Matthew Skic from the Museum of the American Revolution and I talk about their exhibit Black Founders: The Forten Family of Philadelphia . 9-year old James Forten heard the Declaration of Independence read in July of 1776, and never forgot its promise of liberty and equality. At the age of 14 he signed aboard a privateer, was captured, taken to New York where a British officer offered to release him and send him to England. He refused rather than betray his country. Back in Philadelphia after the war he became a successful businessman--a sail maker--one of the wealthiest Black men in the country, and the chief benefactor of William Lloyd Garrison's newspaper The Liberator. Join us to hear more about James Forten and his family's story--and for more on Forten, read Julie Winch's great book Gentleman of Color.

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A successful military campaign requires the collection of information and the denial of like information to your enemy. George Washington at the head of a nascent army, without such skills, relied heavily upon many clever and entrepreneurial men. To help us shine a light on the murky world of secret communications, Damien Cregeau, scholar and frequent contributor to the Journal of the American Revolution talks with us about espionage in the American War for Independence.

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Do you think partisan intrigue and accusations of foreign meddling are new things? We talk with Tyson Reeder, author of Serpent in Eden: Foreign Meddling and Partisan Politics in James Madison's America, about how threat of foreign influence propelled Madison's thoughts on forming a stronger union, and how Federalists and Republicans tried to secure their own advantage by accusing each other of foreign entanglements. What was the destructive symbiosis between the two political sides, and did Madison—or do we—see a way to overcome the chasm of distrust?

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A story from the 19th century told that British soldiers marched off the surrender ground at Yorktown to the tune of "The World Turned Upside Down." Whether true or not is beside the point. The world may indeed have seemed upside down. To help us come to grips with the myriad of ways in which life in the British Atlantic world changed, we talk with historian James Patrick Ambuske, producer and narrator for the "Worlds Turned Upside Down" podcast, a production of R2 Studios at the Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. Jim Ambuske is also the co-director of the Scottish Court of Sessions Digital Archives, and other projects to inspire historians.

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Birthplace of American Independence--Ipswich, Massachusetts? In 1687, when King James II tried to take away the power of people in Massachusetts towns to govern themselves, Reverend John Wise of Ipswich lead the town into resistance--leading to his arrest, and the arrest of town leaders. But they stood together--and in an unrelated development, Parliament sent King James packing off to France. When Parliament in the 1760s again tried to assert control, Ipswich stood together, and reminded other Massachusetts patriots of the writings of John Wise. We talk with Gordon Harris, town historian and organizer of the Historic Ipswich website, about the town of Ipswich, the Ipswich Resolves of 1774, and why this small town had such a big impact on the Revolution.

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Congress has bestowed on National Mall Liberty Fund DC the honor of establishing a memorial in Washington’s Monumental Core to tens of thousands of African American solders, sailors, marines, patriots and liberty seekers of the Revolutionary War. In preparation for the design and construction of such a memorial, the National Mall Liberty Fund has been working to document the histories and stories of these valiant soldiers. We talk with Maurice Barboza, the Executive Director of the National Mall Liberty Fund.

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November 5, 1774, at Fort Gower on the Ohio River, Virginia militiamen vowed that their" Love of Liberty, and Attachment to the real Interests and just Rights of America outweigh every other Consideration," and resolved to use "every Power within us for the Defence of American Liberty, and for the Support of her just Rights and Privileges; not in any precipitate, riotous, or tumultous Manner, but when regularly called forth by the unanimous Voice of our Countrymen." We talk with Chris Matheny, Historic Site Manager at Ohio's Statehouse, about this important event and its impact on the future of Ohio and of the American people.

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South Carolina's impact on the outcome of the war as well as the founding of the new nation cannot be overstated. We turn to Walter Edgar, retired George Washington Distinguished Professor of History at the University of South Carolina, host of the popular podcast, “South Carolina from A to Z.” and author of the must-read volume Partisans and Redcoats: The Southern Campaign that Turned the Tide of the American Revolution to untangle the complicated story of the Revolution at its most violent and fascinating.

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