History That Doesn't Suck Podcast

“Mary, Mary, we are elected!”  This is the story of the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States … which means it’s also the story of secession. The presidential election of 1860 is split between four men: southerners John C. Breckinridge and John Bell, and northerners Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln. Incredibly, Lincoln pulls off enough electoral college votes to win the presidency outright! He does so without a single electoral vote from the south. The election of this anti-slavery Republican is the final straw for the South. Citing the “increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery,” South Carolina secedes. Six others follow before Lincoln even takes the oath of office! They band together to create the Confederate States of America. Some think this secession talk will pass. Others think it can be undone peacefully. That theory will get tested fast as US troops at South Carolina’s Fort Sumter continue to stand their ground. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Any man who took Lincoln for a simple-minded man would wind up with his back in a ditch.” This is the story of America on the eve of the Civil War. Kentucky-born farmboy Abraham Lincoln has an interesting early life. Between losing his mom as a child, suffering from chronic depression, and receiving little formal education, you might not think he’d become one of the youngest state legislators in Illinois, a successful lawyer, and a US Congressman. But that’s Lincoln. He’s a man who beats the odds, and he’s hoping to continue that streak as he challenges Stephen Douglas for his US Senate seat. Can he take down the “Little Giant?” It’s a political throwdown that produces one of the most famous debates in US history as the two go head-to-head in over 20 hours of back-and-forth over the future of slavery. Speaking of slavery--John Brown’s looking to start a slave rebellion across the state of Virginia and not afraid to take over a US armory to do it! It’s a full-on battle and the body count’s adding up fast … especially if we include the executions. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Master Bass, if justice had been done, I never would have been here.” This is the story of betrayal. Restoration. Human trafficking. Daring selflessness. Oppressive inhumanity. Hope. And Forgiveness. A talented carpenter, driver, and violinist, Solomon Northup lives a happy life with his wife and three kids in upstate New York. The unassuming, kind-hearted man doesn’t think twice when offered good money to fiddle along with a circus act in Washington, DC. If only he’d known this was all a set up to kidnap him--a free-black American--then sell him under a false identity as a slave in New Orleans. Thanks to his own ingenuity and daring--and that of an anti-slavery Canadian and a dear friend and politician back home in New York--Solomon does make it back to the North and live to tell the tale. But his path back home isn’t short or easy. It will take 12 long years. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“We can send five thousand--enough to kill every God-damned abolitionist in the Territory.” This is the story of the Civil War’s warm up. The States are increasingly dividing along northern and southern (anti-slavery and pro-slavery) lines, and this tension is coming out in spades in Kansas. Northerners want to see it become a free state; Southerners want it to be a slave state. The 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act is meant to produce a meaningful compromise, but it seems to only make things worse! Terrible violence is breaking out: Missourian “Border Ruffians” are illegally voting in Kansas and ruffing up Free state supporters; southern Congressman Preston Brooks beats northern US Senator Charles Sumner nearly to death in the Senate chambers, and abolitionist John Brown is hacking men to death with a broadsword!  Meanwhile, Dred Scott’s suing for his freedom. It isn’t going to go well, and this is only more fuel for America’s raging fire. Peace--or what’s left of it--can’t last. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“In the history of the world, the doctrine of Reform had never such scope as at the present hour.” “Resolved, That woman is man’s equal.” This is the story of social reform. Europe is swept up in calls for reform and greater democracy. France is having another revolution! Those same thoughts are sweeping through the United States, leading to calls for better treatment in prisons, public education, and temperance (cutting back on the alcohol). In this atmosphere of reform, one woman has a particularly radical idea: women's suffrage. Even her colleagues--other women--are hesitant to support her; they fear being mocked! But that won’t stop Elizabeth Cady Stanton from pushing her bold idea at a convention she’s organized in Seneca Falls, New York. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“The Union is doomed to dissolution. … I fix its probable occurrence within twelve years or three presidential terms.” This is the story of statehood and compromise. California is booming. The gold rush is in full swing with Americans and immigrants from all over the world hoping to make their fortune. But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Nature and the miners show their violent sides. With such a flood of Americans in California, it also means statehood is needed. But will it be a slave state? Or a free state? Congress and the nation are up in arms as slavers and freedom fighters each push to get their way. Their fighting threatens the very existence of the Union. Will it die? Or can they compromise? ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“I am your fellow man, but not your slave, Frederick Douglass.” This is the story of self-education, self-emancipation, overcoming adversity, bad and good luck, and the abolitionist cause. Born into slavery in Maryland, Frederick is ripped from his mother, never knows his father, but quickly realizes the power of literacy. Against the odds, the Baltimore-living youth teaches himself to read and write behind his master’s back. But despite his evident natural intelligence, he’s soon sent back to the plantations of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, where Frederick endures the worst of slave life as he’s beaten weekly by “slave-breaker” Edward Covey. This only comes to an end when Frederick daringly stands up for himself, incredibly breaking the slave-breaker. The audacious young man goes to the plantation of the much kinder William Freeland, but is nonetheless determined to have his freedom, damn the consequences. And those consequences can be great. Caught runaways are often sold to even greater miseries farther south. Godspeed, Frederick--we’re rooting for you. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Give us free! Give us free!” This is the story of a daring slave rebellion at sea and the long road to freedom. This is the story of La Amistad. It’s 1839, and the international slave trade is illegal, but that doesn’t mean it’s over. Hundreds of kidnapped and stolen souls are forcefully taken from Africa to Cuba aboard the Teçora. Upon their arrival on the Spanish isle, Pépé Ruiz and Pedro Montez buy 54 and take them on another ship, La Amistad. But what this Cuban duo doesn't realize is that they’ve just bought warriors. With Cinqué leading the way, the Amistad Africans break their chains, kill the captain, overthrow the ship, and change course, ending up in the United States. But does that mean freedom? It’s a debate that will go all the way to the Supreme Court while leaving an indelible impression on an increasingly divided United States. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No, no, no, no--Cortes would’ve gotten his butt whooped if he had not gained lots of indigenous help.” -Josh It’s time to end Volume III: “The Age of Jackson!” We have more corrections on Greg’s pronunciation (and on fracking!), an Antarctic email (no joke), other updates, and--of course--historical analysis to tie together the whole volume. We’re talking Andrew Jackson’s presidency, the extension of American democracy, western settlement, and the Mexican-American War. Finally, we’ll end with a little hint on where Volume IV is going. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is the story of the Mexican-American War’s end and the making of Mexican heroes. Winfield Scott is closing in on Mexico City. Battles rage as Mexican troops defend, but General Scott can’t be stopped. American troops even snag one of Santa Anna’s spare prosthetic legs! But sometimes loss can be the breeding ground of heroes, and that’s just what happens as US forces close in on Mexico’s capital. Six teenage Mexican cadets--one of whom is only 13 years old--fight to the death. Meanwhile, Catholic US troops who’ve defected to the Mexican side in response to American anti-Catholicism are caught by the US army and mostly hung to death. Los Niños Héroes and the San Patricios might not make it out of this war alive, but they’ll live forever in the memory of Mexico. And what does the war’s end mean? Should the US annex the parts of Mexico it claimed belonged to Texas, or should it take more? Perhaps all of Mexico? As this is being debated in the US, particularly in the Senate, the question of what it means to be “American” rests at the heart of what will and won’t be taken. As President Polk leans toward “all of Mexico,” an upstart Congressman named Abe Lincoln questions the premise of the war, and Nicholas Trist negotiates a treaty in defiance of the President--this won’t be pretty. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices