Ben Franklin's World

What do historians do with all of the information they collect when they research? How do they access their research in a way that allows them to find the information they need to write the books and articles we enjoy reading? Billy Smith, a Professor of History at Montana State University, joins us as part of our “Doing History: How Historians Work” series to lead us on an exploration of how historians organize and access their research.

Ever wonder how the United States’ problem with race developed and why early American reformers didn’t find a way to fix it during the earliest days of the republic? Today, Nicholas Guyatt, author of Bind Us Apart: How Enlightened Americans Invented Racial Segregation, leads us on an exploration of how and why the idea of separate but equal developed in the early United States.

Why did the Puritans who sailed from England in 1630, choose to settle in Massachusetts Bay on the Shawmut Peninsula? What were their early days like? Today, we explore answers to those questions by exploring the history of the two Bostons—Boston, England & Boston, New England— during the 17th century with Rose Doherty, President of the Partnership of Historic Bostons.

In the early American republic, men and women formed and maintained friendships for many of the same reasons we make friends today: companionship, shared interests, and, in some cases, because they helped expand thinking and social circles. Today, we explore friendship in the early American republic with Cassandra Good, author of Founding Friendships: Friendships Between Men & Women in the Early American Republic.

What can the collections of the Harvard University Libraries teach us about our early American past? It turns out, quite a lot. Taylor Stoermer, a Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, takes us through the Harvard Libraries’ new digital and free-to-use history archive: the Colonial North American Project.

How do historians conduct research online? This is your second-most asked question after how did everyday people live their day-to-day lives in early America. As the “Doing History” series explores how historians work, it offers the perfect opportunity to answer your question. Sharon Block, a Professor of History at the University of California-Irvine, has made use of computers and digital resources to do history for years, which is why she serves as our guide for how to research history online.

Did you know that George Washington’s favorite drink was whiskey? Actually, it wasn’t. Washington preferred Madeira, a fortified Portuguese wine from the island of Madeira. Why the false start to today’s exploration of history? Gregory Dowd, a Professor of History and American Culture at the University of Michigan, leads us on an exploration of rumors, legends, and hoaxes that circulated throughout early America.

The American Revolution inspired revolutions in France, the Caribbean, and in Latin and South America between the late 18th and mid-19th centuries. How did Americans in the United States respond to calls for assistance from revolutionaries in Latin and South America? What did they make of these other “American Revolutions?” Caitlin Fitz, author of Our Sister Republics: The United States in an Age of American Revolutions, helps us investigate answers to these questions.

How do you uncover the life of a slave who left no paper trail? What can her everyday life tell us about slavery, how it was practiced, and how some slaves made the transition from slavery to freedom? Today, 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, author of Finding Charity’s Folk: Enslaved and Free Black Women in Maryland.

Historians rely on secondary historical sources almost as much as they rely on primary historical sources. But what are secondary historical sources and how do they help historians know what they know about the past? Michael McDonnell, an Associate Professor of History at the University of Sydney, guides us through how he used secondary historical sources to investigate the pivotal role Native Americans played in the history of the Great Lakes region and early North America.

After achieving independence from Great Britain, the new United States and its member states had to pay war debts. Many states tried to solve the post-war debt problem by paying state debts before national debts. Massachusetts tried to pay both. Its strategy created hardship for many Bay Staters and ultimately sparked a rebellion. Sean Condon, author of Shays's Rebellion: Authority and Distress in Post-Revolutionary America, joins us to investigate Shays’ Rebellion.

Over the course of his long life, Benjamin Franklin traveled to and lived in London twice. The first time he went as a teenager. The second as a man and colonial agent. All told he spent nearly 18 years living in the heart of the British Empire. How did Franklin’s experiences in London shape his opportunities and view of the world? George Goodwin, author of Benjamin Franklin in London: The British Life of America’s Founding Father, leads us on an exploration of Franklin’s life in London.

The War for Independence was a conflict between Great Britain and her 13 North American colonies. It was also a civil war. Not only did the war pit Briton against Briton when the conflict began in 1775, but it also pitted American against American. But what happened to the Americans who lost? Today, Bonnie Huskins, coordinator of Loyalist Studies at the University of New Brunswick, joins us to explore the experiences of the American Loyalists.

What do historians do with historical sources once they find them? How do they read them for information about the past? Today, Zara Anishanslin, an Assistant Professor of History at CUNY’s College of Staten Island, leads us on an exploration of how historians read historical source by taking us through the documents and objects left behind by four, everyday people.

Colonial Bostonians practiced slavery. But slavery in Boston looked very different than slavery in the American south or in the Caribbean. Today, Jared Hardesty, an Assistant Professor of History at Western Washington University and author of Unfreedom: Slavery and Dependence in Eighteenth-Century Boston, takes us on a tour of slavery, and the lives enslaved people lived, in colonial Boston.