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.

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

Same-Sex Marriage in Early America

January 28, 2015 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

Did you know that some early Americans lived openly in same-sex marriages?

In this episode of the “Ben Franklin’s World” podcast, Rachel Hope Cleves, an Associate Professor of History at the University of Victoria in British Columbia and author of Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America, will reveal the story of Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake, women who lived openly as a married couple in Weybridge, Vermont between 1807 and 1851. You can listen to the podcast here: www.benfranklinsworld.com/013 [Read more…] about Same-Sex Marriage in Early America

Early United States Trade with China

January 21, 2015 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

A mercantile partnership led by Robert Morris sent the Empress of China, a 360-ton ship to Canton, China one month and eight days after the Congress of the United States ratified the Treaty of Paris, 1783.

Why did these merchants look so far east to secure a profitable trade? And why did they attempt such a venture not long after the United States secured its independence from Great Britain?

In this episode of the “Ben Franklin’s World” podcast, Dane Morrison, Professor of History at Salem State University and author of True Yankees: The South Seas and the Discovery of American Identity, helps us discover the answers to these questions and more as he leads us on an exploration of the early American trade with China. You can listen to the podcast here: www.benfranklinsworld.com/012

The Woodlands Historic Site of Philadelphia

January 14, 2015 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

William Hamilton built The Woodlands mansion in Philadelphia in the 1760s. The estate stands as a tribute to the significant architectural and botanical contributions Hamilton made to Philadelphia and the young United States, including a part in the Lewis and Clark expedition.

This week on the “Ben Franklin’s World” podcast we speak with Jessica Baumert, the Executive Director of The Woodlands Historic Site in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.You can listen to the podcast here: www.benfranklinsworld.com/011 [Read more…] about The Woodlands Historic Site of Philadelphia

British Redcoats of the American Revolution

January 7, 2015 by Liz Covart 1 Comment

When we discuss the military history of the American War for Independence, we tend to focus on specific battles or details about the men who served in George Washington’s Continental Army. Rarely do we take the opportunity to ask questions about the approximately 50,000 men who served in the British Army.

In this episode of the “Ben Franklin’s World” podcast we speak with Don N. Hagist an independent scholar and author of British Soldiers, American War: Voices of the American Revolution (Westholme Publishing, 2014). Don leads us on exploration of the “other” men who fought in the American War for Independence, the soldiers in the British Army. You can listen to the podcast here: www.benfranklinsworld.com/010 [Read more…] about British Redcoats of the American Revolution