? 🎧 Episode 415: The Many Declarations of Independence 🎧 Episode 439: When the Declaration of Independence Was News SUPPORT OUR WORK 🎁 Make a Donation to Ben Franklin’s World REQUEST A TOPIC 📨 Topic Request Form 📫 liz@benfranklinsworld.com WHEN YOU'RE READY 🗞️ BFW Gazette Newsletter 👩‍💻 Join the BFW Listener Community 🌍 Join the History Explorers Club TAKE THE QUIZ 🧭 Discover How You Explore History (under 2 minutes) 👉 https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/quiz LISTEN 🎧 🍎 Apple Podcasts 💚 Spotify 🎶 Amazon Music 🛜 Pandora CONNECT 🦋 Liz on Bluesky 👩‍💻 Liz on LinkedIn 🛜 Liz’s Website SAY THANKS 💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 💚 Leave a rating on Spotify *Book links are affiliate links. Every purchase supports the podcast.

  4. 14 de jul. ·  Bônus

    BFW Revisited: A Declaration in Draft, 2026

    Every American knows Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, but was he really its sole architect? In this revisited episode, we sit down with three scholars to pull back the curtain on how the Declaration came to be written. Danielle Allen of Harvard University, Patrick Spero of the American Philosophical Society, and Peter Onuf of the University of Virginia reveal that the Declaration was never one man's work. Together, they show how John Adams — not Jefferson — was the intellectual architect behind "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." How Benjamin Franklin changed the Declaration with just four or five surgical edits. And what the Second Continental Congress cut from Jefferson's original draft, including his striking grievance blaming King George III for the international slave trade. Originally recorded in 2017 as part of Ben Franklin's World's Doing History to the Revolution series, this episode pairs with Episode 446 and Episode 447 to mark the Declaration's 250th anniversary. Danielle’s Website | Book Patrick's Website | BookPeter's Website | BookShow Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/141 RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES🎧 Episode 018: Our Declaration🎧 Episode 440: Jefferson's Cut Grievance🎧 Episode 443: How Independence Happend, Pt 1: The Lee Resolution, 1776🎧 Episode 444: How Independence Happened, Pt 2: The Model Treaty🎧 Episode 445: How Independence Happened, Pt 3: Articles of Confederation🎧 Episode 446: The Declaration of Independence at 250SUPPORT OUR WORK🎁 Make a Donation to Ben Franklin’s WorldREQUEST A TOPIC📨 Topic Request Form📫 liz@benfranklinsworld.comWHEN YOU'RE READY🗞️ BFW Gazette Newsletter 👩‍💻 Join the BFW Listener Community🌍 Join the History Explorers ClubTAKE THE QUIZ🧭 Discover How You Explore History (under 2 minutes)👉 https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/quizLISTEN 🎧🍎 Apple Podcasts 💚 Spotify 🎶 Amazon Music🛜 PandoraCONNECT🦋 Liz on Bluesky👩‍💻 Liz on LinkedIn🛜 Liz’s WebsiteSAY THANKS💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts💚 Leave a rating on Spotify*Book links are affiliate links. Every purchase supports the podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    BFW Revisited: A Declaration in Draft, 2026

  5. 7 de jul.

