Videos

Professor Thomas Balcerski talked about the culture of Congress in the Antebellum Era. He described how members of Congress in the early 1800s bonded across party lines through tobacco use,…

Professor Jack Rakove talked about some of the issues debated during the Constitutional Convention of 1787, such as the number of representatives for each state and the method of presidential…

University of Maryland Professor Christopher Bonner taught a class about the concept of “power” in antebellum slave societies. He explored the different ways owners and enslaved people…

Clemson University Professor C. Bradley Thompson taught a class about the preamble of the Declaration of Independence. Examining it line by line, he talked about the “self-evident” truths…

University of Utah Professor Eric Hinderaker taught a class about western settlement before, during and after the American Revolution. Using the Kentucky territory as an example, he…

Kutztown University Professor Michael Gabriel taught a class about military engagements during the American Revolution from April 1775 to July 1776. He highlighted the Battle of Bunker…

Gettysburg College Professor Timothy Shannon taught a class on Colonial-era diplomatic ties between the Iroquois Confederacy of the eastern Great Lakes region and European settlers. He…

Christopher Hitchens talked about his book Thomas Jefferson: Author of America, published by HarperCollins in its Eminent Lives series. He described both the public and private lives of Thomas…

Historian Jared Hardesty talked about his book Black Lives, Native Lands, White Worlds: A History of Slavery in New England, which focused on the region’s involvement in slavery and the…

Settled in 1639, Newport, Rhode Island, was the largest slave trade port in North America. Keith Stokes, vice president of the 1696 Heritage Group and a descendant of slaves in Newport, talked about the life…

Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette -- portrayed by Monticello’s Bill Barker and Colonial Williamsburg’s Mark Schneider-- discussed the French Revolution, the alliance between…

Purdue University history professor John Larson looked at how colonial Americans utilized industry to benefit themselves to the detriment of the environment. This was a virtual program…

Professor Alan Taylor talked about alcohol use in the early American republic. By 1830, annual alcohol consumption in America reached four gallons per person, the most in the history of the…

U.S. Capitol Historical Society Chief Historian William “Chuck” diGiacomantonio discussed the tumultuous interactions between Democratic-Republican President Thomas Jefferson and Federalist…

Alexander Tsesis talked about his book For Liberty and Equality: The Life and Times of the Declaration of Independence, a history of the Declaration of Independence from its creation in…

Scott Stephenson gave a tour of the Museum of the American Revolution’s core collection, featuring the story of the first half of the American Revolution, from 1760 to 1778.

Scott Stephenson gave a tour of the Museum of the American Revolution’s core collection, featuring the story of the first half of the American Revolution, from 1760 to 1778.

University of Maryland History Professor Richard Bell talked about the Declaration of Independence, its origins, purpose, and global significance during and after the American Revolution.…

Historians discussed the lives of loyalists, Native Americans and African Americans in the aftermath of the July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence. This discussion was part of a…

Ron Chernow talked about his 2004 biography, Alexander Hamilton, which was adapted into the Broadway musical Hamilton.