Revolutions in Retrospect

For modern Americans, age is a prime factor in many milestones: learning how to drive, voting for the first time, and legally consuming alcohol. Using age as a standard for laws began in the founding era. Despite many advancements in the understanding of human development, it has largely remained unchanged since.  And while we might think of these age-based laws as safeguards for children, they were in fact developed with the goal of better controlling them. Is it time that such laws, both civil and criminal, were updated for modern society? In this episode, Dr. Lynn Price Robbins is joined by Dr. Holly White to discuss her new book, Constructing American Childhood: Age-Based Laws and the Illusion of Protection in the Early United States. Hosted by Dr. Lynn Price Robbins. Executive producers are Dr. Jim Ambuske, Jeanette Patrick, and Patrick Long. Audio and video editing by Patrick Long. Revolutions in Retrospect is a joint production of Primary Source Media and Revolutionary Histories.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." So begins the preamble to the Declaration of Independence. In our own time, these words are part of the American Creed, the most important part of a document that set a new nation on its revolutionary course. But to Thomas Jefferson and the men who wrote the Declaration in the summer of 1776, these stirring words were but window dressing to the charges levelled against the men who they held responsible for a civil war and had made independence necessary. In that moment, no part of the Declaration mattered more to them than the list of 27 grievances directed at King George III, a series of indictments that accused the monarch of betraying his British American subjects. Yet, more than just the king lurked behind each count. He alone could not "impose Taxes on us without our Consent" nor have "plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people" without help from a gallery of tyrants and rogues. Names like Gage, Hutchinson, Tryon, or Duggingston may not appear in the Declaration, and they may be obscure to us, but to Jefferson and other British Americans, their presence was self-evident.   In this episode, Dr. Jim Ambuske is joined by Dr. Robert Parkinson to discuss his new book, Tyrants and Rogues: Understanding the Declaration of Independence. Hosted by Dr. Jim Ambuske. Executive producers are Dr. Lynn Price Robbins, Jeanette Patrick, and Patrick Long. Audio and video editing by Patrick Long. Revolutions in Retrospect is a joint production of Primary Source Media and Revolutionary Histories.

We know the stories of the Founding Fathers and the drafting of the Declaration of Independence — but what about the people who learned about it days, weeks, or even months later across the colonies and around the world? Tracing the Declaration's journey—from broadsides and public readings to censored London printings—reveals how diverse audiences such as printers, Anglican ministers, Indigenous nations, enslaved people, and everyday colonists encountered, translated, and reacted to the Declaration when it was still news, and not yet the sacred historical text that we consider it today. Dr. Lynn Price Robbins is joined by Dr. Emily Sneff to discuss her new book, When the Declaration of Independence was News. Hosted by Dr. Lynn Price Robbins. Executive producers are Dr. Jim Ambuske, Jeanette Patrick, and Patrick Long. Audio and video editing by Patrick Long. Revolutions in Retrospect is a joint production of Primary Source Media and Revolutionary Histories.

Sir James Wright very much had Georgia on his mind. The colony's last royal governor envisioned a bright future for one of British America's youngest provinces, but events soon outran his imagination.  Although Georgians were slower to embrace revolution in the 1770s than fellow subjects were in Virginia or Massachusetts Bay, a delay due in no small measure to Governor Wright's power and influence, he could stem the tide only for so long. When revolution came it put the governor's own loyalty to the test. Would he stay loyal to his king, or would he defy him?  In this episode, Dr. Jim Ambuske is joined by Dr. Greg Brooking to discuss his recent book, From Empire to Revolution: Sir James Wright and the Price of Loyalty in Georgia. Hosted by Dr. Jim Ambuske. Executive producers are Dr. Lynn Price Robbins, Jeanette Patrick, and Patrick Long. Audio and video editing by Patrick Long. Revolutions in Retrospect is a joint production of Primary Source Media and Revolutionary Histories.

