BFW Revisited: The Tory's Wife

Ben Franklin's World

Liz Covart

History, Society & Culture

4.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 19 August 2025

⏱️ 68 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👩‍💻 BFW Listener Community🌍 The History Explorers Club LISTEN 🎧🍎 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	I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center.
0:04.8	A few years ago, learning about the forgotten meaning of the pursuit of happiness changed my life.
0:11.0	When the founders wrote that famous phrase in the Declaration of Independence,
0:14.5	they meant an ongoing commitment to self-improvement and lifelong learning.
0:19.4	This discovery inspired me to write a book, and in my
0:22.2	new podcast, I explore the founder's lives with the historians who know them best. Plus, filmmaker
0:27.9	Ken Byrne shares his daily practice of self-reflection. Join me for Pursuit, the Founders Guide to Happiness.
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1:20.4	Hello and welcome to Ben Franklin's World Revisited,
1:24.7	a series of classic episodes to bring fresh perspective to our latest episodes and had deeper connections to our understanding of early American history.
1:29.0	And I'm your host, Liz Covart. Throughout the American Revolution, voices of protests echoed across
1:35.4	colonial British America, from town meetings and newspaper columns to rural courthouses and back-country
1:41.0	farms. But while these shouts of resistance often came from men,
1:45.7	the consequences of their protests and actions reverberated through the lives of women and
1:51.0	families, often shaping their decisions, allegiances, and their futures. In next week's
1:56.7	episode, episode 419, we'll be exploring the North Carolina regulator movement, a topic you've long
2:03.7	requested and one that will provide us a look inside a grassroots rebellion. So in preparation,
2:10.3	I thought we should revisit a story that will help us understand how such conflicts affected those
	...

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