A History of the United States
A History of the United States is a podcast that chronicles the history of the United States from the founding of Jamestown through the end of the Cold War. It covers the political, military, economic, social, and cultural developments that shaped the nation. The series provides a comprehensive narrative of American history for listeners interested in how the country evolved over centuries.
Episodes
Episode 0 - Pilot
Hello and welcome to A History of the United States. This episode gives an introduction to the project and myself.
Episode 1 - The New World
This week we begin telling the story. We cover the early voyages by the French to the New World, see how New Spain gained control of Florida, and look at why England was so perfectly poised to be the most successful of the colonists. The situation is set up for an introduction to Jamestown next week.
Episode 2 - Jamestown: The Voyage
This week we begin the real narrative. We look at the foundation of the Virginia Company, the failed settlement of St. George's Fort, North Virginia, and the voyage of the ships which would found Jamestown. Also included are a witty observation by Thomas Jefferson about the weather and the worst Back to the Future joke ever.
Episode 3 - Jamestown: The Settlement
Surprise early episode! This week introduce the Native Americans in the region, the Powhatan Confederacy. We look at their leadership, society and culture. We then actually found the Jamestown settlement.
Episode 4 - The One Where Everyone Dies
In this week's Friends themed episode Newport sails back to London to report on the foundation of Jamestown, but in Virginia everything starts falling apart. There is an outbreak of Typhoid Fever, everyone starts arguing, and then Smith goes on an adventure.
Episode 5 - Mr. Smith Goes to Werowocomoco
This week we follow John Smith's misadventures with the Powhatans, where he travels to their capital at Werowocomoco. We also look at how Jamestown made its way through the winter, Newport's return to the colony, and Smith's exploration missions.
Episode 6 - Aggressive Negotiations
This week we cover Newport's Second Supply of Jamestown, and English relations with the Powhatans completely breaks down.
Episode 7 - A Fresh Start
This week Jamestown enters the Starving Time and in London the Virginia Company decides the colony needs a revolution.
Episode 8 - The Starving Time
This week everything goes wrong. EVERYTHING GOES WRONG. Gates gets lost, hundreds starve to death, and Jamestown is abandoned. It's hard to see how things could be any worse.
Episode 9 - False Dawn
This week Jamestown attempts to rebuild itself under the governorship of Lord De La Warr, but things very quickly go horribly wrong. This is Jamestown, after all. Just another false dawn.
Episode 10 - The Kidnapping of Pocahontas
This week the English decide to kidnapping the Powhatan princess, Pocahontas. We also cover the state of the colony in the 1610s, Pocahontas' trip to England in 1616, the early growth of the tobacco industry (tomacco references aplenty) and look at the creation of the first democratic American institution, Virginia's House of Burgesses.
Episode 11 - Introduction to Social History
This week we delve into social history for the first time this series. As the title suggests, we introduce a few elements which will be important as time develops, such as the introduction of slavery to Virginia and growing inequality. In short, we cover how miserable life was for your average Virginian.
Episode 12 - Powhatan Uprising
This week we return to the narrative (after a quick word about my MA results). After 8 years of English oppression, the Powhatans have enough and launch a war, meanwhile in London the Virginia Company collapses due to sheer incompetence.
Episode 13 - The New Aristocracy
This week we once again break out of the narrative to talk about Virginia's increasing political sophistication across the 1620s and 1630s.
Episode 14 - Berkeley
This week we cover a lot: the 1644 Powhatan Uprising, the governorship of Berkeley, the English Civil War, the Navigation Acts, Mercentilism, the legalisation of slavery, exploration, and we introduce segments.
Episode 15 - The Thanksgiving Special (Which has Nothing to do with Thanksgiving)
This week we were supposed to cover thanksgiving, but I screw up the timings so we talk about General Bacon instead.
Episode 16 - Bacon Begins
This week Bacon's Rebellion gets underway and makes a bid for independence from England.
Episode 17 - A History of the Decline and Fall of General Bacon
This week Bacon's Rebellion falls apart, royal order is imposed and Virginia does not become independent.
Episode 18 - Theologycast: The Reformation and the Puritans
This week we begin chapter 2 of the podcast, New England. But in order to do this we go back and cover the reformation and the origins of Puritans, we also take the Separatists over to the Netherlands in 1607.
Episode 19 - The Pilgrim Fathers
This week we take the Separatists through their time in Holland to their decision to sail to the New World in the Mayflower.
Episode 20 - The Voyage of the Mayflower
This week we take the Pilgrims across the Atlantic to Plymouth. Along the way we look at duels on the Mayflower, the Mayflower Compact, how much the Pilgrims hated Cape Cod, and terminology.
Episode 21 - Wibbly-Wobbly Timey-Wimey Stuff
This week, in a particularly unfocused episode, we move the narrative forward 15 days. In addition we also describe the legal situation of settlement in New England in 1620, have an overview of the Julian calendar, and I explain how to thatch a roof.
