Better than Washington

In this much-delayed episode, we finally unpack the final year of the Adams presidency.

Resources used for this episode include:

Signs of economic recovery

Battle of Puerto Plata Harbor – https://ussconstitutionmuseum.org/2021/10/05/the-puerto-plata-prize/

James Wilkinson –

https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/conway-cabal/

History of Curacao During the Quasi-War–

Treaty of Mortefontaine –

The crimes of Samuel Chase - https://web.archive.org/web/20150204194517/http://www.fjc.gov/history/home.nsf/page/tu_sedbio_chase.html

Election of 1800 –

In this episode, we talk about the third year of the John Adams presidency (March 4th, 1799 to March 3rd, 1800). He's improved in some ways and become worse than others, but has he stayed the same in too many ways? Or can he finally be...Better than Washington?

The song used is "Americana" by Mr. Smith. You can find this song at https://freemusicarchive.org. The opinions expressed on this podcast do not reflect the opinions of Spotify, any other platforms this podcast may appear on, or any advertisers, sponsors, creators of musical works, or guests appearing on this podcast. Resources used for research on this episode include:

Content Warnings: this podcast does contain discussions involving historical events in which the United States has been involved. There will always be frank discussions of slavery, Native American genocide, and other upsetting events.

Oh my god, we finally did it! We finally finished talking about the second year of the Adams presidency, from March 4th, 1798 to March 4th, 1799. We end this discussion with a discussion about a man with a silly name and a desire to keep America awful always.

Resources used for this episode include:

o https://supremecourthistory.org/associate-justices/bushrod-washington-1799-1829/

o https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/bushrod-washington/

o https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam002.html

o https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/american-colonization-society-1816-1964/

o https://www.aaihs.org/the-american-colonization-society-200-years-of-the-colonizing-trick/

Content Warning: this podcast discusses the history of the United States in as accurate a manner as possible. Therefore, this podcast contains frank discussions about slavery, Native American genocide, and other acts of systemic cruelty.

Happy Halloween! To celebrate, we will talk about the scariest thing John Adams did during his second year as President of the United States: signing the Alien & Sedition Acts. This episode may not be scary, but it sure will be frustrating, which is certainly how it feels to have to take down all those giant spiders on the lawn. Oooh, spooky!

The song used is "Americana" by Mr. Smith. You can find this song at the Free Music Archive. the opinions of this podcast do not reflect the opinions of Spotify, Anchor or any advertisers, sponsors, creators of musical works, or guests appearing within the podcast. Resources used for this episode include:

o https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/adams-alien-and-seditions-act/ 

o https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/alien-and-sedition-acts

Content Warnings: this podcast does contain discussions involving historical events in which the United States of America has been involved. There will always be frank discussions of slavery, Native American genocide, and other upsetting events.

Some notes about the quality of this episode:

In this episode of Better than Washington, we resume our discussion of John Adams Jr.'s 2nd year as President of the United States. And we mostly talk about how his choices helped the United States fight a naval conflict that was kind of a war but not really a war. Almost like, a "quasi"...battle...thing...

The song used is "Americana" by Mr. Smith. You can find this song at the Free Music Archive. the opinions of this podcast do not reflect the opinions of Spotify, Anchor or any advertisers, sponsors, creators of musical works, or guests appearing within the podcast. Resources used for this episode include:

Content Warnings: this podcast does contain discussions involving historical events in which the United States of America has been involved. There will always be frank discussions of slavery, Native American genocide, and other upsetting events.

In this episode, we start our agonizingly long discussion about John Adams' second year as President of the United States: March 4, 1798 to March 3rd, 1799. We barely make it through his economic and diplomatic scores, but this conversation is going to be a doozy. This year might take us 3 or 4 episodes to get through.

The song used is "Americana" by Mr. Smith. You can find this song at the Free Music Archive. the opinions of this podcast do not reflect the opinions of Spotify, Anchor or any advertisers, sponsors, creators of musical works, or guests appearing within the podcast. Resources used for this episode include:

*Some Articles about the Rebellion started by the direct tax (and, therefore, containing details about the tax itself):

*The History.state.gov article on the XYZ Affair: https://history.state.gov/milestones/1784-1800/xyz

Content Warnings: this podcast does contain discussions involving historical events in which the United States of America has been involved. As such, there may be frank discussions of slavery, Native American genocide, and other upsetting events in this episode.

In this episode of Better than Washington, we resume our discussion of John Adams Jr.'s first year as President of the United States. And we mostly talk about why his personal failings as a father might foreshadow his approach to civil rights. Please, please make sure to check the content warnings below. This episode is going to be heavier than normal.

The song used is "Americana" by Mr. Smith. You can find this song at the Free Music Archive. the opinions of this podcast do not reflect the opinions of Spotify, Anchor or any advertisers, sponsors, creators of musical works, or guests appearing within the podcast. Resources used for this episode include:

Content Warnings: this specific episode spends a great deal of time discussing homophobia, specifically the type of hatred that might cause parents to break off a relationship with their own children. There is also brief cursing, but nothing that would require an "explicit" label. Additionally, this podcast does contain discussions involving historical events in which the United States of America has been involved. There will always be frank discussions of slavery, Native American genocide, and other upsetting events.

Remember how I previously stated that I would be posting again sometime in February or March? APRIL FOOLS!

In this episode of Better than Washington, we finally begin our review of the Presidency of John Adams...Jr.? Yup, turns out the guy you only know for one or two things had a lot more going on. Let's find out some of those things together!

The song used is "Americana" by Mr. Smith. You can find this song at the Free Music Archive. the opinions of this podcast do not reflect the opinions of Spotify, Anchor or any advertisers, sponsors, creators of musical works, or guests appearing within the podcast. Resources used for this episode include:

Content Warnings: this podcast does contain discussions involving historical events in which the United States of America has been involved. As such, there are frank discussions of slavery, Native American genocide, and other upsetting events.

You know how I always invite you to fact check me at the end of every episode? Well, in this very special episode of Better than Washington (which is not at all a time filler while I research the Adams Presidency), I talk about some of the details I might have messed up during my previous episodes on George Washington. If you're wondering why I thought this was a good idea...so am I. Let's discuss!

Oh my god, we made it! This is the final episode about George Washington's tenure as the first President of the United States. Which will determine this year's score: his leonine integrity score or his asinine civil rights score? And how will we determine the score for Washington's entire presidency?!

The song used is "Americana" by Mr. Smith. You can find this song at the Free Music Archive. the opinions of this podcast do not reflect the opinions of Spotify, Anchor or any advertisers, sponsors, creators of musical works, or guests appearing within the podcast. Resources used for this episode include:

Content Warnings: this podcast does contain discussions involving historical events in which the United States of America has been involved. As such, there are frank discussions of slavery, Native American genocide, and other upsetting events.