414 Queerness and Reputation in Revolutionary 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

🗓️ 24 June 2025

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How do we uncover queer lives from the distant past, especially in an era when language and records often erased or obscured them? What did queerness look like in early America, and how might it have intersected with power, religion, and empire on the eve of the American Revolution? John McCurdy, a Professor of History and Philosophy at Eastern Michigan University and the author of Vicious and Immoral: Homosexuality, the American Revolution, and the Trials of Robert Newburgh, joins us to explore these questions through the remarkable story of British Army Chaplain Robert Newburgh. John's EMU Webpage | Book Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/414 RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES🎧 Episode 002: "That's So Gay" Exhibit, Library Company🎧 Episode 004: Sex and the Founding Fathers🎧 Episode 013: Charity & Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America🎧 Episode 278: Polygamy: An Early American History🎧 Episode 354: The Sewing Girl's Tale🎧 Episode 359: Transing Gender in Early America REQUEST A TOPIC📨 Topic Request Form📫 [email protected] WHEN YOU'RE READY🗞️ BFW Gazette Newsletter 👩‍💻 Join the BFW Listener Community LISTEN 🎧🍎 Apple Podcasts 💚 Spotify 🎶 Amazon Music🛜 Pandora CONNECT🦋 Liz on Bluesky👩‍💻 Liz on LinkedIn🛜 Liz’s Website SAY THANKS💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts💚 Leave a rating on Spotify Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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1:04.1	I realize that everyone thinks I'm a buggerer. I'm not going to change anybody's mind on this.
1:08.6	I'm going to make the argument that it doesn't matter.
1:11.4	He says, these rumors don't matter. You've told rumors about what I'm wearing. You've joked about my
1:16.9	clothes. You've told all these nasty stories about me. Why does this matter? Why does this mean I can't
1:23.4	be a chaplain in this unit? And that I find so moving because that I think is really the heart
1:27.9	of the Enlightenment, his way of saying, the personal is not political. What I do in my personal
1:32.2	life, what I may or may not do, how I dress, what I say, what rumors are said about me, these
	...

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