Revolution 250 Podcast

James Kirby Martin,  the Cullen Professor of History  emeritus at the University of Houston, joins us to talk about  Benedict Arnold: Revolutionary Hero,     his book which is now a major motion picture  "Benedict Arnold: Hero Betrayed."    We also talk about Joseph Plumb Martin, whose story lives on thanks to Martin's book  Ordinary Courage,   the  Forgotten Allies, , the Oneida an...

Alan Taylor joins us to talk about American Revolutions: A Continental History 1750-1804, and much else.  Few scholars have influenced our understanding of Early American history more than Taylor,  the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Professor of History at the University of Virginia.  HIs second book, William Cooper's Town, , was hailed as a triumph of "micro-history," examini...

Few British officers names from the American Revolution come to mind as readily as Charles, First Marquis of Cornwallis  (1738–1805).  What happened to him after his surrender at Yorktown?   Richard Middleton, author of the new biography  Cornwallis:  Soldier and Statesman in a Revolutionary World joins us to discuss Lord Cornwallis's career after Yorktown, the lessons learned in America whic...

Wright Tavern has been at the center of Concord for 275 years.  It hosted some of the most dramatic events in American history. The Massachusetts Provincial Congress's committees met here in the Fall of 1774, beginning the colony's transition from colony to commonwealth.  On morning of April 19, 1775, both the Concord militia and the British military command met--separately--at the taver...

John Kaminski, the founder and director of the Center for the Study of the American Constitution, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Editor in Chief of the Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution project, now up to 37 volumes and also available ow online as a digital archive, joins us to talk about this landmark publication project, and about the struggle to ratify the...

The American Revolution Institute imagines a future in which every American is inspired by the American Revolution, the vast event that created our nation, and embraces our revolutionary ideals of universal liberty and responsible citizenship.  The American Revolution Institute hosts an annual  Master Teacher's Seminar,    as well as author's talks, events, and exhibits to keep alive the...

Professor Ashli White (University of Miami) joins us to talk about her book, Encountering Revolution:  Haiti and the Making of the Early Republic  on the impact of the Haitian Revolution in the United States in the Washington, Adams, and Jefferson administrations.  We also talk about her forthcoming book, Revolutionary Things, on objects of Revolution in the United States, France, and Haiti--like...

Eric Schnitzer, military historian and park ranger at the Saratoga National Historic Park joins us to talk about the campaign of General Burgoyne and his armies--British, German, Native American, and Americans--which captured Ticonderoga and was marching on to Albany in 1777.  But Burgoyne became the first British general ever to surrender his army to a foreign foe in modern times.  What happened...

Ben Remillard joins us to talk about his research into the lives and military service of New England's African-American and Native American Revolutionary War soldiers.  We learn more about their complex stories, and their lives before, during, and after the war.   He also shares the story of  Cato Newell, Wenham Carey, and Luck (or Luke) Russell and the 1788 kidnapping case that shook Boston...

2023 with be the 250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party.  Evan O'Brien, the Creative Manager of the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum joins us to tell us what is planned for the anniversary, and what else is now at the Museum.  If you cannot make it in person, check out their   virtual programs,  and mark your calendars for December 16!  Tell us what you think! Send us a text message!

With more than 2,000 original artifacts, including one of George Washington's campaign tents, and 100,000 square feet of exhibition space, the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia stands poised to help lead the United States into the commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution.  We hear more in conversation with Dr. R. Scott Stephenson, CEO of the Museum of...

Stacy Schiff, best-selling and Pulitzer-prize winning author, joins us to talk about the extraordinary story of Benjamin Franklin in Paris, which she has recounted in her A Great Improvisation:  Franklin, France, and the Birth of America.  Franklin was doing more in Paris than simply negotiating--he was establishing the United States as a nation worthy of recognition on the world stage, and he bec...

Rosemarie Zagarri of George Mason University, author of a biography of Mercy Otis Warrren tells us about the Revolution's poet, who also wrote one of its first histories.  We also discuss her book  Revolutionary Backlash:  Women and Politics in the Early American Republic ,  and the only authorized biography of George Washington,  David Humphrey's Life of General Washington,  and a fasci...

