Could the war have been won without women? Author and Professor Holly Mayer thinks not. Learn more about the inner workings of the Continental Army.

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.

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.

The third president completed studies at William and Mary 250 years ago, and went on to create a college of his own. Professor Susan Kern describes what he learned and what he later built.

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.

Bruton Parish Church is as storied a building as any in Williamsburg, with a history of idealistic restorations and later revisions. Carl Lounsbury describes the evolution of this living church.

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.

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.

Patrick Henry would have the church provide social services that today we relegate to the state. Listen to his religious views presented in his Assessment Bill of 1784. Richard Schumann interprets.

For Thomas Jefferson, religion was a matter between a man and his god, with no interference in between. Listen to Bill Barker’s portrayal.

An onsite game embroils players in a Revolutionary spy’s world of danger, loyalty, codes and plots. “The Black Chambers” is game three in “RevQuest: Save the Revolution” series.

Shortages of sugar, rum, gunpowder, textiles, tea and china were among the inconveniences suffered by colonial Americans during the Revolution. Historian Lou Powers describes the deprivations and the substitutions.

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.

Civil war is bloody, regressive, and destructive. Revolution is forward-looking, positive, and regenerative. Yet, says historian David Armitage, even the noblest revolution bears traces of the primitive violence of civil war.

The Revolutionary City finds resonance and relevance across the country and around the world in a vibrant partnership with the Chautauqua Institution of New York. “We walk in the same intellectual waters,” says Colonial Williamsburg Foundation President Colin Campbell in this interview with Chautauqua’s President Tom Becker.

America’s colonial history offers a unique perspective on the modern stage. What inspiration, ideas, and cautions can today’s global revolutionaries draw from the 1776 uprising in the British colonies in America? The Center for Strategic and International Studies brings together leaders, scholars, and historians to debate some of the questions facing emerging democracies.

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.

When people from various regions of Africa were forcefully transported to the colonies, they brought nothing with them but the clothes on their backs and the beliefs of their hearts. This latter possession varied widely by region and tradition, but was to each a fundamental part of daily life. Historian Harvey Bakari describes the African […]

Hear the Declaration of Independence read in its entirety by renowned Thomas Jefferson interpreter Bill Barker.

The cast and crew of Colonial Williamsburg’s groundbreaking program Journey to Redemption join to talk about how the piece was developed and why it’s so important to be having conversations surrounding racism and the history of slavery in our nation. Learn more