In 1861, the United States fractured into civil war—but the young republic had come dangerously close to a similar breaking point decades earlier. In 1798, under President John Adams, the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts inflamed partisan tensions, prompting the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, which nearly tore the new nation apart. Amid this crisis, George Washington turned to an unlikely ally. Patrick Henry—the fiery orator famous for his "Give me liberty or give me death!" speech—came out of retirement at Washington's urging. Once a fierce Anti-Federalist, Henry set aside ideological differences to defend the Constitution and protect the fragile Union. This final act created a framework for loyal opposition in a republic, demonstrating that passionate disagreement need not mean disunion. Dr. Lynn Price Robbins is joined by Dr. John Ragosta to discuss his book, For the People, For the Country: Patrick Henry's Final Political Battle. Hosted by Dr. Lynn Price Robbins. Executive producers are Dr. Jim Ambuske, Jeanette Patrick, and Patrick Long. Audio and video editing by Patrick Long. Revolutions in Retrospect is a joint production of Primary Source Media and Revolutionary Histories.

The American Revolution is often celebrated as a glorious cause, as the period when 13 colonies defied an oppressive empire, declared independence, and created a new nation. In many retellings, the revolution is a local tale of aggrieved colonists who became disenchanted with the greedy Parliament and felt betrayed by their tyrannical king. But what about the rest of that empire? Of the colonies in North America and the Caribbean that remained loyal to the crown, of places like Ireland, Senegal, and India that were woven into the fabric of an empire that some Americans eventually rejected. If we take a global view of the American Revolution, do some truths become less self-evident? In this episode, Dr. Jim Ambuske is joined by Dr. Andrew O'Shaughnessy to discuss his recent book, Republic and Empire: Crisis, Revolution, and America's Early Independence. Hosted by Dr. Jim Ambuske. Executive producers are Dr. Lynn Price Robbins, Jeanette Patrick, and Patrick Long. Audio and video editing by Patrick Long. Revolutions in Retrospect is a joint production of Primary Source Media and Revolutionary Histories.

Five women—two wives, two enslaved women, and one indentured servant—were bound by their connection to the powerful Barbados politician John Peers. Between them, Hester, Susannah, Elizabeth, Dorothy, and Frances bore at least twenty children, many conceived through coercion and violence. Yet even in a world that denied them autonomy over their own bodies, these women carved out remarkable lives for themselves and their children in both Barbados and England. This transatlantic story explores how family and colonial power were inseparable in a world shaped by race, patriarchy, and unfreedom—and the central role women played in building an empire. While their story survives through an unusually rich archive, these women's experiences echo those of thousands of families across the early modern Atlantic world, revealing both the intimacy and the brutality at the heart of colonial society. Dr. Lynn Price Robbins is joined by Dr. Jenny Shaw to discuss her book, The Women of Rendezvous: A Transatlantic Story of Family and Slavery. Hosted by Dr. Lynn Price Robbins. Executive producers are Dr. Jim Ambuske, Jeanette Patrick, and Patrick Long. Audio and video editing by Patrick Long. Revolutions in Retrospect is a joint production of Primary Source Media and Revolutionary Histories.

In the 1760s, the Atlantic world teetered on the edge of Revolution. In the years after the Seven Years' War, a global conflict that transformed Europe, West Africa, and the Americas in ways that many intended and many did not, the very fabric of that world began to unravel. First the American, then the French, followed by the Haitian, and then rebellions in South America frayed, twisted, and in some cases broke long-standing connections between peoples and nations on both sides of the ocean. An Atlantic system that had taken centuries to build came undone, leaving in its wake monuments to a world turned upside down. This was the Age of Atlantic Revolution. In this episode, Dr. Jim Ambuske is joined by Dr. Patrick Griffin to discuss his recent book, The Age of Atlantic Revolution: The Fall and Rise of a Connected World. Hosted by Dr. Jim Ambuske. Executive producers are Dr. Lynn Price Robbins, Jeanette Patrick, and Patrick Long. Audio and video editing by Patrick Long. Revolutions in Retrospect is a joint production of Primary Source Media and Revolutionary Histories.

If you go to a tavern today, you are most likely looking for a meal and perhaps an alcoholic beverage. However, taverns functioned more broadly between the 1780s and the 1850s. Following the Revolutionary War in the new United States, taverns were legally mandated to offer lodging along with spirits. These establishments were vital hubs of travel, commerce, politics, and sociability. From stagecoach stops to informal train stations, taverns anchored the infrastructure of a growing nation. Taverns also served as a microcosm of American society, both shaping and reflecting the cultural tensions of the era. Reform movements, economic negotiations, and the evolving ideas of citizenship transformed these simple buildings from within, revealing everyday ways people claimed belonging in the young and rapidly changing nation. Dr. Lynn Price Robbins is joined by Dr. Kirsten E. Wood to discuss her new book, Accommodating the Republic: Taverns in the Early United States. Hosted by Dr. Lynn Price Robbins. Executive producers are Dr. Jim Ambuske, Jeanette Patrick, and Patrick Long. Audio and video editing by Patrick Long. Revolutions in Retrospect is a joint production of Primary Source Media and Revolutionary Histories.

