BFW Revisited: The Tory's Wife

Ben Franklin's World

Liz Covart

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

4.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 19 August 2025

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Revolutionary upheaval didn't just reshape governments—it transformed daily life for ordinary families across colonial America. In this revisited episode, historian Cynthia Kierner reveals the remarkable story of Jane Spurgin, a woman navigating loyalty, survival, and family obligations in Revolutionary-era North Carolina. Through Jane's experience as a Loyalist's wife, we discover how political conflicts reached into homes and communities, forcing women to make difficult choices between personal safety and family loyalty. As we prepare to explore the North Carolina Regulator Movement, Jane's story illuminates the human cost of colonial resistance and the often-overlooked voices of women caught in the crossfire of revolution. Guest: Cynthia Kierner, Professor of History at George Mason University and author of The Tory's Wife: A Woman and Her Family in Revolutionary America Cynthia’s Website | Book Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/380 RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES🎧 Episode 085: American Loyalists in Canada🎧 Episode 126: The Reintegration of American Loyalists🎧 Episode 237: Motherhood in Early America🎧 Episode 325: Everyday People of the American Revolution🎧 Episode 330: Loyalism in the British Atlantic WorldSUPPORT OUR WORK🎁 Make a Donation to Ben Franklin’s WorldREQUEST A TOPIC📨 Topic Request Form📫 [email protected] YOU'RE READY🗞️ BFW Gazette Newsletter 👩‍💻 Join the BFW Listener CommunityLISTEN 🎧🍎 Apple Podcasts 💚 Spotify 🎶 Amazon Music🛜 PandoraCONNECT🦋 Liz on Bluesky👩‍💻 Liz on LinkedIn🛜 Liz’s WebsiteSAY THANKS💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts💚 Leave a rating on Spotify*Book links are affiliate links. Every purchase supports the podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, my name is Matt, host of the Pirate History podcast.
0:05.0	Pirates rank among the most mythologized and romanticized of all historical figures.
0:12.0	It can become easy to forget that pirates were real people that had real world concerns.
0:18.0	If you like tales of high seas adventure, daring do, and also want to learn more about
0:23.1	who Blackbeard supported to be king, you can learn more about all of that at the Pirate History
0:28.5	Podcast. grown-ups, if there's a child in your life who is interested in, curious about, or
0:34.8	fascinated by people in places from history, then my podcast,
0:39.0	the past and the curious, might just be a hit in your home. From the invention of microscopes
0:44.1	to world traveling dogs to fashions of the 1890s, gold rush ghost towns, and audiences going
0:50.3	wild for walking competitions, we've got a little bit of it all.
0:55.1	Hosted by Children's Author and Museum educator Mick Sullivan, that's me, the show is
1:00.0	fun, funny, engaging, honest, and beloved by kids and parents alike.
1:04.9	Find the past and the curious at all the usual podcast places.
1:10.4	You're listening to an Airwave Media podcast.
1:17.7	Hello and welcome to Ben Franklin's World Revisited,
1:25.6	a series of classic episodes to bring fresh perspective
1:28.3	to our latest episodes and had deeper connections to our understanding of early American history.
1:33.3	And I'm your host, Liz Covart.
1:36.3	Throughout the American Revolution, voices of protests echoed across colonial British America,
1:41.3	from town meetings and newspaper columns to rural courthouses
1:45.1	and backcountry farms. But while these shouts of resistance often came from men, the consequences
1:51.4	of their protests and actions reverberated through the lives of women and families, often
	...

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