250 years ago this week, Lord Dunmore shook the colonies: “All indented servants, Negroes, or others (appertaining to rebels)… free, that are able and willing to bear arms.”
Dunmore’s Proclamation changed the Revolution.
🎧 Hear the full story: benfranklinsworld.com/424
#AmericanRevolution
For decades prior to 1775, Britain shipped thousands of convicts to Maryland and Virginia. When the colonies rebelled, those shipments stopped. Britain's solution?
Someone looked at an atlas and said: What about Botany Bay?
That's how Australia was founded.
#America250 #Revolution250 #History
🇬🇧 Chaplain. Officer. Accused.
Robert Newburgh’s story unfolds in the shadows of the British Empire.
What happened when queerness and military honor collide in 1770s Philadelphia?
Find out in Episode 414 of Ben Franklin’s World: www.benfranklinsworld.com/414
#HistoryPodcasts #QueerHistory
We all know John Hancock’s signature—but do we know the man? 🖋️
In Ep. 388, Brooke Barbier reveals how Hancock’s wealth, style, and ambition shaped Boston and the Revolution.
🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/388
#JohnHancock #VastEarlyAmerica #History #Boston #AmericanRevolution #Revolution250
When France joined the Revolution in 1778, it also went to war with Britain in India.
The result: the ruler of Mysore allied with France, thereby making him an ally of George Washington. He sent 80,000 troops. Washington had fewer than 10% of that at Yorktown.
#America250 #Revolution250
Molly Brandt held together a fragile alliance between the Haudenosaunee and the British Crown throughout the Revolution.
She didn't just lose the war. She lost her ancestral homeland and died in exile across a border that hadn't existed when she was born.
#Revolution250 #America250 #History
You know Phillis Wheatley the poet—but what about Phillis Wheatley the playwright? 🖋️đźŽ
In Ep. 377, Ade Solanke explores how creative storytelling brings Wheatley’s voice to life on stage.
🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/377
#PhillisWheatley #VastEarlyAmerica #History #AmericanRevolution
How did Maine go from Massachusetts’ northern frontier to its own state? 🌲🗺️
In Ep. 384, Joshua Smith explores the people, politics, and identity that shaped Maine’s journey to statehood.
🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/384
#MaineHistory #VastEarlyAmerica #History #USHistory #Maine
George Washington had no biological children—but did he have heirs? 👪
In Ep. 385, Cassandra Good explores the lives of the step-grandchildren who claimed his legacy.
🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/385
#GeorgeWashington #VastEarlyAmerica #History #FamilyHistory #Genealogy #USHistory
250 years ago, the revolutionaries knew something that gets lost in the founding myths: they could not win alone.
The Declaration of Independence was really a Declaration of Interdependence. Rick Bell explains why.
#Revolution250 #America250
What would you risk for freedom?
Your safety? Your home? Your life?
In 1775, hundreds of enslaved Virginians risked everything to flee to a man they were told to fear—British Governor Lord Dunmore.
🎧 Their stories deserve to be heard: benfranklinsworld.com/424
#BlackHistory #Revolution250
What if the American Revolution didn't just create the United States, but also created Australia?
That's not a thought experiment. It's history.
New episode with historian Rick Bell.
#America250 #Revolution250
For decades prior to 1775, Britain shipped thousands of convicts to Maryland and Virginia. When the colonies rebelled, those shipments stopped. Britain's solution?
Someone looked at an atlas and said: What about Botany Bay?
That's how Australia was founded.
#America250 #Revolution250 #History
When France joined the Revolution in 1778, it also went to war with Britain in India.
The result: the ruler of Mysore allied with France, thereby making him an ally of George Washington. He sent 80,000 troops. Washington had fewer than 10% of that at Yorktown.
#America250 #Revolution250
America's 250th is coming. How should your town remember the Revolution?
🎧 Episode 427 explores how Virginia & Rhode Island are planning meaningful commemorations, and why it matters.
đź”— benfranklinsworld.com/427
Molly Brandt held together a fragile alliance between the Haudenosaunee and the British Crown throughout the Revolution.
She didn't just lose the war. She lost her ancestral homeland and died in exile across a border that hadn't existed when she was born.
#Revolution250 #America250 #History
What part of the American Revolution's global reach surprised you most?
Spain's campaign in Florida? Hyder Ali's alliance with France? The founding of Australia?
Tell me, I'd love to know what landed hardest.
#America250 #Revolution250
250 years ago, the revolutionaries knew something that gets lost in the founding myths: they could not win alone.
The Declaration of Independence was really a Declaration of Interdependence. Rick Bell explains why.
#Revolution250 #America250
Georgia didn’t send delegates to the First Continental Congress.
Its last royal governor stayed in power longer than any other.
It was loyal—until it wasn’t.
Episode 421 dives into why Georgia’s revolution looked so different.
🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/421
#USHistory #PodcastRecommendation
What if the American Revolution didn't just create the United States, but also created Australia?
That's not a thought experiment. It's history.
New episode with historian Rick Bell.
#America250 #Revolution250
Long before European settlers, Native Nations thrived in North America.Explore a millennium of indigenous history and culture in our latest episode: www.benfranklinsworld.com/397
#NativeHistory #IndigenousPeoples #NorthAmerica #BenFranklinsWorld #History #USHistory
Colonists didn’t “tame” the land—they built over Indigenous farms.
In Ep. 426, Michael Wise reveals how Native people shaped forests, fields, and food systems. Explore Indigenous agriculture in our latest episode.
🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/426
For decades prior to 1775, Britain shipped thousands of convicts to Maryland and Virginia. When the colonies rebelled, those shipments stopped. Britain's solution?
Someone looked at an atlas and said: What about Botany Bay?
That's how Australia was founded.
#America250 #Revolution250 #History
When France joined the Revolution in 1778, it also went to war with Britain in India.
The result: the ruler of Mysore allied with France, thereby making him an ally of George Washington. He sent 80,000 troops. Washington had fewer than 10% of that at Yorktown.
#America250 #Revolution250
“Fireworks are great. But the 250th has to be more than fireworks.”
– Carly Fiorina
🎧 Hosted by Karin Wulf, Episode 427 explores how states are shaping the 2026 commemoration.
đź”— benfranklinsworld.com/427
Who invested in England’s first American colony—and what were they hoping to gain?
Misha Ewen explores the Virginia Company, the women behind the venture, and what early colonization looked like from across the Atlantic.
🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/355
#Virginia #VastEarlyAmerica #History
If you were a freeborn Black person in Revolutionary Rhode Island, which side would you have chosen: Continental Army or the British?
William Frank chose one. His brother Ben chose the other.
Their story.
#America250 #Revolution250 #AmericanRevolution #MilitaryHistory #FamilyHistory
What part of the American Revolution's global reach surprised you most?
Spain's campaign in Florida? Hyder Ali's alliance with France? The founding of Australia?
Tell me, I'd love to know what landed hardest.
#America250 #Revolution250
250 years later, we're still telling the story of the Revolution as one of armies and battlefields.
Lauren Duval's research on Rev War-occupied cities asks: what about the 90% of the story that unfolded in households, on doorsteps, & in back gardens?
The home front changes everything.
#America250
250 years ago, the revolutionaries knew something that gets lost in the founding myths: they could not win alone.
The Declaration of Independence was really a Declaration of Interdependence. Rick Bell explains why.
#Revolution250 #America250