Ben Franklin's World
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Ben Franklin's World
This is a multiple award-winning podcast about early American history. It’s a show for people who love history and who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world. Each episode features conversations with professional historians who...
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447 The Other Committee Members: Robert R. Livingston, Roger Sherman, and the Declaration of Independence
Five men served on the Continental Congress’s Declaration Committee. We know three of them well: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin....
447 The Other Committee Members: Robert R. Livingston, Roger Sherman, and the Declaration of Independence
Five men served on the Continental Congress’s Declaration Committee. We know three of them well: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin....
BFW Revisited: A Declaration in Draft, 2026
Every American knows Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, but was he really its sole architect?
In this revisited episode, we...
BFW Revisited: A Declaration in Draft, 2026
Every American knows Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, but was he really its sole architect?
In this revisited epis...
446 The Declaration of Independence at 250
250 years after its signing, the Declaration of Independence remains an unfinished document. Its famous assertion "that all men are created equal" and...
446 The Declaration of Independence at 250
250 years after its signing, the Declaration of Independence remains an unfinished document. Its famous assertion "that all men are created equal" and...
445 How Independence Happened, Pt 3: The Articles of Confederation
The man Congress chose to draft the United States’ first constitution refused to vote for independence.
John Dickinson wrote a bold plan, one wi...
445 How Independence Happened, Pt 3: The Articles of Confederation
The man Congress chose to draft the United States’ first constitution refused to vote for independence.
John Dickinson wrote a bold plan,...
444 How Independence Happened, Part 2: The Model Treaty
Declaring independence on July 2, 1776 was only the beginning. To actually become a nation, the United States needed something else: foreign allies, i...
444 How Independence Happened, Part 2: The Model Treaty
Declaring independence on July 2, 1776 was only the beginning. To actually become a nation, the United States needed something else: foreign allies, i...
443 How Independence Happened, Part 1: The Lee Resolution
Declaring independence on July 2, 1776, was only the beginning.
To actually become a nation, the United States needed something else: foreign al...
443 How Independence Happened, Part 1: The Lee Resolution
Declaring independence on July 2, 1776, was only the beginning.
To actually become a nation, the United States needed something else: for...
BFW Revisited: Reading the Declaration of Independence for Equality
On July 4th, 2026, the United States marks 250 years since the Declaration of Independence announced a new nation to the world. But how well do we act...
BFW Revisited: Reading the Declaration of Independence for Equality
On July 4th, 2026, the United States marks 250 years since the Declaration of Independence announced a new nation to the world. But how well do we act...
442 Everyday Military Life in the American Revolution
When we picture the American Revolution, we picture battles. But for the men and women who actually lived and fought in it, the Revolution was also a...
442 Everyday Military Life in the American Revolution
When we picture the American Revolution, we picture battles. But for the men and women who actually lived and fought in it, the Revolution was also a...
BFW Revisited: Valley Forge
Most of us learned the same story: During the winter at Valley Forge, George Washington's army suffered and endured. Ragged soldiers huddled together...
BFW Revisited: Valley Forge
Most of us learned the same story: During the winter at Valley Forge, George Washington's army suffered and endured. Ragged soldiers huddled together...
441 The Escapes of David George
When David George lay sick with smallpox in Savannah during the Revolutionary War, he faced three possible outcomes: death, re-enslavement, or freedom...
441 The Escapes of David George
When David George lay sick with smallpox in Savannah during the Revolutionary War, he faced three possible outcomes: death, re-enslavement, or freedom...
BFW Revisited: Running from Bondage in the American Revolution
She fled on horseback in the thick of war. Her six-year-old son rode with her. The white tailor at her side would pass, when anyone asked, as her husb...
BFW Revisited: Running from Bondage in the American Revolution
She fled on horseback in the thick of war. Her six-year-old son rode with her. The white tailor at her side would pass, when anyone asked, as her husb...
440 Jefferson's Cut Grievance and the British Monarchy's Role in Slavery
Thomas Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence contained 28 grievances against King George III — not 27.
The final grievance, the o...
440 Jefferson's Cut Grievance and the British Monarchy's Role in Slavery
Thomas Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence contained 28 grievances against King George III — not 27.
The final grievance...
BFW Revisited: Whose Fourth of July?
On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass stood before the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society and asked one of the most searing questions in American hi...
BFW Revisited: Whose Fourth of July?
On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass stood before the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society and asked one of the most searing questions in American hi...
439 When the Declaration of Independence Was News
The Second Continental Congress voted for independence on July 2, 1776, but it had absolutely no plan for telling the world about it.
Congress s...
439 When the Declaration of Independence Was News
The Second Continental Congress voted for independence on July 2, 1776, but it had absolutely no plan for telling the world about it.
Con...
BFW Revisited: Age of Revolutions
Between 1763 and 1848, revolutions swept across four continents. We tend to remember three of them — the American, the French, and the Haitian Revolut...
BFW Revisited: Age of Revolutions
Between 1763 and 1848, revolutions swept across four continents. We tend to remember three of them — the American, the French, and the Haitian Revolut...
438 The American Revolution & the Fate of the World
What if the American Revolution didn't just create the United States, but also created Australia?
Most of us learned about the Revolution as a s...
438 The American Revolution & the Fate of the World
What if the American Revolution didn't just create the United States, but also created Australia?
Most of us learned about the Revolution...
BFW Revisited: British-Occupied Philadelphia, 1777–1778
In September 1777, just fourteen months after declaring independence, Philadelphia fell to the British Army. For nearly nine months, the new nation's...
BFW Revisited: British-Occupied Philadelphia, 1777–1778
In September 1777, just fourteen months after declaring independence, Philadelphia fell to the British Army. For nearly nine months, the new nation's...
437 Civilian Life in America's Occupied Cities
The British Army is at your door. They need a room. What do you do?
For thousands of civilians living in cities occupied during the American Wa...
437 Civilian Life in America's Occupied Cities
The British Army is at your door. They need a room. What do you do? For thousands of civilians living in cities occupied during the American War for I...
BFW Revisited: Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site
250 years ago, the British evacuated Boston: driven out by cannon that had traveled 300 miles from Fort Ticonderoga. But where did the plan for those...
BFW Revisited: Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site
250 years ago, the British evacuated Boston: driven out by cannon that had traveled 300 miles from Fort Ticonderoga. But where did the plan for those...
436 Fort Ticonderoga & Henry Knox's Noble Train of Artillery
On March 17, 1776, the British evacuated Boston, driven out by cannon hauled 300 miles through winter wilderness from a crumbling fort in upstate New...
436 Fort Ticonderoga & Henry Knox's Noble Train of Artillery
On March 17, 1776, the British evacuated Boston, driven out by cannon hauled 300 miles through winter wilderness from a crumbling fort in upstate New...