In 1796, workmen discovered ghosts in the Tower of London. As they stripped away wooden paneling from the walls, they found messages from the past carved deep into stone that lay below. Poems, elaborate coats of arms, simple initials, and Christian symbols all paid tribute to the final days of just some of the many people who met their end within the castle's walls. The forgotten graffiti in the Tower of London was an astonishing discovery, but not an uncommon one. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, London women and men left their marks above doors, on walls, and in the strangest places, offering us brief glimpses into moments of utter farce and the most horrible of crimes. At some point in our lives, we all must face the writing on the wall, but in some cases, what others have left behind can reveal to us how they lived. In this episode, Dr. Jim Ambuske talks with historian Madeleine Pelling, Ph.D. about her recent book Writing on the Wall: Graffiti & Rebellion in Eighteenth-Century Britain. Hosted by Dr. Jim Ambuske. Executive producers are Dr. Lynn Price Robbins, Jeanette Patrick, and Patrick Long. Audio and video editing by Patrick Long. Revolutions in Retrospect is a joint production of Primary Source Media and Revolutionary Histories.

Death was a constant presence in early America, but grief extended far beyond the loss of loved ones. Everyday hardships—such as chronic illness, property dispossession, reproductive trauma, and bodily injury—made loss a near-constant companion. Together, these experiences of suffering produced a dense and often overlooked emotional landscape, one that shaped individual lives and the social worlds they inhabited. In this episode, Dr. Lynn Price Robbins talks with historian Mary Eyring, Ph.D., about people's experiences with grief in Early America and her new book Saltwater: Grief in Early America. Hosted by Dr. Lynn Price Robbins. Executive producers are Dr. Jim Ambuske, Jeanette Patrick, and Patrick Long. Audio and video editing by Patrick Long. Revolutions in Retrospect is a joint production of Primary Source Media and Revolutionary Histories.

On January 1, 1804, Jean Jacque Dessalines and his followers announced to their countrymen and to the rest of the world that their home was no longer the French colony of San Domingue. It was now the nation of Haiti. After years of revolutionary civil war, the abolition of slavery and fears of slavery's return, Dessalines asked the citizens of Haiti "to let us swear to fight to our last breath and for the independence of our country." That nation was the world's first black republic. In this episode, Dr. Jim Ambuske talks with historian Julia Gaffield, Ph.D., about what we can learn from Jean-Jacques Dessalines. A man born enslaved on a San Domingo coffee plantation, who died emperor of Haiti, a man who boasted, "I have avenged America." Hosted by Dr. Jim Ambuske. Executive producers are Dr. Lynn Price Robbins, Jeanette Patrick, and Patrick Long. Audio and video editing by Patrick Long. Revolutions in Retrospect is a joint production of Primary Source Media and Revolutionary Histories.

The American Revolution ushered in a bold new system of government—one that depended on an informed and educated citizenry. Once the privilege of the elite, literacy and learning suddenly became essential for ordinary Americans. But who would build the institutions to educate the public, and what should they teach? Who had the authority to produce new knowledge, and how could its accuracy be trusted? From the creation of the Library of Congress to proposals for a national university and the founding of the Smithsonian Institution, early Americans wrestled with who should control the creation and dissemination of knowledge. These debates shaped the nation's intellectual foundations—and they echo powerfully today, as modern society once again struggles to assess credibility, expertise, and trust amid an overwhelming chorus of voices. Dr. Lynn Price Robbins is joined by Dr. George Oberle to discuss his new book Creating an Informed Citizenry: Contested Knowledge in the Early American Republic.  Hosted by Dr. Lynn Price Robbins. Executive producers are Dr. Jim Ambuske, Jeanette Patrick, and Patrick Long. Audio and video editing by Patrick Long. Revolutions in Retrospect is a joint production of Primary Source Media and Revolutionary Histories.