    446 The Declaration of Independence at 250

    250 years after its signing, the Declaration of Independence remains an unfinished document. Its famous assertion "that all men are created equal" and endowed with unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness stands not as a settled truth, but as a call every generation of Americans must answer on its own terms. What did the founders mean by "all men are created equal?" Who did they believe was eligible to pursue life, liberty, and happiness? And how are the generations living in the United States today thinking through their own answers? Four historians join us to explore these questions. Robert Parkinson and Steve Sarson draw on their new books to help us understand what it meant in 1776. Anthea Hartig and Virginia Scharff show us how two 250th anniversary museum exhibitions use objects to make the Declaration's living legacy tangible, and to remind us that its promises have always been claimed not just in words, but in action.Rob's Book | Steve's Book | Smithsonian Exhibit | Autry ExhibitShow Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/403 EPISODE OUTLINE00:00:00  Introduction00:00:44 Celebrating the Declaration of Independence00:03:50 The Declaration As An Ongoing Experiment00:04:14 Anthea Hartig on the National Museum of American History00:05:30 Virginia Scharff on the Autry Museum of the American West00:07:58 Robert Parkinson on Understanding the Declaration00:19:17 Steve Sarson on the Declaration's Philosophical Argument00:21:10 The Original Meaning of the Declaration00:34:47 Conclusion00:41:16 The Massachusetts Historical Society's Declaration ExhibitRECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES🎧 Episode 018: Our Declaration🎧 Episode 141: A Declaration in Draft🎧 Episode 394: The Pursuit of Happiness🎧 Episode 415: The Many Declarations of Independence🎧 Episode 439: When the Declaration of Independence Was News in 1776🎧 Episode 440: Jefferson's Cut GrievanceSUPPORT OUR WORK🎁 Make a Donation to Ben Franklin’s WorldREQUEST A TOPIC📨 Topic Request Form📫 liz@benfranklinsworld.comWHEN YOU'RE READY🗞️ BFW Gazette Newsletter 👩‍💻 Join the BFW Listener Community🌍 Join the History Explorers ClubTAKE THE QUIZ🧭 Discover How You Explore History (under 2 minutes)👉 https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/quizLISTEN 🎧🍎 Apple Podcasts 💚 Spotify 🎶 Amazon Music🛜 PandoraCONNECT🦋 Liz on Bluesky👩‍💻 Liz on LinkedIn🛜 Liz’s WebsiteSAY THANKS💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts💚 Leave a rating on Spotify*Book links are affiliate links. Every purchase supports the podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    446 The Declaration of Independence at 250

  6. 30 de jun.

    445 How Independence Happened, Pt 3: The Articles of Confederation

    The man Congress chose to draft the United States’ first constitution refused to vote for independence. John Dickinson wrote a bold plan, one with a strong central government, religious liberty protections that included women, and a question in the margins about whether Congress should abolish slavery. Congress stripped out nearly all of these ideas and provisions. What replaced it sparked a debate over federal vs. state power that has never gone away. This is the third episode in our How Independence Happened series. In Part 1, we explored Richard Henry Lee's Virginia Resolution of June 7, 1776. In Part 2, we examined the Model Treaty and how the new United States made foreign alliances. In this third part, we're joined by historians Jane Calvert and Jonathan Gienapp so we can investigate the Articles of Confederation, the third element of independence. Jane's Website | BookJonathan's Website | BookShow Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/445 EPISODE OUTLINE00:00:00  Introduction00:03:34 The Articles of Confederation00:08:29 Why A Confederation Was Important00:12:49 Why the Second Continental Congress Create A Formal Union00:21:44 Drafting the Articles of Confederation00:22:38 John Dickinson's Role in Drafting the Articles00:45:50 The Founding Generation's Ideas About Government01:05:40 Viewing the Articles of Confederation in Context01:13:07 The Unwritten Constitution of the PeopleRECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES🎧 Episode 179: Governance During the Critical Period🎧 Episode 258: John Dickinson, Life, Religion, & Politics🎧 Episode 323: American Expansion and the Political Economy of Plunder🎧 Episode 366: James Wilson & the U.S. Constitution🎧 Episode 443: How Independence Happened, Pt 1: The Lee Resolution🎧 Episode 444: How Independence Happened, Pt 2: The Model TreatySUPPORT OUR WORK🎁 Make a Donation to Ben Franklin’s WorldREQUEST A TOPIC📨 Topic Request Form📫 liz@benfranklinsworld.comWHEN YOU'RE READY🗞️ BFW Gazette Newsletter 👩‍💻 Join the BFW Listener Community🌍 Join the History Explorers ClubTAKE THE QUIZ🧭 Discover How You Explore History (under 2 minutes)👉 https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/quizLISTEN 🎧🍎 Apple Podcasts 💚 Spotify 🎶 Amazon Music🛜 PandoraCONNECT🦋 Liz on Bluesky👩‍💻 Liz on LinkedIn🛜 Liz’s WebsiteSAY THANKS💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts💚 Leave a rating on Spotify*Book links are affiliate links. Every purchase supports the podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    445 How Independence Happened, Pt 3: The Articles of Confederation

  7. 23 de jun.

