Podcasts about citizen sailors becoming american

“As early as 1805, you had orators getting up there — barely twenty years after American independence was recognised by Great Britain — saying: the Republic is over. We've had it. So there is a tradition of calling it the end times.” — Nathan Perl-Rosenthal It's less than three weeks until America's big birthday bash. But what exactly will be celebrated this 250th Independence Day? In The Long Revolution: Creating a United States After 1776, the historian Nathan Perl-Rosenthal read some 2,500 July 4 orations delivered in the hundred years after independence. And what he found is that most Americans didn't believe that the revolution was really over. Orators often unfavourably compared the American Revolution to the French, Spanish American, and European revolutions of 1830 and 1848. They argued bitterly about slavery. As late as the 1870s, leading orators were insisting that the revolution was unfinished because the truths of the Declaration of Independence had not yet been fully worked out. Fast forward to 2026 and Perl-Rosenthal suggests a return to the kind of sustained public dialogue that the oratorical tradition once represented. So put down your smartphones on July 4 and tell the world where America currently is and where it should go. The act of oration, Perl-Rosenthal suggests, is not just a civic act, but essential to the country's long revolutionary tradition. So happy birthday America. And many many more. Five Takeaways •       100,000 Orations: The Archive Nobody Knew About: In the first century after independence, an estimated 100,000 July 4 orations were delivered across the United States — roughly a thousand towns and villages, each holding an annual address for a hundred years. Of those, 2,500 survive in published form as pamphlets, now collected in a digital database at fourthofjulyorations.org. These are not peripheral documents. They were delivered by the most prominent public figures of their day — lawyers, clergymen, politicians — before large audiences. They are among the richest sources we have for what ordinary Americans actually thought about their revolution and their republic. •       The Revolution Was Ongoing: Most Orators Believed This Well Into the 1870s: The single most striking finding of Perl-Rosenthal's research: most orators, deep into the nineteenth century, did not regard the revolution as a completed historical event. They saw themselves not as commemorating it but as participating in it. As late as the 1870s, leading orators were insisting the revolution remained unfinished. One orator in Boston in 1870, in a debate about immigration policy and Chinese exclusion, argued that the revolution could not be over because the inalienable rights proclaimed in the Declaration had not yet been universally extended. The parallel to the immigration debates of 2026 is, Perl-Rosenthal suggests, striking. •       The Orations Were Critical, Not Triumphalist: Perl-Rosenthal went into the archive expecting, as he puts it, “rah America.” He found something quite different. Many orators compared the American Revolution unfavourably to other revolutions: to the French in the 1790s, to Spanish American revolutions in the 1810s and 1820s, to the European revolutions of 1830 and 1848. The comparisons often did not flatter America. Wealthy Bostonians giving the prestigious Boston oration — one of the oldest and most prominent in the country — would argue explicitly that the founders had failed to deal with slavery. The critical tradition was mainstream, not marginal. •       1876 as the Turning Point: When the Tradition Died: The July 4 oration tradition effectively ended after 1876. That year, Congress for the first time asked towns and cities to deliver historical rather than political orations — accounts of local history rather than arguments about the present. A tenfold increase in orations was followed by a rapid collapse of the tradition. The shift was significant: from argument to commemoration, from an ongoing political conversation to a museum piece. The practice of serious sustained public political dialogue — an hour or more, in public, about the state of the republic — has not recovered. •       A Low, Dishonest Period: What the Tradition Offers Now: Mark Lilla's blurb: “a low, dishonest period in our history. This surprisingly timely book reminds us of our responsibilities.” Perl-Rosenthal is not catastrophist about the current moment — he notes that orators were calling it the end times as early as 1805. But he is clear about what is missing: a forum for sustained public argument about where America is and where it should go. The smartphone generation, he acknowledges, is unlikely to sit through an hour-long oration. That, he suggests, is precisely the problem. About the Guest Nathan Perl-Rosenthal is a professor of history, French and Italian, and law at the University of Southern California. He has been a fellow at Harvard and Cambridge. He is the author of The Long Revolution: Creating a United States After 1776 (Basic Books, June 2, 2026), Citizen Sailors: Becoming American in the Age of Revolution (Belknap/Harvard), and The Age of Revolutions. His writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, The Nation, and the Los Angeles Times. He lives in Los Angeles and Cambridge, Massachusetts. References: •       The Long Revolution: Creating a United States After 1776 by Nathan Perl-Rosenthal (Basic Books, June 2, 2026). •       fourthofjulyorations.org — the digital database of 2,500 published July 4 orations referenced throughout. •       Eric Foner — Perl-Rosenthal's dissertation adviser at Columbia, referenced as still giving July 4 orations in his Connecticut town. •       Mark Lilla — referenced for his blurb: “a low, dishonest period in our history. This surprisingly timely book reminds us of our responsibilities.” About Keen On America Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brings his pointed Transatlantic wit to making sense of the United States — hosting daily interviews about the history and future of this now venerable Republic. With nearly 2,900 episodes since the show launched on TechCrunch in 2010, Keen On America is the most prolific intellectual interview show in the history of podcasting. Website

