Ben Franklin's World

When you think about George Washington, what image comes to mind?

Washington the general?

Washington the president?

Perhaps, Washington the gentleman farmer of Mount Vernon?

But did you know that George Washington loved to read?

In this episode, we chat with Douglas Bradburn, the Founding Director of the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington, which serves as the George Washington Presidential Library.

Show Notes: http://www.benfranklinsworld.com/033

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What 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.

Show Notes: http://www.benfranklinsworld.com/032

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Benjamin Franklin’s life spanned almost the entire 18th century. 

Between his birth on January 17, 1706 and his death on April 17, 1790, Franklin lived well-traveled and accomplished life.

Michael D. Hattem, research assistant for the Papers of Benjamin Franklin documentary editing project, leads us on an exploration of the life and deeds of Benjamin Franklin.

Show Notes: http://www.benfranklinsworld.com/031

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You may know the stereotype of the “busibody New Englander,” the person who knows all about their neighbors’ private affairs. 

This stereotype comes from the New England town-church ideal: The idea that ministers and congregants of the town church had a responsibility to maintain civic and moral order in their town.

Shelby M. Balik, Assistant Professor of History at Metropolitan State University of Denver and author of Rally the Scattered Believers: Northern New England’s Religious Geography, joins us to explore the New England town-church ideal, how it helped New Englanders organize their towns, and why the post-Revolution migration into northern New England forced New Englanders to change and adapt how they maintained civic and moral order in their towns.

Show Notes: http://www.benfranklinsworld.com/030

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Can you name the battle that took place between the United States Army and the Miami Confederacy on November 4, 1791?

It's a trick question. You can’t name the battle because the victory has no name.

Colin Calloway, Professor of History and Native American History at Dartmouth College, joins us to discuss how American settlement in the Ohio Valley led to The Victory with No Name: The Native American Defeat of the First American Army.

Show Notes: http://www.benfranklinsworld.com/029

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What can maps tell us about the past? 

How do maps affect the way we view events such as the American Revolution?

The Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library has a new, traveling exhibition called We Are One: Mapping America’s Road from Revolution to Independence, which seeks to help us change the way we look at and explore the tumultuous events that led thirteen colonies to break away from Great Britain and forge a new nation. 

Michelle LeBlanc, Director of Education and Public Programming at the Leventhal Map Center joins us to explore maps as historical documents and this amazing new exhibit.

Show Notes: http://www.benfranklinsworld.com/maps

Ask the Historian

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A “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 discuss the Erie Canal, its construction, and the impact that this waterway made on New York and the United States.

Show Notes: http://www.benfranklinsworld.com/028

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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, leads us on an exploration of blended and stepfamilies in early America.

Show Notes: http://www.benfranklinsworld.com/027

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What drove George Washington to become a Patriot during the American Revolution?

How did he overcome the ill-trained and inexperienced troops, inadequate pay, and supply problems that plagued the Continental Army to win the War for American Independence?

Robert Middlekauff, professor emeritus of colonial and early United States history at the University of California, Berkeley, reveals the answers to these questions as we explore details from his book Washington’s Revolution: The Making of America’s First Leader.

Show Notes: http://www.benfranklinsworld.com/026

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Do you know who George Whitefield was?

George Whitefield stood as one of the most visible figures in British North America between the 1740s and 1770. He was a central figure in the trans-Atlantic revivalist movement and a man whose legacy remains influential to evangelical Christians today.

Historian Jessica Parr, author of Inventing George Whitefield: Race, Revivalism, and the Making of a Religious Icon, introduces us to the Reverend George Whitefield.

Show Notes: http://www.benfranklinsworld.com/025

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