Smallpox was the most feared disease in North America and in many parts of the world before its eradication in 1980. So how did early Americans live with smallpox and work to prevent it? How did they help eradicate this terrible disease? Over the...
In what ways did the Atlantic World contribute to the American Revolution? Empire, slavery, and constant warfare interacted with each other in the Atlantic World. Which brings us to our question: In what ways did the Atlantic World and its issues...
How do empires come to be? How are empires made and who makes them? What role do maps play in making empires? Christian Koot is a Professor of History at Towson University and the author of A Biography of a Map in Motion: Augustine Herrman’s...
What does early America look like if we view it through Native American eyes? Jenny Hale Pulsipher, an Associate Professor of History at Brigham Young University, is a scholar who enjoys investigating the many answers to this question. And today...
In 1621, the Pilgrims of Plimoth (or Plymouth) Colony and their Wampanoag neighbors came together to celebrate their first harvest. Today we remember this event as the first Thanksgiving. But what do we really know about this holiday and the people...
How much merit do the economic factors behind the cry “No Taxation Without Representation” have when we consider the origins of the American Revolution? In this episode of the Doing History: To the Revolution series we begin a 3-episode exploration...
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...
How and where did the North American and Caribbean colonies fit within the British Empire? The answer to this question depends on whether you explore the views of a British imperial officer, such as the King of England, or a colonist who lived in...
The Middle Passage forced millions of African men, women, and children to migrate across the Atlantic Ocean, but did you know that there existed an even more deadly voyage for slaves? For many Africans the journey into slavery did not end with their...
Arrr, so ye like pirates do ye? Did ye know that as much as 33% of pirate crews were made up of captured seamen, not pirates? We’ll be talkin' about the “Golden Age” of pirates in this here episode of Ben Franklin’s World with historian and pirate...