Revolution 250 Podcast

George Rogers Clark conquered the Northwest. Or did he? We talk with Larry Nelson, historian of Ohio, co-author (with David Curtis Skaggs) of The Sixty Years War for the Great Lakes 1754-1814, about the Northwest Territory in the Revolution, and a book about Alexander McKee. This area, larger than the existing 13 colonies, was contested by the Native People who lived in it, the British, Spanish, French, and Americans. Clark could invade it, could win it, but could not keep it. The Revolutionary period was one episode in a long series of wars over this contested middle ground.

She was a wife, mother, confidant, and a social and political advisor during one of the most tumultuous periods of American history. Despite never being elected to an office, in recognition of her power of influence and sagacity her portrait now hangs permanently in the Senate Chamber of the Massachusetts General Court. Few women in the period of the American Revolution and early Republic left behind such a voluminous correspondence as Abigail Adams. As her husband John got further involved in the cause of American independence and sovereignty, Abigail's circle of friends and admirers grew in like proportion, eventually leading her from Weymouth, Massachusetts to the great courts of Europe.   We talk with  John L. Smith, Jr., , author of The Unexpected Abigail  Adams:  A Woman not Apt to be Intimidated. 

Richard Brookhiser has been writing about American politics for half a century, though he has refreshed himself by writing a dozen books about the founding period, beginning with Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington,  with additional books on Gouverneur Morris, James Madison, the Adamses, Alexander Hamilton, and Abraham Lincoln, "the Founders' Son." We talk with him about the political ideas of the founding generation, and how they were viewed in their day-- his next book is on the artist Jonathan Trumbull—and ours.

Henry Knox, Boston book-seller and emerging patriot, in 1774 married Lucy Flucker, daughter of the Provincial Secretary and leading loyalist.  Lucy's family would leave with the loyalist evacuation in March 1776, forced out by the cannon Henry brought from Ticonderoga.  Lucy would never see them again.  She and Henry would exchange more than 500 letters over the course of their married life, letters which Philip Hamilton has used for this window into the Revolutionary world.  The Revolutionary War Lives and  Letters of Lucy and Henry Knox are from the war--Henry would be with the army from the siege of Boston through Yorktown, and he and Lucy, young, bright, and in love, shared it all.  

Phillis Wheatley's poetry continues to inspire and to challenge us.  Poets Artress Bethany White and Danielle Legros Georges brought together twenty contemporary Black women poets to reinterpret, or reimagine, Phillis Wheatley Peters' poems.  Today, in addition to Artress and Danielle,  we are joined by two of the poets, Florence Ladd and Yalie Saweda Kamara.  Their collection Wheatley at 250:  :  Black Women Poets Re-Imagine the Verse of Phillis Wheatley Peters,  a poetic conversation among past, present, and future,  features both the poems of Phillis Wheatley and their  contemporary re-imagining.

Get your copy of Wheatley at 250 here: https://www.pangyrus.com/product/wheatley-at-250/

Liberty Poles were central to the Revolution, as Patriots raised them to symbolize their resistance, and British soldiers tore them down.  Americans in the 1790s revived the custom of Liberty Poles, in opposition to the policies of the Washington and Adams administrations.  We talk with Shira Lurie, author of .The American Liberty Pole:  Popular Politics and the Struggle for Democracy in the Early Republic, about these symbols of liberty and the contentious politics in the Revolution era.

The American Revolution began along the waterfront.  We talk with Christopher Magra,  author of two books on different aspects of the maritime war:  The Fisherman's Cause  delves into the role of Massachusetts' cod fishery in the years before the war. and the transformation of fishing vessels into warships; and Poseidon's Curse e shows how Britain's impressment of sailors into the Royal Navy brought on resistance from American sailors and fishermen.

The history of the American Revolution is peppered with the stories of women who perform acts of heroism in service to the cause of Liberty. Women such as Mary Ludwig Hays, Margaret Corbin & Deborah Sampson are among the many heralded for their service. Many more women served as information gatherers for General Washington, and today, Aly Riley, auther of "She Spies; Women of the Revolution" will join us to discuss the role of women in the spy rings of General Washington.

Why are there so few—if any—good movies about the Revolution?  Maybe because the right people with the right passion have not made them.  Mark O'Rourke is a veteran of the U.S. Army, and an attorney, and has now launched a new mission—producing a film about :1777:  Saratoga, the Turning Point of the War..  We talk with Mark O'Rourke about the battle of Saratoga, and the film he hopes to have made in time for the battle's 250th anniversary in October 2027, and how you can help get this story to the screen.

Franklin and Washington loom large for civic virtue and disinterested patriotism, and Madison warned that good and wise statesmen would not always be at the helm, because many of their contemporaries were self-interested schemers and outright liars.  We hear from Timothy Hemmis and David Head editors of A Republic of Scoundrels, which introduces us to the schemers, intriguers, and adventurers—such as Aaron Burr, Mathew Lyon, Benedict Arnold, James Wilkinson—who also helped create the new nation.

