
387 episodes

Ben Franklin's World Airwave Media
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- History
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4.4 • 1.4K Ratings
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This is a show about early American history. Awarded Best History Podcast by the Academy of Podcasters in 2017, it’s for people who love history and for those 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 Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture.
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366 Michael Taylor, James Wilson & the U.S. Constitution
On September 17, 1787, the members of the Constitutional Convention concluded their work by signing the final draft of their new proposed government. The document they signed was the United States Constitution, which is why the United States marks Constitution Day each year on September 17.
In honor of Constitution Day, we explore the life of a Founder who played a large role in the creation and shaping of the United States Constitution: James Wilson.
Michael H. Taylor, Professor of United States History and Political Science at Northeast Community College and author of James Wilson: The Anxious Founder, joins us to investigate the life of James Wilson, who stands as one of the United States’ overlooked founders.
Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/366
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Complementary Episodes
Episode 055: Robb Haberman, John Jay: Forgotten Founder Episode 094: Cassandra Good, Founding Friendships Episode 107: Mary Sarah Bilder, Madison’s Hand Episode 143: Michael Klarman, The Making of the United States Constitution Episode 153: Committees and Congresses: Governments of the American Revolution Episode 212: Researching Biography Episode 258: Jane Calvert, “John Dickinson Life, Religion, & Politics”
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365 Road Trip 2023: Early Settlement at Île Ste. Jean
2020 commemorated the 300th anniversary of French presence on Prince Edward Island. Like much of North America, the Canadian Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island, and Prince Edward Island were highly contested regions. In fact, the way France and Great Britain fought for presence and control of this region places the Canadian Maritimes among the most contested regions in eighteenth-century North America.
Anne Marie Lane Jonah, a historian with the Parks Canada Agency, joins us to explore the history of Prince Edward Island and why Great Britain and France fought over the Canadian Maritime region.
This episode originally posted as Episode 283.
Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/365
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Complementary Episodes
Episode 064: Brett Rushforth, Native American Slavery in New France Episode 104: Andrew Lipman, Europeans & Native Americans on the Northeastern Coast Episode 108: Ann Little, The Many Captivities of Esther Wheelwright Episode 167: Eberhard Faber, The Early History of New Orleans Episode 189: Sam White, The Little Ice Age Episode 232: Christopher Hodson, The Acadian Diaspora
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364 Road Trip 2023: La Pointe-Krebs House & Museum
The Mississippi Gulf Coast was the home of many different peoples, cultures, and empires during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. According to some historians, the Gulf Coast region may have been the most diverse region in early North America.
Matthew Powell, a historian of slavery and southern history and the Executive Director of the La Pointe-Krebs House & Museum in Pascagoula, Mississippi, joins us to investigate and explore the Mississippi Gulf Coast and a prominent family who has lived there since about 1718.
This episode originally posted as Episode 303.
Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/364
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Complementary Episodes
Episode 037: Kathleen DuVal, Independence Lost Episode 167: Eberhard Faber, The Early History of New Orleans Episode 283: Anne Marie Lane Jonah, Acadie 300 Episode 295: Ibrahima Seck, Whitney Plantation Museum Episode 298: Lindsey Shackenback Regele, Manufacturing Advantage
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363 Road Trip 2023: Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park
About 620 miles north of New Orleans and 62 miles south of St. Louis, sits the town of Ste. Geneviéve, Missouri.
Established in 1750 by the French, Ste. Geneviéve reveals much about what it was like to establish a colony in the heartland of North America and what it was like for colonists to live so far removed from seats of imperial power.
Claire Casey, a National Park Service interpretative ranger at the Ste. Geneviéve National Historical Park, joins us to explore the early American history of Ste. Geneviéve.
This episode is originally posted as Episode 318.
Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/363
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Complementary Episodes
Episode 102: William Nester, George Rogers Clark and the Fight for the Illinois Country Episode 108: Ann Little, The Many Captivities of Esther Wheelwright Episode 120: Marcia Zug, Mail Order Brides in Early America Episode 139: Andrés Reséndez, The Other Slavery Episode 308: Jessica Marie Johnson, Slavery and Freedom in French Louisiana
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362: David W. Penney, Treaties Between the United States & American Indian Nations
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian has an exhibit called Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States & American Indian Nations. This exhibit allows you to see treaties the United States has made with American Indian nations and learn more about those treaties and their outcomes.
David W. Penney is the Associate Director of Museum Scholarship, Exhibitions, and Public Engagement at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. He’s also an internationally recognized scholar and curator who has a lot of expertise in Native American art history, and he was involved in creating the Nation to Nation exhibit. He joins us to guide us through this exhibit and some of the treaties the United States has made with Indigenous nations.
Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/362
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Complementary Episodes
Episode 163: The American Revolution in North America Episode 223: Susan Sleeper-Smith, A Native American History of the Ohio River Valley & Great Lakes Region Episode 264: Michael Oberg, The Treaty of Canandaigua, 1794 Episode 286: Elections in Early America: Native Sovereignty Episode 323: Michael Witgen, American Expansion and the Political Economy of Plunder Listen!
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361 The Fourth of July in 2026
July 4, 2023 marks the 247th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the United States. In three short years, we will be marking the 250th anniversary of these events.
How are historians thinking about the American Revolution for 2026? What are they discussing when it comes to the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding?
Lindsay M. Chervinsky, Ronald Angelo Johnson, and Kariann Akemi Yokota join us to answer these questions. All three guests are historians of the American Revolutionary Era who research the American Revolution from different perspectives.
Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/361
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Complementary Episodes
Episode 052: Ronald A. Johnson, Early United States-Haitian Diplomacy Episode 245: Celebrating the Fourth Episode 277: Whose Fourth of July? Episode 279: Lindsay M Chervinsky, The Cabinet: Creation of an American Institution Episode 306: The Horse’s Tail: Revolution & Memory in Early New York City Episode 332: Experiences of Revolution: Occupied Philadelphia Episode 333: Experiences of Revolution: Disruptions in Yorktown
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Customer Reviews
Well done
Enlightening, Interesting and important… I’m not sure if there is another resource on early American history that is this well researched and accessible.
Blah blah
Listened first few episodes. All she does is talk about irrelevant opinions not stories of history. Hard to imagine I don’t like a history podcast.
Woke? Really??
Agh…yes the woke mind virus has sadly spread here too.