From the 1760s into the 1830s, waves of revolutions rolled up upon the shores of the Atlantic World, confusing or destroying entrenched political and social hierarchies, and ushering in a new era of democratic rule. These of course were headlined by the American and French Revolutions, but there were no less important ones that quickly followed: not only the Haitian revolution, but in the Andes, in Italy, and eventually throughout the Spanish and Portuguese empires in the Americas. It was a period of unprecedented and–perhaps–unmatched political, economic, social, and artistic upheaval.  This is the canvas for Nathan Perl-Rosenthal in his new book The Age of Revolutions: And the Generations Who Made It. It spans multiple continents, touching on both familiar and very unfamiliar people and places. Nathan Perl-Rosenthal is Professor of History at the University of Southern California. His previous book was Citizen Sailors: Becoming American in the Age of Revolution.  For Further Investigation As I said at the beginning of the conversation, this is one of a series on the revolutionary connections of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. For an intro, see my conversation with David Bell in Episode 176. Micah Alpaugh described how certain means were adopted and adapted by revolutionary movements in that era. And Episode 288 with Jonathan Singerton was about the influence of the American Revolution on the Hapsburg Empire.

In this episode, Kate welcomes historian Dr. Nathan Perl-Rosenthal. Nathan is a professor history at the University of Southern California. His first book, Citizen Sailors: Becoming American in the Age of Revolution, came out in 2015. His new book just came out this month, February 2024, from Basic Books. It's called The Age of Revolutions and the Generations Who Made It, and it tells the history of the revolutionary era from 1760 to 1825 across multiple nations and many individual lives. Nathan and Kate talked about the merits of messy outlines, how historians could borrow the techniques of fiction writers, and why his new book was a bit like making cheese – you'll just have to listen to find out what that's all about.

What kind of character should Americans have? Is it possible to create a shared sense of national character and identity that all Americans can subscribe to? Americans grappled with many questions about what it meant to be an American and a citizen of the new republic after the American Revolution. They grappled with these questions because the people who made up the new United States hailed from many different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. So they wondered: How do you unite the disparate peoples of the United States into one national people? Catherine Kelly, author of Republic of Taste: Art, Politics, and Everyday Life in Early America, joins us to explore the world of art, politics, and taste in the early American republic and how that world contributed to the formation of American character and virtue. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/201   Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute Babbel (Use promo code BFWorld to save 50 percent off your first 3 months) OI Books Flash Sale (Use promo code 01BFW before September 4, 2018 to save 50 percent)   Complementary Episodes Episode 024: Kimberly Alexander, 18th-Century Fashion & Material Culture Episode 076: Nathan Perl-Rosenthal, Citizen Sailors: Becoming American in the Age of Revolution Episode 084: Zara Anishanslin, How Historians Read Historical Sources Episode 127: Caroline Winterer, American Enlightenments Episode 136: Jennifer Van Horn, Material Culture and the Making of America   Helpful Show Links Ben Franklin's World Facebook Page Join the Ben Franklin's World Community Sign-up for the Franklin Gazette Newsletter Ben Franklin's World iOS App Ben Franklin's World Android App   *Books purchased through this link will help support the production of Ben Franklin's World.

The Alien and Sedition Acts consisted of four laws enacted by the United States government in 1798. The United States passed these laws during a time of great uncertainty, a time when many Americans feared for the very survival for their nation. But why did Americans fear for the United States’ existence and why did they think four laws that limited citizenship and freedom of speech would protect and secure their young republic? Terri Halperin, an instructor at the University of Richmond and author of The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798: Testing the Constitution, will help us find answers to these questions by taking us through the Alien and Sedition Acts and how they came to be. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/188   Send Liz your questions about early American history for Episode 200!   Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute Children of Uncertain Fortune  (Use promo code 01DAH40 to save 40 percent)   Complementary Episodes Episode 007: John Adams and the Adams Papers Documentary Editing Project Episode 017: François Furstenberg, When the United States Spoke French Episode 052: Ronald Johnson, Early United States-Haitian Diplomacy Episode 076: Nathan Perl-Rosenthal, Citizen Sailors: Becoming American in the Age of Revolution Episode 165: The Age of Revolutions Episode 167: Eberhard Faber, The Early History of New Orleans     Helpful Show Links Ben Franklin's World Facebook Page Join the Ben Franklin's World Community Sign-up for the Franklin Gazette Newsletter Ben Franklin's World iOS App Ben Franklin's World Android App   *Books purchased through this link will help support the production of Ben Franklin's World.

How did Americans find out about the Revolution? What effect did printed materials like newspapers, pamphlets, and books have on shaping the debate about independence? And just how big of a role did Thomas Paine’s Common Sense play in causing Americans to declare their independence from Great Britain? In this episode of the Doing History: To the Revolution! series, we explore these question with four scholars of Revolutionary communication: Alyssa Zuercher Reichardt, Eric Slauter, Seth Cotlar, and Trish Loughran. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/156   Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute William and Mary Quarterly OI Reader App Episode 076: Nathan Perl-Rosenthal, Citizen Sailors: Becoming American in the Age of Revolution William and Mary Quarterly-Journal of the Early Republic special issue on the American Revolution discount   Complementary Episodes Episode 001: James Green, The Library Company of Philadelphia Episode 141: A Declaration in Draft Episode 144: Robert Parkinson, The Cause of the American Revolution Episode 152: Origins of the American Revolution Episode 153: Committees and Congress: Governments of the American Revolution     Helpful Show Links Ben Franklin's World Facebook Page Join the Ben Franklin's World Community Sign-up for the Franklin Gazette Newsletter Ben Franklin's World iOS App Ben Franklin's World Android App   *Books purchased through this link will help support the production of Ben Franklin's World.

What did it mean to be a citizen during the late-18th and early-19th centuries? Why and how did early American sailors seem intent on proving their citizenship to the United States? In this episode, we explore citizenship and maritime life during the Age of Revolutions with Nathan Perl-Rosenthal, an Assistant Professor of History and Spatial Sciences at the University of Southern California and author of Citizen Sailors: Becoming American in the Age of Revolution. Show Notes: http://www.benfranklinsworld.com/076   Helpful Show Links Help Support Ben Franklin's World Crowdfunding Campaign   Ask the Historian Ben Franklin's World Facebook Page Join the Ben Franklin's World Community Sign-up for the Franklin Gazette Newsletter Ben Franklin's World iOS App Ben Franklin's World Android App *Books purchased through this link will help support the production of Ben Franklin's World.