    444 How Independence Happened, Part 2: The Model Treaty

    Declaring independence on July 2, 1776 was only the beginning. To actually become a nation, the United States needed something else: foreign allies, international recognition, and the credibility to negotiate as an equal among the world's great powers. Five days after Richard Henry Lee introduced his famous Virginia Resolution, the Continental Congress appointed a committee of five — John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Dickinson, Robert Morris, and Benjamin Harrison — to figure out how to achieve international recognition. The result was the Model Treaty: a document we almost never discuss today, but one that Adams considered his most important contribution to Congress and the nation. Historians Sara Georgini and Eliga Gould guide us through Adams's revolutionary blueprint for American foreign policy and how the founders understood that the United States would need to become a "treaty worthy" nation before France would take them seriously. This is the second episode in a three-part series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    444 How Independence Happened, Part 2: The Model Treaty

  8. 16 de jun.

    443 How Independence Happened, Part 1: The Lee Resolution

    Declaring independence on July 2, 1776, was only the beginning. To actually become a nation, the United States needed something else: foreign allies, international recognition, and the credibility to negotiate as an equal among the world's great powers. Five days after Richard Henry Lee introduced his famous Virginia Resolution, the Continental Congress appointed a committee of five — John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Dickinson, Robert Morris, and Benjamin Harrison — to figure out how to achieve international recognition. The result was the Model Treaty: a document we almost never discuss today, but one that Adams considered his most important contribution to Congress and the nation. Historians Sara Georgini and Eliga Gould guide us through Adams's revolutionary blueprint for American foreign policy and the founders' understanding that the United States would need to become a "treaty-worthy" nation before France would take it seriously. This is the second episode in a three-part series. Sara’s Website | Book  Lige's Website | BookShow Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/444 EPISODE OUTLINE00:00:00  Introduction00:00:21  Three Legs of Independence00:01:17   The Second Continental Congress Votes Independence00:02:58  The Second Leg of Independence: Foreign Alliances00:03:28  The Model Treaty00:07:12  Why the Virginia Resolution Included Foreign Alliances00:19:00  Specifics of the Model Treaty00:21:30  Founders' Goals for the Model Treaty00:28:21  The Model Treaty Drafting Committee00:41:20  The Model Treaty as a Document00:39:15 The Story of Common Sense00:50:07  Commercial Alliances01:04:42  The Model Treaty's Place in the American RevolutionRECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES🎧 Episode 007: John Adams & the Adams Papers Documentary Project🎧 Episode 128: American Revolutions: A Continental History🎧 Episode 193: Partisans: The Friendship & Rivalry of Jefferson & Adams🎧 Episode 432: How France & Spain Helped Save the American Revolution🎧 Episode 433: Entangled Alliances: Haiti, France, & the American Revolution🎧 Episode 443: How Independence Actually Happened, Pt 1: The Lee ResolutionSUPPORT OUR WORK🎁 Make a Donation to Ben Franklin’s WorldREQUEST A TOPIC📨 Topic Request Form📫 liz@benfranklinsworld.comWHEN YOU'RE READY🗞️ BFW Gazette Newsletter 👩‍💻 Join the BFW Listener Community🌍 Join the History Explorers ClubTAKE THE QUIZ🧭 Discover How You Explore History (under 2 minutes)👉 https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/quizLISTEN 🎧🍎 Apple Podcasts 💚 Spotify 🎶 Amazon Music🛜 PandoraCONNECT🦋 Liz on Bluesky👩‍💻 Liz on LinkedIn🛜 Liz’s WebsiteSAY THANKS💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts💚 Leave a rating on Spotify*Book links are affiliate links. Every purchase supports the podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    443 How Independence Happened, Part 1: The Lee Resolution
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Sobre

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.

Informações

  • Criado por
    Liz Covart
  • Anos de atividade
    2014 - 2026
  • Episódios
    511
  • Classificação
    Livre
  • Copyright
    © Liz Covart 2026
  • Site do podcast
    Ben Franklin's World

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