Liz Covart

Liz Covart is the Digital Projects Editor at the Omohundro Institute at the College of William and Mary. She holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of California, Davis. For more information about Liz and her podcast visit lizcovart.com.

A Discussion About Early American History

April 8, 2015 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

Have you ever wondered what happens when four historians get together to talk about early American history?

In this episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast, we chat with three young and promising historians of early America: Michael Hattem, Roy Rogers, and Ken Owen. All three scholars discuss history at The Junto: A Group Blog on Early American History and podcast as regular panelists on The JuntoCast: A Monthly Podcast about Early American History. You can listen to the podcast here: www.benfranklinsworld.com/023

Deborah Read Franklin And Sally Franklin Bache

April 1, 2015 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

Have you heard the saying “behind every great man stands a great woman?”

In this episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast, Vivian Bruce Conger, the Robert Ryan Professor in the Humanities at Ithaca College, joins us to explore the two great women that Benjamin Franklin had standing behind and beside him: his wife, Deborah Read Franklin, and his daughter, Sally Franklin Bache. You can listen to the podcast here: www.benfranklinsworld.com/022

The Albany-Montréal Fur Trade, 1700-1754

March 25, 2015 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

The smuggling trade between Albany and Montréal presented a large problem for the imperial governments of Great Britain and France between 1700 and 1754.

In this episode of the “Ben Franklin’s World” podcast, Dr. Eugene Tesdahl, an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, joins us to discuss the infamous Albany-Montréal Trade and the business of smuggling in colonial North America. You can listen to the podcast here: www.benfranklinsworld.com/021

Religion and Society in Early New York City

March 18, 2015 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

Religion played a large role in why some Europeans settled in British North America.

In episode 20 of the “Ben Franklin’s World” podcast, Kyle T. Bulthuis, author of Four Steeples over the City Streets: Religion and Society in New York’s Early Republic Congregations (NYU Press, 2014), takes us on an exploration of early American religious life. Religion played a large role in why some Europeans settled in British North America. [Read more…] about Religion and Society in Early New York City

The Colonial Boston Marketplace

March 11, 2015 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

Have you ever wondered where colonial Americans purchased their food?

In this episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast, Kenneth Turino, the Manager of Community Relations and Exhibitions for Historic New England, joins us to explore the colonial Boston marketplace. You can listen to the podcast here: www.benfranklinsworld.com/019

Who Really Wrote The Declaration of Independence?

March 4, 2015 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

Do you know who authored the Declaration of Independence?

If you answered “Thomas Jefferson,” you would be wrong. Jefferson merely wrote the first draft of a document others created.

In this episode of the “Ben Franklin’s World” podcast, Danielle Allen, Foundation Professor at the Institute of Advanced Study and author of Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality (Liveright, 2014), leads us on an exploration of the Declaration of Independence. You can listen to the podcast here: www.benfranklinsworld.com/018

When The United States Spoke French

February 25, 2015 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

In this episode of the “Ben Franklin’s World” podcast, François Furstenberg, Associate Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University and author of When the United States Spoke French: Five Refugees Who Shaped a Nation (Penguin, 2014), joins us to explore how and why the United States spoke French during the 1790s. You can listen to the podcast here: www.benfranklinsworld.com/017

Slavery and the War of 1812

February 18, 2015 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

The United States claimed victory in the War of 1812, but did you know that the British nearly won the war by promising freedom to escaped slaves in Virginia and Maryland?

In this episode of the “Ben Franklin’s World” podcast, Alan Taylor, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize in United States history and author of The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832 (W.W. Norton, 2014), will reveal how Virginia’s “internal enemy” almost cost the United States the War of 1812. You can listen to this podcast here: www.benfranklinsworld.com/016

Circumnavigation from Magellan to Orbit

February 11, 2015 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue as part of the great European quest to find new routes and shortcuts to the spice islands and territories of Asia.

Spain and Portugal led this quest during the 15th and 16th centuries and their race to access the Asian spice trade caused Columbus to sail unwittingly into the Caribbean and North America.

Revolution: An Uncommon History of 1776

February 4, 2015 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

When we think of North America in 1776, our minds take us to the Atlantic seaboard where inhabitants in thirteen colonies fought Great Britain for independence. However, as the American Revolution and its War for Independence raged, events occurred elsewhere in North America that would have important implications for the development of the later United States.

In this episode of the “Ben Franklin’s World” podcast, Claudio Saunt, the Richard B. Russell Professor of History at the University of Georgia and author of West of the Revolution: An Uncommon History of 1776 (W.W. Norton, 2014), joins us to explore events that took place west of the American Revolution. You can listen to the podcast here: www.benfranklinsworld.com/014 [Read more…] about Revolution: An Uncommon History of 1776