Politics Episodes

Women Politics

223. Attending a Lecture on Female Genius with Dr. Mary Sarah Bilder

May 19, 2022

In May 1787, George Washington arrived in Philadelphia to attend the Constitutional Convention. One afternoon, as he waited for the other delegates to show up so the convention could begin, Washington accompanied some ladies…

American Revolution Politics War

222. Winning a "Compleat Victory" at Saratoga with Dr. Kevin Weddle

March 25, 2022

The Battle of Saratoga in September and October of 1777 was a decisive turning point in the American War for Independence. The American victory over the British in northern New York put a stopper to London’s dreams of a swif…

Women Slavery Politics Literature

221. Reading the Political Poetry of Hannah Lawrence Schieffelin with Dr. Kait Tonti

March 9, 2022

Hannah Lawrence Schieffelin was an American poet who rhymed about some of the most important issues facing the early United States in the eighteenth century, including the British occupation of New York City during the Ameri…

Guest: Kait Tonti
American Revolution Politics Early United States

220. Educating Early Americans with Drs. Mark Boonshoft and Andrew O'Shaughnessy

Feb. 18, 2022

If you had been alive in eighteenth-century America, you would've had little opportunity for formal schooling or an advanced education. Unless you were among the elite or at least of some means, your chances of attending a l…

Presidency Politics Early United States

219. Negotiating Federal-State Relations with Dr. Grace Mallon

Feb. 2, 2022

For years after the ratification of the Constitution, Americans debated how the Federal Government and the several states should relate to each other, and work together, to form a more perfect union. The success, if not the …

Guest: Grace Mallon
Politics Digital History

216. Digitally Deconstructing the Constitution with Dr. Nicholas Cole

Dec. 23, 2021

When delegates assembled in Philadelphia in the Summer of 1787 to write a new Constitution, they spent months in secret writing a document they hoped would form a more perfect Union. When we talk about the convention, we oft…

American Revolution Politics Early United States

215. Reading Thomas Paine's Rights of Man with Dr. Frances Chiu

Dec. 2, 2021

For most Americans, Thomas Paine is the radical Englishman, and former tax collector, who published Common Sense in early 1776. His claim that hereditary monarchy was an absurdity and that the “cause of America was in great …

American Revolution Politics Cartography

214. Weaponizing Settlement in Nova Scotia with Dr. Alexandra Montgomery

Nov. 4, 2021

Although you might not realize it, in the years before the American Revolution, Nova Scotia was all the rage. People concocted various schemes to settle it, and the British government saw it as one of the keys to its new vis…

Politics Early United States Digital History

210. Winning a Consolation Prize with Dr. Abby Mullen (Summer Repeat)

Sept. 15, 2021

Consuls are essential to American foreign relations. Although they may not be as flashy or as powerful as an Ambassador like Thomas Jefferson or John Quincy Adams, they’re often the go-to people when an American gets in trou…

Guest: Abby Mullen
Politics Early United States

208. Harnessing Harmony in the Early Republic with Billy Coleman (Summer Repeat)

Aug. 18, 2021

On September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key began composing "The Star-Spangled Banner after witnessing the British attack on Fort McHenry. Of all the things he could have done after seeing that flag, why did Key write a song? …

Mount Vernon Politics The Washingtons

207. Offering George Washington a Royal Gift with Professor José Emilio Yanes (Summer Repeat)

Aug. 4, 2021

In 1784, King Charles III of Spain sent George Washington a token of his esteem. Knowing that Washington had long sought a Spanish donkey for his Mount Vernon estate, the king permitted a jack to be exported to the new Unite…

Presidency Politics Religion Early United States

206. Promoting Joseph Smith for President with Dr. Spencer W. McBride

July 22, 2021

The American Revolution dismembered a protestant empire. In the years during and after the war, states disestablished their churches, old and new denominations flourished, and Americans enshrined religious freedom into their…

American Revolution Politics Early United States

204. Raising Liberty Poles in the Early Republic with Dr. Shira Lurie

June 24, 2021

If you’ve taken part in a part in a protest recently, perhaps you carried a sign, waved a flag, or worn a special hat. But if you had grievances in the American Revolution or early Republic, you might have helped raise a Lib…

Politics Early United States Washington Library Fellows

198. Contesting Monuments and Memory in South Carolina with Dr. Lydia Brandt

April 2, 2021

The South Carolina State House Grounds is a landscape of monuments and memory. Since the capital moved from Charleston to Columbia in the 1780s, South Carolinians have been erecting, moving, and contesting monuments on the c…

Mount Vernon Politics The Washingtons

195b. [En Español] Ofreciendo a George Washington un regalo real con el profesor José Emilio Yanes

Feb. 18, 2021

Bienvenido a Conversaciones en la Biblioteca de Washington. Hoy, Jim Ambuske habla con el profesor José Emilio Yanes de la Universidad de Salamanca en España. Yanes es el autor del libro El Regalo de Carlos III A George Wash…