New England

Firsting and Lasting: Writing Indians Out of Existence

January 2, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Vermont Historical Society will host “Firsting and Lasting: Writing Indians out of Existence in New England” with Jean M. O’Brien, a virtual program on Wednesday, January 19th.

Drawing on more than six hundred local histories from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island written between 1820 and 1880, O’Brien explores how these narratives inculcated the myth of Indian extinction, a myth that has stubbornly remained in the American consciousness.

O’Brien argues that local histories became a primary means by which European Americans asserted their own modernity while denying it to Indian peoples. [Read more…] about Firsting and Lasting: Writing Indians Out of Existence

World of the Wampanoag: 1620 and Beyond

December 23, 2020 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

When the English colonists arrived at Patuxet 400 years ago, they arrived at a confusing time. The World of the Wampanoag people had changed in the wake of a destabilizing epidemic.

This episode of Ben Franklin’s World: A Podcast About Early American History is part of a two-episode series about the World of the Wampanoag. In Episode 290, we investigated the life, cultures, and trade of the Wampanoag and their neighbors, the Narragansett, up to December 16, 1620, the day the Mayflower made its way into Plymouth Harbor. [Read more…] about World of the Wampanoag: 1620 and Beyond

A 17th-Century Native American Life

May 1, 2019 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

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

New England Indians, Colonists, and Origins of American Slavery

January 16, 2019 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

Did you know that one of the earliest practices of slavery by English colonists originated in New England?

In fact, Massachusetts issued the very first slave code in English America in 1641. Why did New Englanders turn to slavery and become the first in English America to codify its practice? [Read more…] about New England Indians, Colonists, and Origins of American Slavery

The Great Awakening in New England

April 25, 2018 by Liz Covart 1 Comment

In this episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast, Douglas Winiarski, a Professor of American Studies and Religious Studies at the University of Richmond and the author of the Bancroft prize-winning book, Darkness Falls on the Land of Light: Experiencing Religious Awakenings in Eighteenth-Century New England (OIEAHC, 2017), helps us explore the religious landscape of New England during the 18th century and how New Englanders answered these powerful questions during the extraordinary period known as the Great Awakening.You can listen to the podcast here: www.benfranklinsworld.com/182

Journal of Phebe Orvis Reveals Extraordinary Woman

June 10, 2017 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

A new book by Susan M. Ouelette An Extraordinary Ordinary Woman: The Journal of Phebe Orvis, 1820-1830 (SUNY Press, 2017) takes a look at Phebe Orvis, a young woman adapting to life on the New York and Vermont frontier.

In 1820, Phebe Orvis began a journal that she faithfully kept for a decade. Her diary captures not only the everyday life of an ordinary woman in early nineteenth-century Vermont and New York, but also the unusual happenings of her family, neighborhood, and beyond. [Read more…] about Journal of Phebe Orvis Reveals Extraordinary Woman

A History of Stepfamilies in Early America

May 6, 2015 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

Like many 21st-century Americans, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Abraham Lincoln all had to navigate the world of blended and stepfamilies.

In this episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast, Lisa Wilson, the Charles J. MacCurdy Professor of American History at Connecticut College and author of A History of Stepfamilies in Early America (University of North Carolina Press, 2014), leads us on an investigation of blended and stepfamilies in early America. You can listen to the podcast here: www.benfranklinsworld.com/027