Episode 22 - WARNING: MAY CONTAIN TAYLOR SWIFT REFERENCES
This week we finally make some progress in New England. The Pilgrims make it through their first winter and make first contact with the Native Americans of the region.
Episode 23 - The First Thanksgiving
This week the narrative speeds up and we cover most of 1621. We look at an expedition to speak with Massasoit, fertiliser, and the first thanksgiving.
Episode 24 - A Tale of Two Colonies
This week we manage to get through a whole year in Plymouth, 1622. We look at the difficulty the Pilgrims faced in securing a food supply, and the creation of a rival colony.
Episode 25 - Winslow M.D.
This week we get very medical, and a conspiracy is unearthed.
Episode 26 - Alone Again, Naturally
This week the Pilgrims go on the attack. We also talk about fishing contracts and the history of lobsters.
Episode 27 - Letters from a Small Island Part 1
This week Gorges arrives in New England to refound Wessagusset, this time as Weymouth. We also cover developments back in London with the merchants and the rise to power of James Sherley. We also answer a listener question about Jamestown.
Episode 28 - Letters from a Small Island Part 2
This week we carry on looking at the arrival of the Charity, exploring the conspiracy of Oldham and Lyford.
Episode 29 - The Many Adventures of Standish the Pilgrim
This week we watch the Pilgrims try to free themselves from the control of London as we move the narrative into 1627. We also include a brief history of plague.
Episode 30 - Mount Merry
This week the Pilgrims deal with Dutch traders, Allerton has business in London, and Standish goes off to save New England from a bunch of drunks.
Episode 31 - The Massachusetts Bay Colony
This week we found the colony of Massachusetts, in addition to the provinces of Maine and New Hampshire. It's a busy episode!
Episode 32 - The Fusion of Church and State
This week we look at the first few years of Massachusetts colony, which greatly contrasts to Plymouth. It is very oligarchic, had has something of a fusion of church and state.
Episode 33 - The Massachusetts Life
This week we look at the early social and economic history of Massachusetts.
Episode 34 - The Founding of Rhode Island
This week we look at the early social and economic history of Massachusetts.
Episode 35 - Straight Outta Connecticut
This week we found Connecticut. We also turn Providence Plantation into the Colony of Rhode Island, and look at badass theologian Anne Hutchinson who was kicked out of Massachusetts for speaking her mind.
Episode 36 - The Dutch
This week we begin Chapter 3 of A History of the United States by getting very off topic. We don't talk about America at all, and instead focus on the Dutch in preparation for setting up New Netherland and Delaware.
Episode 37 - New Netherland
This week we cover the exploration of the Hudson River, the founding of New Netherland, Fort Orange (Albany) and New Amsterdam (New York City).
Episode 38 - The New Sweden Company
This week we cover some of the history of New Netherland, but it is quite impossible to talk about New Netherland without talking about New Sweden. Therefore, what we do today is go back to Europe so we can figure out why the Swedes thought founding an empire on the Delaware was a good idea.
Episode 39 - Swedes on the Delaware
This week we cover the history of New Sweden.
Episode 40 - Dutch Conquests
This week we cover the fall of New Sweden as the Swedes provoked the Dutch, leading to an invasion. We then double back to begin going through the history of New Netherland in more detail.
Episode 41 - The Last Days of New Netherland
This week we really begin to get into the problems afflicting New Netherland, and the disastrous directorship of Kieft.
Episode 42 - The Godfather
This week we cover the directorship of Peter Stuyvesant, the Godfather of New Netherland.
Episode 43 - The Anglo-Dutch Wars Part 1 - The Mercantile Menace
This week we cover the growing tension between the English and Dutch, leading the English to take New Netherland and rename it New York.
Episode 44 - The Anglo-Dutch Wars Part 2 - Attack of the Spices
This week we turn to Indonesia to examine how and why New York was traded for a spice island.
6th Anniversary Special - Oliver Cromwell
Today marks the 6th anniversary of May 2nd 2010, the day I released my first ever podcast! So, to celebrate, here is a short bonus episode about Oliver Cromwell. It's a strange one, but I hope you enjoy. But wait! That's not all! To celebrate six years I'm going to be releasing 6 episodes from the premium feed onto to main feed! Come back each day for an extra slice of Aztec!
Membership Episode 1 - Aztec 101
We have an overview of Mesoamerican history prior to the Aztecs. We also have an exploration of how information is preserved and delve into cyclical time.
Membership Episode 2 - The Rise of the Aztecs
Having set up Mesoamerican civilisation last time out, we delve into early Aztec history. We chart their travels and rise from 1111 to 1428.
Episode 45 - Chapter 4
This week we begin the fourth chunk of narrative as we turn back to Plymouth, and examine how it became the Plymouth Republic over the 1630s.
