415 The Many Declarations of Independence
Ben Franklin's World
When you picture the Declaration of Independence, what comes to mind? Most people envision a single, iconic document–parchment, signatures, maybe even a scene from National Treasure. But what if I told you, the Declaration of Independence isn’t just one document, but many documents? And that each version of the Declaration tells a different story–a story not just about American independence, but about the people who printed, read, preserved, and even re-wrote the Declaration? is one of the leading experts on the Declaration of Independence. She has spent more than a decade...
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414 Queerness and Reputation in Revolutionary America
Ben Franklin's World
How do we uncover queer lives from the distant past, especially in an era when language and records often erased or obscured them? What did queerness look like in early America, and how might it have intersected with power, religion, and empire on the eve of the American Revolution? John McCurdy, a Professor of History and Philosophy at Eastern Michigan University and the author of Vicious and Immoral: Homosexuality, the American Revolution, and the Trials of Robert Newburgh, joins us to explore these questions through the remarkable story of British Army Chaplain Robert Newburgh. ...
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413 Dr. Joseph Warren & the Battle of Bunker Hill
Ben Franklin's World
June 17, 2025, marks the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, the first full-scale battle of what would become the American War for Independence. Although technically a British victory, Bunker Hill proved that colonial soldiers could hold their own against the might of the British Empire. New England militiamen inflicted 1,054 casualties on the British, 50 percent of the British force. The New Englanders sustained 411 casualties that day, including the man who stood at the heart of this battle: Dr. Joseph Warren. Who was Dr. Joseph Warren, and why did he risk his life in the first...
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BFW Revisited: On Juneteenth
Ben Franklin's World
Juneteenth, the holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States, is nearly upon us, and it offers us the perfect moment for reflection. What do we know about Juneteenth? Where did this holiday begin? And how has it grown from a regional commemoration into a national conversation about freedom, equality, and memory? In this episode, we return to our conversation with in Episode 304. A native Texan and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, Annette brings both personal insight and deep historical knowledge to her book which is a rich meditation on Texas history, African American...
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412 The Franklin Stove
Ben Franklin's World
It might surprise you, but in the 18th century, people across the globe were reckoning with colder-than-usual weather brought on by the Little Ice Age—a centuries-long chill that made heating homes more urgent than ever. At the same time, early Americans were cutting down trees at an unsustainable pace to stay warm. Enter Benjamin Franklin. In this episode, Harvard historian joins us to explore how Franklin tackled this problem by designing five different stove models, and what these innovations reveal about early American science, sustainability, and life with fire. Joyce’s | | Show...
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BFW Revisited: The Early History of the U.S. Congress
Ben Franklin's World
To commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Second Continental Congress, this episode revisits the origins of the United States Congress and how early Americans built a representative government from revolutionary ideals. Historians Matt Wasniewski and Terrence Ruckner of the Office of the Historian of the U.S. House of Representatives join us to explore how Congress evolved from its colonial and revolutionary predecessors into the bicameral legislature established by the Constitution. House History Office Show Notes: RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES 🎧 🎧 🎧 🎧 🎧 ...
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411 Philadelhpia: An Early History
Ben Franklin's World
Two hundred fifty years ago, in May 1775, delegates from thirteen British North American colonies gathered in Philadelphia for the Second Continental Congress. Why was Philadelphia chosen as the seat of Congress? What made the city a critical hub for revolutionary ideas, commerce, and culture? And how has Philadelphia’s early history shaped the broader narrative of American Independence? Paul Kahan, a historian of American political, economic, and urban history, joins us to explore Philadelphia’s early American history with details from his book. , the first comprehensive...
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BFW Revisited: Founding Friendships
Ben Franklin's World
What did friendship between men and women look like in the decades following the American Revolution? Could emotional closeness and intellectual kinship flourish outside of marriage— and without scandal? In this episode, we revisit our earlier conversation with historian , author of . Building on our recent exploration of love and advice in 1690s England, we take a closer look at how early Americans navigated the shifting social norms of gender, intimacy, and platonic relationships. Cassie’s | Show Notes: REQUEST A TOPIC 📨 📫 WHEN YOU'RE READY ...
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Ben Franklin's World Trailer
Ben Franklin's World
This is a 30-second trailer for Ben Franklin's World.
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410 The World's First Personal Advice Column
Ben Franklin's World
When did people begin seeking anonymous advice for their most profound personal dilemmas? What can the answers to their early questions tell us about the emotional lives of people in the past? We’re traveling back in time to 1690s England to explore the world’s first personal advice column, The Athenian Mercury. This two-sided broadsheet publication invited readers to send in questions about anything–from science and religion to love and marriage– and its creators, a small group of Londoners who dubbed themselves the “Athenian Society,” answered these queries with a...
info_outlineWhen we think about the American Revolution, the French Revolution, or the Haitian Revolution, we think about the ideals of freedom and equality. These ideals were embedded and discussed in all of these revolutions.
What we don’t always think about when we think about these revolutions are the objects that inspired, came out of, and were circulated as they took place.
Ashli White, an Associate Professor of History at the University of Miami in Florida, joins us to investigate the “revolutionary things” that were created and circulated during the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions with details from her book Revolutionary Things: Material Culture and Politics in the Late Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World.
Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/390
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Complementary Episodes
- Episode 124: James Alexander Dun, Making the Haitian Revolution in Early America
- Episode 136: Jennifer Van Horn, Material Culture and the Making of America
- Episode 164: The American Revolution in the Age of Revolutions
- Episode 165: The Age of Revolutions
- Episode 177, Martin Brückner, The Social Life of Maps in America
- Episode 306: The Horse’s Tail: Revolution & Memory in Early New York City
- Episode 319: Cuba: An Early American History
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