Ben Franklin's World

Today, we explore early American history through a slightly different lens, a lens that allows us to see interactions that occurred between Native American peoples and English men and women who lived in London. Our guide for this exploration is Coll Thrush, author of Indigenous London: Native Travelers at the Heart of the Empire.

When we think of Native Americans, many of us think of inland dwellers. People adept at navigating forests and rivers and the skilled hunters and horsemen who lived and hunted on the American Plains. But did you know that Native Americans were seafaring mariners too? Andrew Lipman, author of The Saltwater Frontier: Indians and the Contest for the American Coast, leads us on an exploration of the northeastern coastline during the seventeenth century. 

When we think about early American slavery, our minds evoke images of plantations where enslaved men and women were forced to labor in agricultural fields and inside the homes of wealthy Americans. These images depict the practice of chattel slavery. But, did you know that some early Americans practiced a different type of slavery? We investigate the practice of Native American or indigenous slavery with Brett Rushforth, author of Bonds of Alliance: Indifenous Slavery

We live in an age of information. The internet provides us with 24/7 access to all types of information—news, how-to articles, sports scores, entertainment news, and congressional votes. But what do we do with all of this knowledge? How do we sift through and interpret it all? Alejandra Dubcovsky, author of Informed Power: Communication in the Early South, takes us through the early American south and how Native Americans, Europeans, and enslaved Africans acquired, used, and traded information.

In 1705 a group of colonists in Simsbury, Connecticut founded a copper mine, which the Connecticut General Assembly purchased and turned into a prison in 1773. How did an old copper mine function as a prison? Morgan Bengel, a Museum Assistant at the Old New-Gate Prison and Copper Mine, a Connecticut State Historic Site, helps us investigate both the history of early American mining and the history of early American prisons.

As part of its mission, the National Park Service seeks to protect and preserve places saved by the American people so that all may experience the heritage of the United States. These places include those with historical significance. Supervisory Park Ranger Garrett Cloer joins us to explore the Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site so we can discover more about the Siege of Boston (1775-76), the birth of the Continental Army, and the life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

In 1959, the Omohundro Institute and UNC Press published Lester J. Cappon’s The Adams-Jefferson Letters: The Complete Correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and John and Abigail Adams. It was the first time that all 380 letters between Jefferson and the Adamses appeared in a single volume. Karin Wulf, Director of the Omohundro Institute, takes us behind-the-scenes of The Adams-Jefferson Letters and its publication.

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Two drafters and signers of the Declaration of Independence, two diplomats who served the United States abroad, and two men who served as vice president and president of the United States. Both men left indelible marks on American society. Barbara Oberg and Sara Georgini join us from the Papers of Thomas Jefferson and the Papers of John Adams Documentary Editing Projects so we can explore the lives and relationships of John and Abigail Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

The Jersey Devil is a monster legend that originated in New Jersey’s early American past. How and why did this legend emerge? And, what can it tell us about New Jersey’s past? Brian Regal, an Associate Professor of History at Kean University and the co-author of The Secret History of the Jersey Devil: How Quakers, Hucksters, and Benjamin Franklin Created A Monster, takes us into New Jersey’s past by taking us through the origins of the New Jersey Devil story.

King Philip’s War is an event that appears over and over again in books about colonial America. So when you have an event that has been as studied as King Philip’s War has been, is there anything new that we can learn about it by re-examining it in our own time? Lisa Brooks believes the answer to this question is “yes.” And she’s going to help us re-examine and re-think what we know about King Philip’s War with details from her book Our Beloved Kin: A New History of King Philip’s War.

As many as 70 percent of Americans consider themselves to be members of the middle class. If you consider income, only about 50 percent of Americans qualify for membership. So what does it meant to be middle class and why do so many Americans want to be members of it? Jennifer Goloboy, author of Charleston and the Emergence of Middle-Class Culture in the Revolutionary Era, helps us explore the origins of the American middle class.

We’re living in a period of climate change. Our Earth has been getting warmer since the mid-19th century. So how will humans adapt to and endure this period of global warming? Will they adapt to it and endure? Sam White, an Associate Professor at The Ohio State University and author of A Cold Welcome: The Little Ice Age and Europe’s Encounter, joins us to explore the Little Ice Age and how it impacted initial European exploration and colonization of North America.

The Alien and Sedition Acts consisted of four laws enacted by the United States government in 1798. The U.S. passed these laws during a time of great uncertainty. Why did Americans fear for the United States’ existence and why did they think four laws that limited citizenship and freedom of speech would protect their young republic? Terri Halperin, author of The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798: Testing the Constitution, helps us find answers to these questions.

American culture is obsessed with sports. More than 67,000 fans attend each National Football League game and more than 30,000 fans attend each Major League Baseball game. Millions of fans watch these sports on television. When did America become filled with sports nuts? When did the business of professional sports become a thing in the United States? Early American history has answers as does Kenneth Cohen, author of They Will Their Game: Sporting Culture and the Making of the American Republic.

As a result of Great Britain’s victory in the Seven Years’ War, British North America expanded so that it stretched from the Atlantic seaboard to the Mississippi River and from Hudson Bay south to Florida. How exactly would Great Britain govern this new, expanded North American empire? Max Edelson, author of The New Map of Empire: How Britain Imagined America Before Independence, helps us explore this question investigating the Board of Trade and its General Survey of North America.