The Bill of Rights

Description

Colonial Williamsburg's Harmony Hunter interviews law professor Henry Chambers to discover the history behind and the importance of the Bill of Rights. Topics of discussion include: how different would modern society be if the Bill of Rights did not exist?; what exactly is the Bill of Rights?; why did the founding fathers deem it necessary?; how relevant are the rights enumerated in the Bill to modern society?.

Constitution Day

Description

Colonial Williamburg's Harmony Hunter interviews author and historian Pauline Maier to discover more about the ratification and malleability of the United States Constitution.

The podcast also has an accompanying video, or vodcast, on the Constitution that can be viewed here.

The Colonial Williamsburg site also offers more resources on the Constitution, such as transcript of the text and a link to a site where you can explore the original document.

We the People

Description

Ron Carnegie, a historic interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg, describes the forms of government in the U.S. prior to the ratification of the Constitution, including the Articles of Confederation; the new country's fear of a strong federal government; and the development and ratification of the Constitution.

History's Most Famous Duel

Description

Colonial Williamsburg's Mark Schneider describes the duel between Vice President Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, resulting in Hamilton's death. Schneider also looks at the other aspects of duel etiquette and talks about several unusual duels, including a duel between a murderer and a dog.

Also check out this slideshow reenacting the duel between John Daly Burke and Felix Coquebert.

On This Day

Description

Colonial Wiliamsburg Librarian Juleigh Clark describes her research into the events described in Revolutionary-War-era newspapers, both in articles and advertisements.

Note: this podcast is no longer available. To view a transcript of the original podcast, click here.