In this episode:

• The high price tag of defending western frontiers and public debt leads British’s Parliament to pass The Stamp Act of 1765.
• The act begins the first unified resistance from the colonies against the crown.
• The act is enforced through Admiralty Courts.
• Samuel Adams leads resistance in Massachusetts.
• Committees of Correspondence help the colonies produce a uniform response.
• The resistance has only begun, culminating in a war and a new nation.

Ned Ryun Continues His Series, “Days of Revolution.”  Listen to Episode 9, “The Sugar Act of 1764.”

In this episode:

• The passing of The Sugar Act of 1764 and its contribution to the stirring of colonial rebellion.
• Taxation by the British Parliament in response to growing debts from the French and Indian War.
• The colonial response to The Sugar Act including efforts led by Samuel Adams.
• The growing unification of the colonies based on common plight.
• The stage is set for future conflicts over an overbearing British Parliament.

Ned Ryun Continues His Series, “Days of Revolution.”  Listen to Episode 4, “The Legacy of the Colonial Legislatures and Self Government.”

In this episode:

• The role of the colonial legislatures and the principle of self government is essential to understanding the attitudes that drove the American Revolution.
• A brief look at three colonial legislatures in Virginia, Massachusetts and Connecticut and how they operated.
• An examination of British Governors and their executive power.
• A special look at local governments in the American founding era and their exercise of self government.

Ned Ryun Continues His Series, “Days of Revolution.”  Listen to Episode 3, “The Last of the 13 Colonies.”

In this episode:

• Roger Williams and the founding of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
• The establishment of Delaware and North and South Carolina.
• William Penn and the founding of Pennsylvania as a place of religious toleration.
• The history of the settlement of Georgia.
• The interaction of European powers through their colonies.

Ned Ryun Begins a New Podcast Series Entitled, “Days of Revolution.”  Listen to Episode 1, “The Die is Cast.”

In this episode:

• An overview of the events, figures and key points of debate leading up to the Declaration of Independence.
• Would the Second Continental Congress declare independence?
• What acts and military events led to the consideration of independence?
• Would all of the states agree to declare independence?
• Who wrote the Declaration and who were its signers?

In this Episode:

• The Ratification Debates begin.
• Giants like George Mason, Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams and Richard Henry Lee oppose the Constitution.
• The Constitution is sent to the Continental Congress for approval to send to the state legislatures.
• An analysis of the task ahead of the Federalists.
• The Anti-Federalists suffer major losses in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, Georgia and New Jersey.

In this Episode:

• The Constitution enters the ratification phase as dictated by Article VII.
• Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay author the Federalist Papers to convince New York citizens to ratify the Constitution.
• Anti-Federalists George Clinton and Robert Yates lobby against the Constitution in their own writings, but are largely overshadowed by the Federalist Papers.
• A look at the first states to ratify the Constitution.
• Examining three important Federalist Papers: Number 10 (a discussion on factions and contrasting democracies and republics), Number 51 (a discussion on the need of government, checks and balances and separation of powers), and Number 78 (a discussion on the judicial branch).

In this Episode:

• The Constitutional Convention and slavery, part two.
• Connecticut and South Carolina continue to work together to prevent prohibitions of slave imports and taxes on exports.
• Various delegates provides their views.
• The similarities between the Constitutional Convention language on slavery and the Northwest Ordinance.
• An analysis of the deep south’s strategy and position.

In this Episode:

• Slavery, the Fugitive Slave Clause, and the Three-Fifths Compromise
• A discussion on slavery, the Constitutional Convention, and the U.S. Contitution
• William Lloyd Garrison and Fredrick Douglass’ views on the Constitution
• The divisions between North and South
• An alliance between Connecticut and the Southern states over exports
• An analysis of the Convention’s handling of the slavery issue

In this Episode:

• The battle over representation nears a compromise.
• Oliver Ellsworth reintroduces Roger Sherman’s “Connecticut Compromise.”
• Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer misses the vote, thus allowing Maryland to support the small states men.
• Georgia also splits their vote on account of Abraham Baldwin.
• The Gerry Committee is formed largely with small state sympathizers.
• The committee affirms equal representation in the Senate, but proportional in the House along with money bills originating in the House.
• These concessions permit the small state men to be open to other large state proposals.