Happy 250th Birthday to the US Navy! Today Don asks, who was John Paul Jones and did he really father the US Navy? Our guest is historian James L. Nelson, author of 'Washington's Secret Navy'.

In July 2026, tall ships of the world will be coming to Port of New York and New Jersey. Find out more here: https://sail4th.org/

Edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

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What should we look for in a great President? Who was the greatest of all time? And is it harder for modern Presidents to make the top of the list? Don is joined by Professor Jeremi Suri, author of The Impossible Presidency and co-host of This Is Democracy.

Edited by Sophie Gee and Freddy Chick. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

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'Canada ought to be the 14th colony' was a view held by many American revolutionaries. In the winter of 1775, Benedict Arnold led an incredible (if doomed) mission to make it happen.

We're delighted to be joined again by Maj. Jonathan D. Bratten, historian for the Maine National Guard.

Edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

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What makes a bad President? Who was the worst of all time? Don is joined by Professor Jeremi Suri, author of The Impossible Presidency and co-host of This Is Democracy.

Next week we'll be looking at who is the best President ever!

Edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.'

The Second Amendment, included in the Bill of Rights, was ratified in 1791. It went largely unquestioned until the mid 20th century but is now one of the most contentious questions in US politics.

So what did the writers of the Second Amendment set out to protect? How has it been interpreted? And why has it become so controversial so many years later?

Jill Lepore joins Don once again for this episode. Jill is a staff writer for the New Yorker, David Woods Kemper '41 Professor of American History at Harvard University and author of multiple books. The most recent is 'We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution'.

Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Tim Arstall. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

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In the wake of Abraham Lincoln’s election, Southern leaders made a fateful choice: to break from the Union. Yet instead of plunging the country into war, what followed next was a tense standoff. There were, as we'll learn today, twists and turns on the path from Secession to all out Civil War.

Edited by Tomos Delargy. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

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American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

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From being within its sphere of influence to acting as a thorn in its side, Cuba has always been seen as strategically important to the USA. What has the nature of their relationship been historically? What is the legacy of the Cold War within Cuba? And what does the future hold for prospects of normalisation?

In this episode, Professor Michael Bustamante joins Don to take us through the historic highs and lows of Cuban-American relations.

Michael is an Associate Professor at the University of Miami and is the author of 'Cuban Memory Wars: Retrospective Politics in Revolution and Exile'.

Edited by Tom Delargy. Produced by Tom Delargy and Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

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American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

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John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry helped cause the Civil War. His is a magnetic persona that's hard to take your eyes away from. But who were the people who inspired him? Who funded him? Who joined him on the raid? It turns out there's a lot more to the story as Don learns with today's guest Dr Kellie Carter Jackson author of We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance" and co-host of the "This Day" podcast.

Edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

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How did California become the Golden State? It's a story that includes conquistadors, missionaries, gold miners, railroad builders and tourists, to name a few.

Don is joined by Michael Hiltzik, author of 'Golden State: The Making of California', to explore the history of the home of one in eight Americans.

Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Tim Arstall. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

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How did the politicians in Washington D.C. push America towards the one thing they wanted to avoid: all out Civil War? We look at how the violent and frat house culture that existed within D.C. played its part, and at the chronic failure of leadership from those sitting atop of this steaming mess - the Presidents.

We're joined by returning guest (from our Franklin Pierce episode) Brian C Neumann, author of 'Bloody Flag of Anarchy: Unionism in South Carolina during the Nullification Crisis' and managing director of the John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History at the University of Virginia.

Produced by Freddy Chick. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.