Welcome to Ben Franklin's World,

podcast about Early American History with Liz Covert.

The study of history is key to understanding who we are and how we can affect the better future.

Ben Franklin's world will introduce you to historical people and events that have impacted

and shaped our present day world.

And now here's your host, Liz Colarn.

Hello and welcome to episode 90 of Ben Franklin's world.

The podcast dedicated to helping you learn more about how the people and events of our early American past have shaped the present

day world we live in.

I hope you're ready because we have an exciting journey to make today.

We're making our first trip to Latin and South America. The early American

histories of Latin and South America are fascinating and today we're going to

explore how colonies in these regions waged revolutions and wars for independence

throughout the early and mid-19th century. As these other Americans look to

achieve independence from Spain and in the case of Brazil, Portugal, they turned to the United States for assistance.

But how did Americans in the United States view Spanish and Portuguese Americans and their fights for independence.

Caitlin Fitz, an assistant professor of history at Northwestern University and author of

Our Sister Republics, the United States in an age of American revolutions will help us investigate answers to these very questions.

During our conversation, Caitlin reveals what she means by the age of American revolutions,

why Spanish and Portuguese Americans waged revolutions and fought for independence,

and how Americans in the United States

viewed and reacted to these other American

...