Ben Franklin's World

We 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 Sovereign of the Market: The Money Question in Early America. Jeff is an expert in the intellectual and social history of capitalism in early America and he’s agreed to lead us on an investigation of the world of money in early America. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/254 Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop Complementary Episodes Episode 099: Mark Hana, Pirates & Pirate Nests  Episode 109: John Dixon, The American Enlightenment & Cadwallader Colden  Episode 127: Caroline Winterer, American Enlightenments Episode 139: Andrés Reséndez, The Other Slavery Episode 213: Rebecca Fraser, The Pilgrims of Plimoth Episode 235: Jenny Hale Pulsipher, A 17th-Century Native American Life   Listen! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Ben Franklin's World iOS App Ben Franklin's World Android App Helpful Links Join the Ben Franklin's World Facebook Group Ben Franklin’s World Twitter: @BFWorldPodcast Ben Franklin's World Facebook Page Sign-up for the Franklin Gazette Newsletter *Books purchased through the links on this post will help support the production of Ben Franklin's World. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What 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 The Ben Franklin's World Shop Complementary Episodes Episode 110: Joshua Taylor, How Genealogists Research Episode 114: Karin Wulf, The History of Genealogy Episode 145: Rosemarie Zagarri, Mercy Otis Warren Episode 150: Woody Holton, Abigail Adams Episode 228: Eric Hinderaker, The Boston Massacre Episode 231: Sara Georgini, The Religious Lives of the Adams Family Listen! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Ben Franklin's World iOS App Ben Franklin's World Android App Helpful Links Join the Ben Franklin's World Facebook Group Ben Franklin’s World Twitter: @BFWorldPodcast Ben Franklin's World Facebook Page Sign-up for the Franklin Gazette Newsletter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Much 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 Scottish Highlands and how the 12,000 soldiers the Highlands sent to North America shaped the course of the British Empire during Seven Years’ War and the American Revolution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What 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 Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop Get 40 percent off Frontiers of Science (Use Promo Code 01BFW) Complementary Episodes Episode 037: Kathleen DuVal, Independence Lost Episode 109: John Dixon, The American Enlightenment & Cadwallader Colden Episode 140: Tamara Thornton, Nathaniel Bowditch Episode 174: Thomas Apel, Yellow Fever in the Early American Republic Episode 186: Max Edelson, The New Map of the British Empire Episode 204: James Lewis Jr., The Burr Conspiracy   Listen! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Ben Franklin's World iOS App Ben Franklin's World Android App Helpful Links Join the Ben Franklin's World Facebook Group Ben Franklin’s World Twitter: @BFWorldPodcast Ben Franklin's World Facebook Page Sign-up for the Franklin Gazette Newsletter *Books purchased through the links on this post will help support the production of Ben Franklin's World. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2019 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. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/250 Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop The Roller-Bottimore Foundation Bibliography: 1619 and Virginia Virginia 1619: Slavery and Freedom in the Making of English America (Save 40 percent with promo code 01BFW) Complementary Episodes Episode 079: Jim Horn, What is a Historical Source?  Episode 206: Katherine Gerbner, Christian Slavery Episode 212: Erica Dunbar, Researching Biography Episode 220: Margaret Ellen Newell, New England Indians, Colonists, and Origins of Slavery Episode 224: Kevin Dawson, Aquatic Culture in Early America Episode 226: Ryan Quintana, Making the State of South Carolina Listen! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Ben Franklin's World iOS App Ben Franklin's World Android App Helpful Links Join the Ben Franklin's World Facebook Group Ben Franklin’s World Twitter: @BFWorldPodcast Ben Franklin's World Facebook Page Sign-up for the Franklin Gazette Newsletter *Books purchased through the links on this post will help support the production of Ben Franklin's World. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Between 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 Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/249      Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop   Complementary Episodes Episode 094: Cassandra Good, Founding Friendships Episode 150: Woody Holton, Abigail Adams: Revolutionary Speculator Episode 167: Eberhard Faber, The Early History of New Orleans Episode 183: Douglas Bradburn, George Washington’s Mount Vernon   Listen! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Ben Franklin's World iOS App Ben Franklin's World Android App   Helpful Links Join the Ben Franklin's World Facebook Group Ben Franklin’s WorldTwitter: @BFWorldPodcast Ben Franklin's World Facebook Page Sign-up for the Franklin Gazette Newsletter   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Not 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. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/248     Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop   Complementary Episodes Episode 137: Erica Dunbar, The Washingtons’ Runaway Slave, Ona Judge Episode 157: The Revolution’s African American Soldiers Episode 166: Freedom and the American Revolution Episode 176: Daina Ramey Berry, The Value of the Enslaved from Womb to Grave Episode 212: Researching Biography   Listen! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Ben Franklin's World iOS App Ben Franklin's World Android App   Helpful Links Join the Ben Franklin's World Facebook Group Ben Franklin’s WorldTwitter: @BFWorldPodcast Ben Franklin's World Facebook Page Sign-up for the Franklin Gazette Newsletter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. This episode originally posted as Episode 028.   Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/247    Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop   Complementary Episodes Episode 035: Michael Lord, Historic Hudson Valley & Washington Irving Episode 051: Catherine Cangany, Frontier Seaport: A History of Early Detroit Episode 071: Bruce Venter, Saratoga and Hubbardton, 1777 Episode 113: Brian Murphy, Building the Empire State Episode 239: Joseph Adelman, Post & Travel in Early America   Listen! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Ben Franklin's World iOS App Ben Franklin's World Android App   Helpful Links Join the Ben Franklin's World Facebook Group Ben Franklin’s WorldTwitter: @BFWorldPodcast Ben Franklin's World Facebook Page Sign-up for the Franklin Gazette Newsletter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did 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 the American Revolution Episode 038: Carolyn Harris, Magna Carta & Its Gifts to North America Episode 039: Eric Nelson, The Royalist Revolution: Monarchy and the American Founding Episode 040: Kathleen Bartoloni-Tuazon, For Fear of an Elective King: George Washington and the Presidential Title Controversy of 1789   Listen! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Ben Franklin's World iOS App Ben Franklin's World Android App   Helpful Links Join the Ben Franklin's World Facebook Group Ben Franklin’s WorldTwitter: @BFWorldPodcast Ben Franklin's World Facebook Page Sign-up for the Franklin Gazette Newsletter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It 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, barbecues, parades, and sporting events compare to the first and earliest celebrations of independence? How and why do we celebrate the United States and its independence as we do? Three historical experts take us through the early American origins of Fourth of July celebration. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/245 Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop Doing History series Emily Sneff, "The Sounds of Independence" blog post Complementary Episodes Episode 018: Danielle Allen, Our Declaration Episode 141: A Declaration in Draft Episode 119: Steve Pincus, The Heart of the Declaration Episode 166: Freedom and the American Revolution Episode 175: Daniel Epstein, The Revolution in Ben Franklin’s House Episode 193: Partisans: The Friendship and Rivalry of Adams & Jefferson Episode 230: Mitch Kachun, First Martyr of Liberty Episode 243: Joseph Adelman, Revolutionary Print Networks Listen! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Ben Franklin's World iOS App Ben Franklin's World Android App Helpful Links Join the Ben Franklin's World Facebook Group Ben Franklin’s World Twitter: @BFWorldPodcast Ben Franklin's World Facebook Page Sign-up for the Franklin Gazette Newsletter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices