Revolution 250 Podcast

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,...

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...

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 Earl...

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 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 Revoluti...

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...

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...

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  Underwriter...

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 dev...

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. Tell us what you think! Send us a text me...

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 & Museu m 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 i...

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...

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...

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 s...

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, inc...

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...

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...

In her new book "Battle Green Vietnam," Elise Lemire examines what must be the most controversial anti-war march ever. On Memorial Day weekend in 1971, 400 Vietnam Veterans engaged in "Operation POW" during which the Veterans marched from Concord Bridge to Bunker Hill. Join Professor Robert Allison (Suffolk University Department of Language, History & Global Culture) in con...

Playwright Patrick Gabridge uses theatre to convey the human story of the Revolution and other historic events.  Through his "Plays in Place" he and actors have told the stories of the Boston Massacre in the Council Chamber of the Old State House, the decision for independence at Old North Church, as well as the stories of abolitionists and others at Mount Auburn Cemetery.  The scenes ar...

Stacy Schiff's biography of Samuel Adams, The Revolutionary:  Samuel Adams  is a milestone in Revolutionary-era biographies, and introduces a complex and engaging political character--his main focus was liberty, and he learned how to shape a revolutionary movement to secure it.  Pulitzer-prize winning biographer Stacy Schiff--born in the town of Adams, Massachusetts   tells us about the Samue...

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow forever etched Paul Revere's name in the pantheon of Revolutionary heroes with his poem "Paul Revere's Ride."  William Dawes and Samuel Prescott have joined Revere as celebrated alarm riders of April 18, 1775.  However, even the addition of those two riders does not fully tell the story of the Lexington Alarm.  Alan Foulds tells us about others, inclu...

Tadeusz Kościuszko was 30 years old when he emigrated to America to join the cause in support of American Independence.  The recommendation he carried from Benjamin Franklin and other friends in France earned him a Colonel's commission, and his engineering skills were especially useful as  Kościuszko designed the fortifications along the Hudson River, most notably, West Point.  After the War,...

In December of 1777, the 12,000 man army of General George Washington marched into Valley Forge to build a winter encampment.  In addition to the soldiers, more than 400 women were in the column.  They were not only the wives of senior officers but the wives of soldiers who had followed the army since it was assembled.  We learn about these women, as well as others who nursed, cooked, sewed, washe...

On December 14, 1774, John Langdon and a group New Hampshire Patriots stormed the lightly garrisoned Fort William & Mary to seize its stores of gunpowder and cannon. Sarah Vedrani tells us about the raid, about the historic events being planned in commemoration.  Now Fort Constitution on an active Coast Guard base  in New Castle, (the only New Hampshire town which is entirely on islands), the...

How well do we know the Boston Tea Party?  Did you know that almost as much tea landed in Charleston, South Carolina--and in Boston--as was destroyed?  What happened to the tea that went to Charleston, Philadelphia, and New York?  What happened to the tea from the William, that wrecked on Cape Cod?   We talk with James Fichter, author of Tea:  Consumption, Politics, and Revolution 1773-1776, about...