Forging the Revolution: Montpelier's Blacksmith Shop and the Hidden Network of the American War

from Consider the Constitution · host The Robert H. Smith Center for the Constitution

What can 500 pounds of slag reveal about the American Revolution? In this episode, Dr. Katie Crawford-Lackey talks with Dr. Matt Reeves, Montpelier's Director of Archaeology, about the blacksmith shop that powered James Madison Sr.'s plantation during the Revolutionary War. Through archaeological evidence and surviving ledger books, they uncover a regional network of production, the expertise of enslaved artisans like Moses, and how this industrial operation supplied the Continental Army—while transforming the economic and social landscape of Revolutionary Virginia.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jan 28, 2026

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Forging the Revolution: Montpelier's Blacksmith Shop and the Hidden Network of the American War

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