084 How Historians Read Historical Sources (Doing History)

Historians use a lot of different sources when they research the past. Many rely on primary source documents, documents that were written by official government bodies or those written by the people w...

11 Mar 202556min

In 1738, a cooper named Benedict Arnold petitioned the Rhode Island General Assembly for a divorce from his wife Mary Ward Arnold. Benedict claimed that Mary had taken a lover and together they had at...

4 Mar 202548min

When we think of slavery in Early America, we often think about the plantations and economies of the South. But did you know that slavery was also deeply entrenched in New York City? Did you know t...

25 Feb 20251h 1min

What does freedom mean when the deck is stacked against you? In commemoration of Black History Month, we’re revisiting a story that is too often overlooked, but critical to our understanding of Ear...

18 Feb 20251h 5min

Did you know that many of the food traditions that define cuisine in the United States today have roots in African culinary traditions and history? Diane Spviey, a culinary historian and author of ...

11 Feb 20251h 2min

What would you risk for freedom? Would you risk your safety? You family? Your life? During the American Revolution, enslaved women faced these impossible choices when the British Army promised f...

4 Feb 202553min

Did you know that John Adams, not George Washington, solidified the precedents of the executive branch and the presidency? Lindsay Chervinsky, an award-winning presidential historian and the Execut...

28 Jan 20251h 8min

January 20th, marked Inauguration Day in the United States, the day a new president and his administration takes office. So it seems a fitting time for us to revisit a conversation we had in 2020 abou...

21 Jan 20251h 11min