Historic Site Events
The First Drafts of the United States: Early Experiments in American Union
Wednesday, October 8, 2025
7:00 – 8:30pm
With Dr. Liz Covart
Live on Zoom
RSVP on Eventbrite
What if America’s founding wasn’t inevitable? Long before the Articles of Confederation, colonial Americans spent over a century struggling to unite—and mostly failing spectacularly.
Discover the forgotten stories of America’s “rough drafts”: the New England Confederacy’s bold 1643 experiment, the authoritarian disaster of the Dominion of New England, William Penn’s visionary continental congress proposal, and Benjamin Franklin’s ahead-of-its-time Albany Plan. Each attempt crashed against the rocks of regional jealousies, cultural clashes, and economic chaos.
These weren’t just boring political experiments; they were high-stakes gambles involving real people grappling with questions that still echo today: How do you balance local autonomy with collective strength? Can diverse communities truly unite?
Join Liz Covart, a Ph.D. historian and creator of the award-winning Ben Franklin’s World podcast, for a journey through America’s messiest political moments, where failure taught the lessons that eventually made success possible. The path to union was anything but straight.
Lantern & Luminaries with Ken Burns
On April 16, 2025, we were honored to present the celebrated filmmaker Ken Burns with the Third Lantern Award at Lanterns & Luminaries, our annual celebration of “two if by sea.” The award recognizes those who embody the values of leadership, courage, hope, tenacity, and active citizenship.
This video includes the full program, including remarks by Mr. Burns, Senator Ed Markey, and Governor Maura Healey. Guests at Lanterns & Luminaries enjoyed a sneak peek of Mr. Burns’s new documentary, The American Revolution, which is scheduled to premiere on PBS on November 16, 2025. An abbreviated clip from the documentary is shown in this recording of Lanterns & Luminaries.
Throughout the year, Old North Illuminated hosts authors, professors, and other experts for Speaker Series events. In honor of the 250th anniversary of Old North Church’s famous lantern signal in 2025, this year’s Speaker Series includes talks that focus on revolutions — their origins, their societal transformations, and their complex legacies. We hope you’ll join us.
Our 2025 Speaker Series events are brought to you in part by Hub Town Tours.
