What if the American Revolution didn’t just create the United States, but also created Australia?
And what if the Muslim ruler of Mysore in southern India was, by the logic of wartime coalitions, George Washington’s ally?
These aren’t thought experiments. They’re history. And they’re part of the surprisingly global history that historian Rick Bell uncovers in his book The American Revolution and the Fate of the World.
In this episode, Joe Adelman sits down with Rick to explore the Revolution not as a contained colonial uprising, but as a world war whose consequences reached every inhabited continent.
This episode was made possible with support from the Massachusetts Historical Society, the first historical society in the United States.
Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.
About the Show
Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.
It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.
Episode Summary
Rick Bell is Professor of History at the University of Maryland and the author of several acclaimed books, including Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home, a finalist for both the George Washington Book Prize and the Harriet Tubman Prize. His most recent book, The American Revolution and the Fate of the World (2025), asks us to see the Revolution not as a contained colonial uprising, but as a genuinely global event with consequences still rippling outward today.
During our exploration of the global revolution, Rick reveals:
- Why the Declaration of Independence was really a Declaration of Interdependence
- How Haider Ali, the Muslim ruler of Mysore in southern India, became George Washington’s ally
- Why the founding of Australia as a British penal colony is a direct consequence of American independence
What You’ll Discover
- How Rick’s British upbringing gave him an outsider’s perspective on the American Revolution
- Why the Declaration of Independence is better understood as a Declaration of Interdependence
- How the Continental Congress distributed printed copies of the Declaration to the courts of Europe
- Peggy Shippen’s role in Benedict Arnold’s treason
- How approximately 60,000 American loyalists scattered across the remnants of the British Empire after the Revolution
- Molly Brant’s role as a power broker between the Haudenosaunee Confederation and the British Crown
- How Baron von Steuben inflated his credentials to secure a “job interview” with George Washington at Valley Forge
- von Steuben’s real contribution to the Continental Army
- How myths about the Revolution began forming during and after the event
- How Spain’s campaign to recapture Florida under Bernardo de Gálvez forced Britain to divert troops
- How Haider Ali of Mysore allied with France and entered the war
- How the eighteenth century was more globally connected than we imagine
- How Britain’s convict crisis led directly to the founding of Australia at Botany Bay in 1788
Links to People, Places, and Publications
Time Warp
What if the British had defeated Washington and the Continental Army during the New York campaign in the summer and fall of 1776? What might the defeat of the fledgling United States have meant for Ireland, India, Australia, and the course of the British Empire?
Complementary Episodes
🎧 Episode 141: A Declaration in Draft
🎧 Episode 163: The American Revolution in North America
🎧 Episode 238: Benedict Arnold
🎧 Episode 348: Valley Forge
🎧 Episode 325: Everyday People of the American Revolution
🎧 Episode 432: John Ferling, Spain and the American Revolution
🎧 Episode 437: The Home Front
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Ben Franklin’s World is a community-supported podcast. If this episode enriched your understanding of early American history, please consider making a tax-deductible donation at benfranklinsworld.com/donate.
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Members join live conversations with historians, monthly club calls, and quarterly workshops on how to think and work like a historian. No scholarly background required. Curiosity is our only requirement.
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