The Quaker faction in Pennsylvania fights a rearguard effort to hold on to political power despite their dwindling population, at one point literally beating back riotous sailors with clubs.

Early and Often: The History of Elections in America

Episode 39 - The Long Death of Quaker Rule

The Quakers continue their struggle for self-rule against William Penn, now aging and ailing. Also, a promising young man by the name of Franklin makes his debut in Philadelphia.

Episode 38 - The Long Death of William Penn

We return to Pennsylvania in the late 1600s. William Penn may not be happy with being stuck in England, but his colonists are very much enjoying their extra independence - and taking full advantage.

Episode 37 - Man in the Middle

As New York rapidly approaches the Revolutionary period, political life becomes a confusing whirlwind of populist factionalism.

Episode 36 - What About Livingston?

During the early 1700s, the colony of New York is divided by two successive bursts of factionalism, one over taxes and the other over a ridiculously trivial salary dispute.

Episode 35 - Fight, Fight, Fight!

After the chaos caused by Leisler's Rebellion, New York spends the 1690s and 1700s attempting to recover, only for that recovery to be repeatedly derailed by ongoing factionalism that no one could stop.

Episode 34 - The Anti-Leislerians

In this episode, we take a general look at political life in New York during the later colonial period, from the development of caucuses to a particularly spirited election full of parades, Quakers, and booze.

Episode 33 - Empire State of Play

In this episode, we continue the story of the Massachusetts politician Thomas Hutchinson, and look at his involvement with two major instances of mob violence in the colony, one against the impressment of sailors by the British navy, and the other against Hutchinson himself.

Episode 32 - Riot!

In this episode, we begin the first of a two part look at the life and career of Thomas Hutchinson, one of the last governors of colonial Massachusetts, and one of the last politicians of the old-school Puritan style.

Episode 31 - Thomas Hutchinson

Connecticut, the so-called Land of Steady Habits and the colony which was most stuck in the 1600s, faces its first real internal divisions, over religious disputes caused by the Great Awakening, the first big revival movement in American history.

Episode 30 - A City Upon a Hill in the Hands of an Angry God

As Rhode Island develops and grows throughout the 18th century, it becomes divided by a struggle for dominance between the two largest cities in the colony, leading to the creation of an early two-party system with many features that would be emulated in the early American republic.

Episode 29 - The Ward-Hopkins Controversy

In this episode, we look at how further wars with Quebec combined with the introduction of paper money to create big political divisions in mid-18th century Massachusetts.

Episode 28 - Take My Debts Away

In this episode, we take a break from the main narrative to have a closer look at how New England politics functioned in the early 1700s. Then we'll look at the surprising tradition of elections among the slaves of New England.

Episode 27 - Black Kings

In this episode, we follow New England as it picks itself up after the chaos of the Glorious Revolution and then promptly proceeds to stumble through two terribly embarrassing wars against Quebec. Plus the Salem witch trials!

Episode 26 - The Wars of William and Anne

In this episode we jump back to England for a bit, to see how the political system there is evolving in the wake of the Glorious Revolution - and to see just how much England and the colonies have already diverged from each other.

Episode 25 - The Last of the Stuarts

Follow the history of voting in the United States all the way from the earliest colonial days to the present.

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Early and Often: The History of Elections in America

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