We have been told the American Revolution was fought over taxation and representation. But the last entry of the Declaration of Independence focuses on the founding fathers' contempt for the “merciless Indian savages.” America celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding this year, and somehow, we’ve managed to skim right past that line. How does a whole country miss a point of its own founding document? That's the question Rebecca Nagle, an Indigenous author and the former host of Crooked’s This Land podcast, asks in her new show, First America. Alongside leading Native historians, Rebecca unveils how the founders’ treatment of Indigenous nations—and their resistance—shaped US democracy. From land expansion to human rights issues, First America reveals the real story of why the colonists rebelled, what kind of government they created, and how our current political moment was 250 years in the making. Find First America wherever you get podcasts.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices