Berkeley : University of California Press, [2019]

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2010.

Thomas Jefferson reads the words that started it all: The Declaration of Independence.

The Constitution guarantees the right to jury trial. What does it mean for a vital democracy? Director of the Center for Jury Studies Paula Hannaford-Agor explains their importance.

Williamsburg’s blacksmith transforms crude metal into elegant, functional tools. Master Blacksmith Ken Schwarz details the trade.

Edith Cumbo was a rare individual in colonial Virginia: a free African woman. Learn about her life and her stature in this interview with Emily James.

The manners of the parlor codify the feminine culture. Kristen Spivey keeps up appearances in The Polite Academy.

The gun is part of America’s creation story. Gunsmith George Suiter describes the technology of this potent tool.

The founders demanded freedom for themselves, but not for their slaves. Early protests show that the enslaved noticed the flaw in the logic. Historian Harvey Bakari introduces the Boston Slave Petitions.

We sit down with the first president and ask him questions submitted by podcast listeners. Listen as Ron Carnegie interprets George Washington.

George Washington shares his thoughts on the role of government and his hopes for the future in part two of this listener-question interview. Ron Carnegie interprets the first president.

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin talks with us about the challenges of applying the founders’ vision to modern governance. Even after two centuries, the America they envisioned still matters.

The American Revolution came from an old British tradition. Hear how the English were in the habit of rebelling in “A Very British Revolution,” a tour at The Colonial Williamsburg Art Museums led by Emma Ross.

Colonial Williamsburg rises to meet the future with a new mission as a Center for History and Citizenship. Foundation President Colin Campbell describes the shift.

Get to know the Constitution: a document whose genius lies in its malleability. Historian and author Pauline Maier talks ratification.

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper says negative politics erodes citizens’ faith in government. Hear his views on the founders, participation, and local involvement.

Master Silversmith George Cloyed explains that silver on the shelf is like money in the bank, and a silversmith’s records can reveal a town’s story.

Political parties were new, the losers became Vice Presidents, and negative campaigning was finding its feet in the election of 1796. Professor Jack Lynch has the history.

What were the types and tones of interactions among European settlers, native peoples, and Africans in colonial Virginia? American Indian Initiative Manager Buck Woodard sets the scene.

George Washington copied out and adhered to 110 simple rules for polite society. What were they, and do they still apply today? Historian Cathy Hellier dissects the codes of 18th-century conduct.

Apprentice cook Melissa Blank learns her way around a 200-year-old kitchen.

Would Benedict Arnold be remembered as a hero if he had picked the winning side? Interpreter Scott Green shares the rise and demise of a brilliant strategist.

For the first time in decades, a new historic trade joins the tradition of craft in the Historic Area. This week, meet Steve Delisle, the first tinsmith in the Revolutionary City.

The Constitutional Sources Project launches a new initiative to present the nation’s founding document in a kid-friendly format. Executive Director Julie Silverbrook says, “These are the laws that operate on you. It’s important that you understand them.”

Former head of the CIA and Secretary of Defense in Republican and Democratic administrations, Robert Gates is a man who knows something about politics, pragmatism, and compromise. He sits down with us this week to talk about the portability of American values, the constants of conflict, and the nation’s unique fortune in the caliber of […]

Williamsburg was a town of revolutionaries, but not everyone thought rebellion was a good idea. Men like William Hunter Jr., printer of the Virginia Gazette, stayed loyal to king and country. Actor-Interpreter Sam Miller explains how patriotic fervor made life difficult for those men and women who opposed it.

In 1776, England had every expectation of winning a war with her upstart American colonies, and rightly so. And what if the war had gone their way? This is the premise of a class of fiction called “alternate history,” and Director of Publications Paul Aron has found some food for thought in its reimagined histories.

Listen closely in this kitchen. In it, objects speak of their owners and of their makers. Tools speak of technology and ability. Small personal items speak of meager comforts in a hard life. Curator Amanda Keller worked to outfit the Wythe Kitchen and imbue it with a richly layered history.

In 2014, the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute takes a moment to look back on 25 years of preparing teachers to bring the thrill of America’s revolutionary era back into the classroom.

Presidential Historian Michael Beschloss visits Colonial Williamsburg and shares his views on the changes technology brings to politics and the presidency, and ruminates on the importance of place.

Relax with a brew from the past, courtesy of Master of Historic Foodways Frank Clark. Twenty years of study and practice have resurrected the 18th century’s favorite beer: Old Stitch.