215 A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America

Ben Franklin's World

Liz Covart

Earlyrepublic, History, Benfranklin, Society & Culture, Warforindependence, Earlyamericanrepublic, Earlyamericanhistory, Education, Colonialamerica, Americanrevolution, Ushistory, Benjaminfranklin

4.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 4 December 2018

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We tend to view gay marriage as a cultural and legal development of the 21st century.

But did you know that some early Americans lived openly as same-sex married couples?

Rachel Hope Cleves, a Professor of History at the University of Victoria in British Columbia and author of Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America, reveals the story of Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake, women who lived as a married couple in Weybridge, Vermont between 1807 and 1851.

This episode originally posted as Episode 013.

Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/215

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Ben Franklin's World is a production of the
0:02.6	O'Mohandro Institute.
0:04.0	Welcome to Ben Franklin's World,
0:08.0	Podcasts About Early American History with Liz Covert.
0:11.0	The study of history is key to understanding who we are and how we can affect the better future.
0:17.0	Ben Franklin's world will introduce you to historical people and
0:25.0	welcome,
0:28.0	welcome to episode,
0:30.0	and welcome to episode 215 of Ben Franklin's world,
0:32.0	the podcast dedicated to helping you, learn more about how the people
0:36.4	and events of our early American past have shaped the present day world we live in.
0:41.3	Can you believe it? It's already that time of year again. Holiday time. And for most of us, nothing says holiday time quite like family. Which is why we're going to spend the next four episodes exploring family in early America.
0:55.0	Now, just like modern day America, early America was a place where many different types of family existed.
1:01.0	So over the course of the next four episodes we're going to explore different types,
1:05.2	configurations, and notions of family. Now in this episode we'll begin our
1:09.6	exploration of early American families with a look at a couple who created a family by marriage.
1:15.1	In July 1807, Sylvia Drake, A Yoluwen from Weybridge, Vermont, moved him with her best friend
1:20.0	and confidant Charity Bryant.
1:21.9	And this action commenced a 44-year union
1:24.6	that almost everyone in Weybridge recognized as a marriage.
1:28.2	Which raises some questions.
1:30.7	How did two women negotiate a same-sex marriage in only 19th century Vermont?
	...

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