Did you know that Connecticut and Virginia once invaded Pennsylvania?
During the 1760s, Connecticut invaded and captured the northeastern corner of Pennsylvania just as Virginia invaded and captured parts of western Pennsylvania. And Pennsylvania stood powerless to stop them.
In this episode, Patrick Spero, the Librarian of the American Philosophical Society and author of Frontier Country: The Politics of War in Early Pennsylvania, takes us through these invasions and reveals why Pennsylvania proved unable to defend its territory.
About the Show
Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.
It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.
Each episode features a conversation with a historian who helps us shed light on important people and events in early American history.
Episode Summary
Patrick Spero, the Librarian of the American Philosophical Society and author of Frontier Country: The Politics of War in Early Pennsylvania, takes us through the intercolonial invasions of Pennsylvania and reveals why the government of colonial Pennsylvania proved unable to defend its territory.
During our investigation, Pat reveals information the founding of Pennsylvania and the form of its colonial government; Early American ideas about the frontier and how those ideas changed over the course of the 18th century; And, how problems in its frontier caused Pennsylvania’s colonial government to collapse by 1776.
What You’ll Discover
- What caused the collapse of Pennsylvania’s government on the eve of the Revolution
- The founding of Pennsylvania
- The Frame of 1701
- The frontier in early America
- Cresap’s War or the Conojocular War
- The Mason-Dixon Line
- How the Conojocular War invited women to participate in politics
- How the French and Indian War altered early Americans’ perceptions of the frontier
- Digital mapping
- The Conestoga Massacre of 1763
- The Paxton Boys
- Connecticut and Virginia’s claims on Pennsylvania
- Pennsylvania’s resistance to Connecticut and Virginia
- The Articles of Confederation and western lands
- What independence meant for Pennsylvania and its government
Links to People, Places, and Publications
- Patrick Spero
- Pat’s Website
- American Philosophical Society
- American Philosophical Society Calendar of Events
- Frontier Country: The Politics of War in Early Pennsylvania
- The Revolution Reborn
- The David Library of the American Revolution
- Historical Society of Pennsylvania
- Mapping Early American Frontiers

Sponsor Links
Complementary Episodes
- Episode 029: Colin Calloway, The Victory With No Name: The Native American Defeat of the First American Army
- Episode 048: Ken Miller, Dangerous Guests: Enemy Captives During the War for Independence
- Episode 056: Daniel J. Tortora, The Anglo-Cherokee War, 1759-1761
- Episode 079: Jim Horn, What is a Historical Source? (Colonial Jamestown)
- Episode 104: Andrew Lipman, The Saltwater Frontier: Europeans & Native American on the Northeastern Coast

Time Warp Question
In your opinion, what might have happened if the colonies had either not pursued independence or not pursued it for another twenty years or so? What would have happened to Pennsylvania’s ability to function as a colony if independence had been delayed?

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