The Battle of Brandywine, September 11, 1777 was General Washington's attempt to prevent the General Howe from capturing  Philadelphia.  Washington failed, but absolute disaster was prevented by the exertions of Major General Gilbert de Motier, Marquis de Lafayette who was wounded during the battle.  Bruce Mowday joins us to talk about his new book,  Lafayetter at Brandywine:  The Making of a...

Few families were more integral to the colonial and Revolutionary history of Amrica than the Howes.  Join us for a conversation with Julie Flavell, author The Howe Dynasty:  The Untold Story of a Military Family and the Women Behind Britain's Wars for America.    We know a lot about Lord Richard, the Admiral, and Sir William, the General, but their sister Caroline, who played chess with Benja...

Opened on April 19, 2017, the   Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, has brought national and international attention to the history of the people, places and ideals of the American Revolution.  In addition to its exhibits, the Museum engages its audience  through educational and community programs.  Join a conversation with Adrienne Whaley, Director of Education and Community Engage...

George III--the tyrant of the Declaration of Independence, or the Patriot King?  Join us for a conversation with Andrew Roberts, prolific historian whom Henry Kissinger has called "always relevant to contemporary thinking and contemporary problems," about his new biography, The Last King of America:  The Misunderstood Reign of George III.  Roberts has written biographies of Churchill and...

Jack Kelly, author of Valcour:  The 1776 Campaign that Saved the Cause of Liberty tells us about this critical--and nearly forgotten--naval battle on Lake Champlain.  It was not an American victory--but it did prevent the British from moving down the Hudson and winning the war.  Find out how Benedict Arnold built a fleet in the summer of 1776 to slow down the British invasion, and make victory pos...

The Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library , with a collection of more than 200,000 maps, has joined forces with the Fred W. Smith Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon, which holds the Richard H. Brown Revolutionary War Map Collection to create "ARGO: American Revolutionary Geographies Online." These on-line, digitized Revolutionary-era maps will help us...

Did Washington really cut down the cherry tree?  Steven C. Bullock tells us about his new project--the life of Mason Locke "Parson" Weems, Washington's most popular biographer, who shaped the legend of Washington, and Francis Marion, as he tried to shape American character for the better.  Steven Bullock, author of  Tea Sets and Tyranny:  The Politics of Politeness in Early America,...

An exciting collaboration between the American Philosophical Society, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania , and  the Library Company of Philadelphia, is changing the way future historians will be able to access historical collections. Kyle Roberts, Sabrina Bocanegra, and  Bayard Miller tell us about the " Revolutionary City  Portal " a ground-breaking one-stop portal into Philadelphia...

Patrick Griffin looks at the nexus of the American Revolution and the British Empire.  The Madden-Hennebry Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame, he talks about his books including The Townshend Moment, about two brothers trying to reform the empire, and he and Frank Cogliano co-edited Ireland and America: Empire, Revolution, and Sovereignty, . Tell us what you think! Send us a text...

The history of the American Revolution is often simplified for easier digestion by the American public, but it is a complex and shifting story that can be viewed from thousands of different perspectives.  Woody Holton, author of Liberty is Sweet:  The Hidden History of the American Revolution joins us to talk about some of these different perspectives in the complex story.  Holton , the McCausland...

During the New Deal era there was a tremendous increase in public infrastructure.  As part of that story, the United States federal government hired artists to help decorate public spaces with works of art that spoke to the community in which these structures were built. Susan Brauner tells us about some of the artists and their work.  Tell us what you think! Send us a text message!

Who was Lafayette, and why was he so important?  Alan Hoffman, President of the American Friends of Lafayette who has translated Auguste Levasseur's Lafayette in America, .  an account of Lafayette's American tour in 1824-1825.  Find out why May 20 is Lafayette Day in Massachusetts, and what you can do to commemorate it.  Tell us what you think! Send us a text message!