Membership Episode 3 - The Aztec Triple Alliance
This week we take things from 1428 to 1440. We look at the reign and conquests of Itzcoatl, the nature of the Triple Alliance, the ascension of Moctezuma, geography and the difficulties of our sources.
Episode 46 - New England Confederation
This week we return to Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Haven to see them, along with Plymouth, form the first American federal institution, the United Colonies of New England.
Episode 47 - The First Union
This week the United Colonies of New England face tests both internally and externally. They must face off the Indians, the Dutch, and each other.
Episode 48 - Nullification
This week we take the United Colonies of New England into the 1660s.
Episode 49 - Tribal Diplomacy
This week we look back to Rhode Island and recount the circumstances surrounding its foundation.
Membership Episode 4 - War of Flowers
This week we take things from 1440 to 1455. We look at the beginnings of Moctezuma's war against the Chalca, the War of Flowers, the great famine, human sacrifice and Aztec views on the afterlife.
Episode 50 - Theologycast 2
This week we look at the religious developments in Puritanism going on in Rhode Island in the 1630s and 1640s.
Episode 51 - Theologycast 3
This week we look at more religious developments in Puritanism in Rhode Island as Quakerism and Baptism become forces in the colony.
Episode 52 - Law and Order: Rhode Island
This week we look at the legal aspects of setting up the Rhode Island colony.
Membership Episode 5 - The Great Expansion Part 1
This week we look at the aftermath of the great famine and how that affected Aztec culture, we then look at the first two campaigns of the Great Expansion.
Episode 53 - Law and Disorder: Rhode Island
This week we look at how Rhode Island fell into anarchy and chaos during the 1650s.
Episode 54 - New York Divided
This week we turn back towards New York and its annexation by England from the Dutch. We look at the creation of the colonies of New Hampshire, New Jersey, Delaware and Vermont.
Episode 55 - The Anglo-Dutch Wars Part III: Revenge of the Dutch
This week the English and Dutch go to war again and the Dutch make a last attempt to retake New York.
Episode 56 - King Philip's War
This week the English colonies fight King Philip in a fight for their very survival. The conclusion to our introduction to New England.
Episode 57 - Roanoke
This week we return to the south and cover the early history of Carolina, the Roanoke colony, and Elizabethan imperialism.
Episode 58 - Carolina in my Mind
This week we look at early attempts to settle Carolina with French Huguenots, which naturally brings us to a discussion of the West Wing and religious toleration in the 1780s.
Episode 59 - Establishing the Proprietary
This week we look at how the colony of Carolina began to take shape, and how it seemed destined to split into two.
Episode 60 - There's Something About Maryland
This week we conclude season one of the podcast by looking at Maryland, the Catholic colony.
Episode 61 - Native Americans 1: Mother
This week we begin season 2. We start our coverage of Native Americans by going back 70,000 years to Africa to look at the human migration from Africa to North America, before looking at the geography of the North American continent. This takes us back through 490 million years of geological fun!
Episode 62 - Native Americans 2: Myths, Legends, and Folktales
This week we begin the serious study of the Native American peoples. We talk about how we are going to cover them, and about how to fairly assign weight between Euroamerican history and native traditions.
Episode 63 - Native Americans 3: Ice Age
This week we resume the main narrative and by looking at the first Americans, and how they lived during the close of the last Ice Age.
Episode 64 - Native Americans 4: After the Ice Age
This week we look at life in North America in the aftermath of the Ice Age, looking at the three major zones of Archaic Culture, the East, the Plains, and the West.
Episode 65 - Native Americans 5: The Southwest
This week we turn towards the southwest. I try and pronounce some tribe names, and we explore how maize entered the region.
Episode 66 - Native Americans 6: The Southwest 2
This week we continue looking at the Southwest, and take it up to European contact.
Episode 67 - Native Americans 7: Frozen Planet
This week we turn to the Arctic! We look at Eskimos, Aleuts, and Alaska. In addition, we talk about dad jokes, David Attenborough, Planet Earth II, Hamilton, and why my best friend is amazing.
Episode 68 - Native Americans 8: Subarctic
This week we turn southwards to the Subarctic. We basically cover Canada up to the arrival of the Europeans.
Episode 69 - Native Americans 9: Pacific Northwest
This week we turn to the Pacific Northwest. We examine burning down houses and totem poles.
Episode 70 - Native Americans 10: Northeast Woodlands
This week we look to the East. We go through all the tribes of the East, and look a bit at how their culture differed to that of other regions.
Episode 71 - Native Americans 11: Northeast Woodlands Part 2
This week we continue looking at the Northeast. This includes an overview of Hopewellian culture and giant beavers.
Episode 72 - Native Americans 12: Northeast Woodlands Part 3
This week we continue looking at the Northeast, with particular focus given to the Iroquois.
Episode 73 - Native Americans 13: Southeast
This week we move down the Atlantic seaboard to look at the Creeks, Cherokees, and other tribes of the southeast.