Nathan Perl-Rosenthal‘s Citizen Sailors: Becoming American in the Age of Revolution (Harvard University Press, 2015), explores the fascinating history of identification and citizenship in the Atlantic world during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. British and French navies harried American privateers and merchantmen, seizing their cargo, imprisoning their bodies, and laying false claim to their allegiance. Rosenthal shows how American sailors were the first to demand official status and national recognition from the federal government. Using diverse sources such as notarized affidavits, tattoos, and eventually national identity papers, Perl-Rosenthal shows how sailors secured for themselves a measure of personal safety and security in a perilous Atlantic. The shifting patterns of imperial expansion and nationality of the Age of Revolution did not adapt quickly enough to accommodate new American identities. The Atlantic world operated on an informal and imprecise metric of “common sense nationality” that demarcated one's national allegiance through shared visual, linguistic, or cultural cues. The British Navy often claimed American sailors as deserters or traitors to the crown, unable or unwilling to distinguish between those loyal to the United States and those fleeing conscription. Provided with faulty, incomplete, or fraudulent identification, Americans were at risk of false imprisonment at the hands of the British. American ships would often fly British or French colors as flags of necessity, hiding from hostile ships and marauding privateers. Responding to the press gang, imprisonment, and execution Perl-Rosenthal shows how the American federal government took action, providing the first national identification documents available to sailors of all races who wished or required them. In so doing, the new federal government engaged in the first formal recognition of black sailors as citizens decades before the American Civil War. James Esposito is a historian and researcher interested in digital history, empire, and the history of technology. James can be reached via email at espositojamesj@gmail.com and on Twitter @james_esposito_ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nathan Perl-Rosenthal‘s Citizen Sailors: Becoming American in the Age of Revolution (Harvard University Press, 2015), explores the fascinating history of identification and citizenship in the Atlantic world during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. British and French navies harried American privateers and merchantmen, seizing their cargo, imprisoning their bodies, and laying false claim to their allegiance. Rosenthal shows how American sailors were the first to demand official status and national recognition from the federal government. Using diverse sources such as notarized affidavits, tattoos, and eventually national identity papers, Perl-Rosenthal shows how sailors secured for themselves a measure of personal safety and security in a perilous Atlantic. The shifting patterns of imperial expansion and nationality of the Age of Revolution did not adapt quickly enough to accommodate new American identities. The Atlantic world operated on an informal and imprecise metric of “common sense nationality” that demarcated one’s national allegiance through shared visual, linguistic, or cultural cues. The British Navy often claimed American sailors as deserters or traitors to the crown, unable or unwilling to distinguish between those loyal to the United States and those fleeing conscription. Provided with faulty, incomplete, or fraudulent identification, Americans were at risk of false imprisonment at the hands of the British. American ships would often fly British or French colors as flags of necessity, hiding from hostile ships and marauding privateers. Responding to the press gang, imprisonment, and execution Perl-Rosenthal shows how the American federal government took action, providing the first national identification documents available to sailors of all races who wished or required them. In so doing, the new federal government engaged in the first formal recognition of black sailors as citizens decades before the American Civil War. James Esposito is a historian and researcher interested in digital history, empire, and the history of technology. James can be reached via email at espositojamesj@gmail.com and on Twitter @james_esposito_ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nathan Perl-Rosenthal‘s Citizen Sailors: Becoming American in the Age of Revolution (Harvard University Press, 2015), explores the fascinating history of identification and citizenship in the Atlantic world during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. British and French navies harried American privateers and merchantmen, seizing their cargo, imprisoning their bodies, and laying false claim to their allegiance. Rosenthal shows how American sailors were the first to demand official status and national recognition from the federal government. Using diverse sources such as notarized affidavits, tattoos, and eventually national identity papers, Perl-Rosenthal shows how sailors secured for themselves a measure of personal safety and security in a perilous Atlantic. The shifting patterns of imperial expansion and nationality of the Age of Revolution did not adapt quickly enough to accommodate new American identities. The Atlantic world operated on an informal and imprecise metric of “common sense nationality” that demarcated one’s national allegiance through shared visual, linguistic, or cultural cues. The British Navy often claimed American sailors as deserters or traitors to the crown, unable or unwilling to distinguish between those loyal to the United States and those fleeing conscription. Provided with faulty, incomplete, or fraudulent identification, Americans were at risk of false imprisonment at the hands of the British. American ships would often fly British or French colors as flags of necessity, hiding from hostile ships and marauding privateers. Responding to the press gang, imprisonment, and execution Perl-Rosenthal shows how the American federal government took action, providing the first national identification documents available to sailors of all races who wished or required them. In so doing, the new federal government engaged in the first formal recognition of black sailors as citizens decades before the American Civil War. James Esposito is a historian and researcher interested in digital history, empire, and the history of technology. James can be reached via email at espositojamesj@gmail.com and on Twitter @james_esposito_ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nathan Perl-Rosenthal‘s Citizen Sailors: Becoming American in the Age of Revolution (Harvard University Press, 2015), explores the fascinating history of identification and citizenship in the Atlantic world during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. British and French navies harried American privateers and merchantmen, seizing their cargo, imprisoning their bodies, and laying false claim to their allegiance. Rosenthal shows how American sailors were the first to demand official status and national recognition from the federal government. Using diverse sources such as notarized affidavits, tattoos, and eventually national identity papers, Perl-Rosenthal shows how sailors secured for themselves a measure of personal safety and security in a perilous Atlantic. The shifting patterns of imperial expansion and nationality of the Age of Revolution did not adapt quickly enough to accommodate new American identities. The Atlantic world operated on an informal and imprecise metric of “common sense nationality” that demarcated one’s national allegiance through shared visual, linguistic, or cultural cues. The British Navy often claimed American sailors as deserters or traitors to the crown, unable or unwilling to distinguish between those loyal to the United States and those fleeing conscription. Provided with faulty, incomplete, or fraudulent identification, Americans were at risk of false imprisonment at the hands of the British. American ships would often fly British or French colors as flags of necessity, hiding from hostile ships and marauding privateers. Responding to the press gang, imprisonment, and execution Perl-Rosenthal shows how the American federal government took action, providing the first national identification documents available to sailors of all races who wished or required them. In so doing, the new federal government engaged in the first formal recognition of black sailors as citizens decades before the American Civil War. James Esposito is a historian and researcher interested in digital history, empire, and the history of technology. James can be reached via email at espositojamesj@gmail.com and on Twitter @james_esposito_ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices