Ben Franklin's World

Ben Franklin's World

A Podcast About Early American History

Episode 224: Kevin Dawson, Aquatic Culture in Early America

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The 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 … [Read more...]

Episode 223: Susan Sleeper-Smith, A Native American History of the Ohio River Valley & Great Lakes Region

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During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Ohio River Valley proved to be a rich agrarian region. Many different Native American peoples prospered from its land both in terms of the the land’s ability to produce a wide variety of crops and its support of a wide variety of small fur-bearing animals for the fur trade. Susan Sleeper-Smith, a Professor of History at Michigan State University and author of Indigenous Prosperity and American Conquest: … [Read more...]

Episode 222: Adam Costanzo, The Early History of Washington, D.C.

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Have you ever wondered how the capital of the United States came to be situated at Washington, D.C.? The banks of the Potomac River represent an odd place to build a national city, a place that would not only serve as the seat of government for the nation, but also as an economic, cultural, and intellectual hub. Still in 1790, the United States Congress passed the Residence Act and mandated that it would establish a new, permanent capital … [Read more...]

Episode 221: Rae Katherine Eighmey, The Culinary Adventures of Benjamin Franklin

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Can food help us better understand the people and events of the past? Can we better understand a person like Benjamin Franklin and who he was by the foods he ate? Rae Katherine Eighmey, an award-winning food historian, author, and cook, joins us to explore the culinary tastes and habits of Benjamin Franklin and colonial British Americans with details from her book Stirring the Pot with Benjamin Franklin: A Founding Father’s Culinary … [Read more...]

Episode 220: Margaret Ellen Newell, New England Indians, Colonists, and Origins of Slavery

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Did you know that one of the earliest practices of slavery by English colonists originated in New England? In fact, Massachusetts issued the very first slave code in English America in 1641. Why did New Englanders turn to slavery and become the first in English America to codify its practice? Margaret Ellen Newell, a professor of history at The Ohio State University and the author of Brethren By Nature: New England Indians, Colonists, and … [Read more...]

Episode 219: Adrian Covert, Taverns in Early America

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Inns and taverns played prominent roles in early American life. They served the needs of travelers who needed food to eat and places to sleep. They offered local communities a form of poor relief. And they functioned as public spaces where men could gather to discuss news, organize movements, and to drink and play cards. Adrian Covert, author of Taverns of the American Revolution, helps us explore taverns and the many roles they played in … [Read more...]

Episode 218: Peter G. Rose, Delicious December: How the Dutch Brought Us Santa, Presents & Treats

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Have you ever wondered where the Christmas traditions of stockings, presents, and cookies come from? What about jolly, old Saint Nicholas? Who was he and why do we often call him Santa Claus? Peter G. Rose, culinary historian of Dutch foodways in North America and author of Delicious December: How the Dutch Brought Us Santa, Presents, and Treats joins us to discuss the origins of Santa Claus and edible goodies such as cookies in the United … [Read more...]

Episode 217: Jessica Millward, Slavery & Freedom in Early Maryland

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How 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 … [Read more...]

Episode 216: Lisa Wilson, A History of Stepfamilies in America

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What do George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Abraham Lincoln have in common? They all grew-up in blended or stepfamilies. Lisa Wilson, the Charles J. MacCurdy Professor of American History at Connecticut College and author of A History of Stepfamilies in Early America, takes us through the creation and interactions of blended and stepfamilies in early America. This episode originally posted as Episode 027.   Listen Now … [Read more...]

Episode 215: Rachel Hope Cleves, Charity & Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America

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We tend to view gay marriage as a cultural and legal development of the 21st century. But did you know that some early Americans lived openly as same-sex married couples? Rachel Hope Cleves, a Professor of History at the University of Victoria in British Columbia and author of Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America, reveals the story of Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake, women who lived as a married couple in Weybridge, … [Read more...]

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