Maritime insurers not only assessed risk--they built markets and the new nation.  During times of war and peace they formed a vital communication and information network.  Their capital also helped to finance the war and the development of the American republic.  We talk about their world with  Hannah Farber, historian of the Revolution and early Republic, and her award-winning book Underwriters of the United States:  How Insurance Shaped the American Founding. 

The rebellion nearly ended in December 1776, with Washington's army beaten in New York and chased across New Jersey, which the enemy then garrisoned with Hessian troops in Trenton to keep an eye on Washington's dwindling forces across the Delaware.  Washington now had fewer than 3000 men, and their enlistments would expire at the end of the year.  In this moment of crisis, Washington devised a plan.  "There is a natural firmness in some minds," Thomas Paine wrote, "which cannot be unlocked by trifles, but which, when unlocked, discovers a cabinet of fortitude."  We discuss what was in that cabinet of fortitude unlocked in December 1776.

Benedict Arnold remains one of the most controversial actors in the history of the American Revolution.  His being an undeniable hero of the early years of the conflict made his later betrayal of the American cause all the more shocking. We talk with Jack Kelly  about his new book, God Save Benedict Arnold:  The True Story of America's Most Hated Man.

With only 4 days to go until the 250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, we talk with Evan O'Brien, Creative Manager of the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum on the weekend of events, the culmination of two years of commemorations and the beginning of the Revolution's 250th.  A lot going on between the Tea Party Ships & Museum and  Revolutionary Spaces.  If you cannot join us in person on December 16, you can livestream the Tea Party on December 16 here, at https://www.december16.org!

Two unlikely tourists traveled through the Hudson Valley and New England in the early summer of 1791, wanting to study the region's flora and fauna as well as the Native American languages.  Or were Thomas Jefferson and James Madison on a political mission?  We talk with Louis P. Masur,  cultural historian, who has written books about Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, photography,  baseball, and rock and roll, and is now writing a book about Jefferson and Madison's exploration of this distant country, where they are looking for the Hessian Fly, become enraptured with sugar maples, meet with Native Americans, and meet Prince Taylor, a free African-American farming near Fort George.  Masur, the Board of Governors Professor and Distinguished Professor of American Studies and History at Rutgers University, unpacks the world from a grain of sand, and this encounter with Jefferson and Madison in the summer of 1791 tells us much about the remarkable friendship of these two men and the country they helped to bring into being.

Jarheads, Devil Dogs, and Leathernecks are all nicknames that have been used to describe members of the United States Marine Corps.  However, their esprit de corps and valor stand as their most iconic and reliable qualities.  Many are unaware how The Corps got their start during the American Revolution as a valuable multi-faceted and innovative fighting force equally comfortable in sea fights and land engagements. Join Professor Robert Allison (Suffolk University Department of History, Language & Global Culture) in conversation with Major General Jason Q. Bohm, a 30-year veteran of the United States Marine Corps and author of "Washington's Marines; The Origins of the Corps and the American Revolution, 1775 - 1777."

During his audience with King George III after becoming the first Minister from the United States to the Court of St. James, John Adams said "I have the Honor to assure your Majesty of their unanimous Disposition and Desire to cultivate the most friendly and liberal Intercourse between your Majesty’s Subjects and their Citizens."  Adams' assurance has stood the test of time, in no small part due to the many able Ambassadors, Consuls and Diplomats who have represented the United Kingdom in the United States, particularly in Boston Consul-General's office, which opened in 1817.  We talk with  the current  British Consul-General, Dr. Peter Abbott, OBE, who has come to Boston after representing his government in Lisbon, Islamabad, and Washington. 

Matthew Wilding is the Director of Education & Interpretation at Revolutionary Spaces, the caretaker for two of Boston's most historic buildings, the Old State House and Old South Meeting House.  We talk about their new interpretive ventures--plays, immersive games,  walking tours, and exhibits, and about public history in Boston.  Matt Wilding discusses new ways to interpret history, including immersive games and comics, such as the "Free Hands" series he has created based on the Golden Age of Piracy.   

The allure of America with all of its possibilities brought many people to its shores during the Colonial period.  Jewish congregations in Savannah, Charleston, Philadelphia, New York, and Newport formed small but important parts of American society.  We talk with Professor Jonathan Sarna, the Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University about the impact Jews had on American independence--as soldiers and officers, and as merchants and financiers--and about the impact the American Revolution had on Jews in the United States and beyond.  Professor Sarna is the author or co-author more than 30 books on American Jewish history, including American Judaism:  A History,  which includes a chapter on the Jewish contributions to the Revolution. 

The Epic Revolutionary Saga is a planned 7-volume series of novels following Max (Scottie dog), Liz (a French cat) and a coterie of animal friends through the American Revolution.  Along the way they meet the central characters on both sides--the Patrick Henry (the Voice), George Washington (the Sword), Thomas Jefferson (the Pen), along with the Marquis de Lafayette, Colonel Banastre Tarleton, and a host of others in the founding of the United States.  We talk with author Jenny L. Cote, creator of the series, about the ways these books and her related projects engage younger audiences in the story of the American Revolution and the ideals it represents.  She has partnered with the National Park Service to create Epic Patriot Camp, to inspire young authors to write their own stories about the Revolution.