History, Natural History & the Arts
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How did Jamaica grow to become the “crown jewel” of the British Atlantic World?
Part of the answer is that Jamaica’s women served as some of the most ardent and best supporters of the island’s practice of slavery.
Book purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.
Between 1760 and 1761, Great Britain witnessed one of the largest slave insurrections in the history of its empire. Although the revolt took place on the island of Jamaica, the reverberations of this revolt stretched across the Atlantic Ocean and into the British North American colonies.
In this episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast, Vincent Brown, author of Tacky’s Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War (Belknap Press, 2020), joins us to investigate Tacky’s Revolt and how that revolt served as an eddy within the larger current of Atlantic warfare.
[Read more…] about Tacky’s Revolt: Slave Insurgency in Jamaica
Neither colonial North America nor the United States developed apart from the rest of the world. Since their founding, both the colonies and the United States have participated in the politics, economics, and cultures of the Atlantic World.
And every so often, the politics, economics, and cultures of lands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans intersected with and influenced those of the Atlantic World. That’s why in this episode, we’re going to explore the origins of the English trade with India and how that trade connected and intersected with the English North American colonies.
[Read more…] about India and the Making of Britain & America
Fort Ticonderoga holds one of North America’s largest collections of military material culture, covering the colonization of North America and the ensuing colonial conflicts, the Seven Years’ War (a.k.a. French & Indian War), the American Revolution, and the War of 1812. [Read more…] about Featured Collections: Fort Ti’s Early American History Materials
How did the postal system work in Early America? How did people send mail across the North American colonies and the British Empire?
You sent these questions for Episode 200: Everyday Life in Early America. You also said you wanted to know more about transportation in early America. [Read more…] about Post and Travel in Early America
What does early America look like if we view it through Native American eyes?
Jenny Hale Pulsipher, author of Swindler Sachem: The American Indian Who Sold His Birthright, Dropped Out of Harvard, and Conned the King of England (Yale University Press, 2018) and Associate Professor of History at Brigham Young University, is a scholar who enjoys investigating the many answers to this question. In this episode of Ben Franklin’s World: A Podcast About Early American History, she introduces us to a Nipmuc Indian named John Wompas and how he experienced a critical time in early American history, the period between the 1650s and 1680s. [Read more…] about A 17th-Century Native American Life
The Spanish, French, and English played large roles in the origins of colonial America. But so too did the Dutch. During the 17th century, they had a “moment” in which they influenced European colonization and development of the Atlantic World.
In this episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast, Wim Klooster, a Professor of History at Clark University and author of The Dutch Moment: War, Trade, and Settlement in the Seventeenth Century Atlantic World (Cornell University Press, 2016), guides us through Dutch contributions to the Atlantic World. You can listen to the podcast here: www.benfranklinsworld.com/121
When we think of Native Americans, many of us think of inland dwellers. People adept at navigating forests and rivers and the skilled hunters and horsemen who lived and hunted on the American plains.
But did you know that Native Americans were seafaring mariners too?
In this episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast, Andrew Lipman, an Assistant Professor of History at Barnard College, Columbia University and author of The Saltwater Frontier: Indians and the Contest for the American Coast (Yale University Press, 2016), leads us on an exploration of the northeastern coastline and of the Native American and European peoples who lived there during the seventeenth century. You can listen to this episode here: http: www.benfranklinsworld.com/104
[Read more…] about Saltwater Frontier: Contest for the American Coast
Pirates are alive and well in our popular culture. Thanks to movies like Pirates of the Caribbean and television shows like Black Sails, we see pirates as peg-legged, eye-patch wearing, rum-drinking men.
But are these representations accurate? What do we really know about pirates?
In this episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast, Mark Hanna, an Associate Professor of History at the University of California, San Diego, and author of the award-winning book Pirate Nests and the Rise of the British Empire, 1570-1740, (UNC Press, 2015) helps us fill in the gaps in our knowledge to better understand who pirates were and why they lived the pirate’s life. You can listen to the podcast here: www.benfranklinsworld.com/099
[Read more…] about Pirates & Pirate Nests in the British Atlantic World
In this episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast, we explore the consequences of Spanish involvement in the War for American Independence with Kathleen DuVal, professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and author of Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution. You can listen to the podcast here: www.benfranklinsworld.com/037
[Read more…] about Spain and the American Revolution in the Gulf Coast