In the seventeenth-century Scottish town of Ayr, Scots swore a sacred oath to defend the Presbyterian Church of Scotland against the meddling of King Charles I. These Scots pledged to lead godly lives and submit themselves to judgment when Satan's temptations overwhelmed them. But in the years that followed, the return of the plague, the killing of a king, the outbreak of civil war, the occupation of the town by English soldiers, and the specter of witchcraft all tested their faith in God and in each other. In this episode, Dr. Jim Ambuske talks with historian Mikki Brock, Ph.D, about a crisis of faith in a seventeenth-century Scottish community. Hosted by Dr. Jim Ambuske. Executive producers are Dr. Lynn Price Robbins, Jeanette Patrick, and Patrick Long. Audio and video editing by Patrick Long. Revolutions in Retrospect is a joint production of Primary Source Media and Revolutionary Histories.

The American colonies declared their independence in 1776 with the famous line that "All men are created equal." But the reality of the Revolution told a different story. Women remained subordinate to men, limited by laws, social customs, and finance rules that restricted their rights and autonomy. But that is only part of the story. In this episode, Dr. Lynn Price Robbins talks with Jacqueline Beatty, Ph.D., about how women began to see themselves as individuals with rights, which helped lay the groundwork for future generations of American feminists.  Hosted by Dr. Lynn Price Robbins. Executive producers are Dr. Jim Ambuske, Jeanette Patrick, and Patrick Long. Audio and video editing by Patrick Long. Revolutions in Retrospect is a joint production of Primary Source Media and Revolutionary Histories.

For centuries, Black mariners plied the waters of the Atlantic world. From the decks of ships that traversed vast distances between Brazil, Portugal, West Africa, and beyond, through dangerous swells and past enemy fleets, enslaved seamen connected continents as they labored for the Portuguese Empire in the Age of Revolutions. Despite their enslavement, they made a world that was their own. In this episode, Dr. Jim Ambuske talks with historian Mary Hicks, Ph.D, about these "captive cosmopolitans," who traded goods on their own accounts, infused Brazil with West African religions, foods, and fashions, and used Royal edicts pronounced in Lisbon to argue for their freedom. Hosted by Dr. Jim Ambuske. Executive producers are Dr. Lynn Price Robbins, Jeanette Patrick, and Patrick Long. Audio and video editing by Patrick Long. Revolutions in Retrospect is a joint production of Primary Source Media and Revolutionary Histories. Learn More: Mary Hicks, University of Chicago https://history.uchicago.edu/directory/mary-hicks Purchase Captive Cosmopolitans: Black Mariners and the World of South Atlantic Slavery 2024) at https://bookshop.org/shop/RevolutionaryHistories Support Great History on Patreon: Primary Source Media: https://patreon.com/PrimarySourceMedia?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_fan&utm_content=join_link Revolutionary Histories: https://www.patreon.com/c/RevolutionaryHistories?utm_campaign=creatorshare_fan

Alexander Hamilton was just 25 when he was elected to the Continental Congress. Abigail Adams was 31 when she urged her husband John to "Remember the Ladies." Thomas Jefferson was only 32 when he drafted the Declaration of Independence. Today, we tend to picture all of them as older, grey-haired figures rather than ambitious and youthful. But as America aged, so did its leaders.In this episode, Dr. Lynn Price Robbins talks with Rebecca Brannon, Ph.D. about the gerontocracy the founders didn't want. Executive produced by Dr. Jim Ambuske, Dr. Lynn Price Robbins, Jeanette Patrick, and Patrick Long. Audio and video editing by Patrick Long. Revolutions in Retrospect is a joint production of Primary Source Media and Revolutionary Histories. 

In 1824, nearly 50 years after he first set foot on American shores, the Marquis de Lafayette returned to the United States of America. He longed to see the progress of the nation he helped to found, a nation whose work he knew remained unfinished. And so, in the summer of 1824, Lafayette returned to his adopted home one last time, before he bid his last adieu. In this episode, Dr. Jim Ambuske talks with Ryan L. Cole about Lafayette's final journey to the United States, a moment that held up a mirror to Revolutionary America. Purchase Ryan L. Cole's The Last Adieu: Lafayette's Triumphant Return, the Echoes of Revolution, and the Gratitude of the Republic. Hosted by Dr. Jim Ambuske. Executive producers are Dr. Lynn Price Robbins, Jeanette Patrick, and Patrick Long. Audio and video editing by Patrick Long. Revolutions in Retrospect is a joint production of Primary Source Media and Revolutionary Histories.