Pennsylmania cover art

Pennsylmania

Pennsylmania

By: Mark Smith
Listen for free

About this listen

 Entertaining and informing listeners with stories of people and events in the history of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, hosted by Mark Smith.Copyright 2026 Pennsylmania World
Episodes
  • The Valley Forge Winter (Ep9)

    The Valley Forge Winter (Ep9)
    Mar 31 2026
    July 1777 to June of 1778 was the pivotal year of the American Revolution. With the exception of the Battles of Saratoga, the most crucial events either happened in Pennsylvania (like the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown, the occupation of Philadelphia by the British, and the York Congress), or Pennsylvanians were at the heart of it (like Benjamin Franklin negotiating with the French in Paris). It was the Year of Pennsylvania. On the last episode we described those events but ended in December of 1777. We pick up where we left off, with Franklin at his residence outside of Paris hearing the delayed news of the victory in the Battles of Saratoga, and Washington’s Army leaving Whitemarsh for its winter encampment at Valley Forge. During this episode, and while at Valley Forge, General Washington and his staff successfully tackle the most difficult problems bedeviling the army – supplies, training and re-enlistments – and beat back efforts to replace the General or make him subservient to other military leaders. Meanwhile, in France, Benjamin Franklin parlays the American victory in the Battles of Saratoga to official French recognition of and a military alliance with the American state.
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 12 mins
  • The York Congress (Ep8)

    The York Congress (Ep8)
    Mar 17 2026
    The Second Continental Congress – the very same Congress that declared independence from Great Britain in 1776 at the state house in Philadelphia and that served as our representative government during the American Revolutionary War – – actually spent nine months in official session at the county courthouse in York, Pennsylvania. During its time in York, some of the most consequential decisions of the American Revolution were made – including agreement on the Articles of Confederation, which was our first national charter, and signing our nation’s first alliance – which was with France. Some say that the Articles of Confederation make York the first true capital of the United States. This episode explains why the Continental Congress met in York, how it got there, and why it left after nine months. It also includes a detailed description of the Battle of Brandywine Creek and the Battle of Germantown. This is the first in a three-part series titled “The Year of Pennsylvania” when from July of 1777 to June of 1778 the most crucial events in that pivotal year of the American Revolution, save for the Battles of Saratoga, either happened in Pennsylvania or Pennsylvanians were at the heart of it.
    Show More Show Less
    52 mins
  • William Penn Part 2 (Ep7)

    William Penn Part 2 (Ep7)
    Mar 3 2026
    The life and legacy of William Penn. This episode, the second of a two-part series, focuses on his founding of the English colony of Pennsylvania. William has direct experience with colonial rule, his father being a landholder in Ireland with Catholic tenant farmers, and his own mediation of a dispute in America in the colony of West Jersey. Penn successfully receives a colonial charter in 1681 but has to navigate many hostile parties – chiefly Charles Calvert, the Lord Baltimore, proprietor of the Maryland colony, and the Anglican Church. Native American tribes already occupy his colony as well as some European settlers – mostly Swedes, Finns and Dutch in the “Lower Counties”. Penn sets up a framework of government and recruits settlers and arrives in Pennsylvania in October of 1682. Under his direction, a great new town is developed, Philadelphia, which will be the capitol of his colony. Penn navigates many challenges associated with a new colony but is increasingly embroiled in a border dispute with Charles Calvert, the Lord Baltimore, and the Maryland colony. Both proprietors – Penn and Calvert – return to England in 1684 to plead their case and Penn becomes an absentee landlord, not returning to his colony for 15 years. Penn is back in 1699 for two more years and just before his return completes the Charter of Privileges in 1701, which will remain the colony’s framework of government for 75 years. He returns to England and, his financial problems growing, unsuccessfully tries to sell the colony back to the Crown. He suffers a stroke in 1712 and lingers on until he dies in 1718. His second wife, Hannah Callowhill Penn, serves as de facto proprietor from 1712-1718 and then as sole proprietor until her death in 1726.
    Show More Show Less
    45 mins
No reviews yet