The African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) is one of the most important African American Churches in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, and Christina Dickerson-Cousin shares how the AME worked in Indian Territory. The story is one of shared issues and common interests that helps add nuance to our understanding of the period.

Essential Reading:

Christina Dickerson-Cousin, Black Indians & Freedmen: The African Methodist Episcopal Church and Indigenous Americans, 1816-1916 (2021).

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The United States and Brazil share the distinction of being the last places in the Americas to emancipate slaves. The Emancipation Proclamation (1863) and Fourteenth Amendment (1865) accomplished this in the U.S. and the Golden Law in Brazil did the same in 1888, although emancipation occurred gradually there over three decades. Roberto Saba calls the experience "the American Mirror" and argues that it can tell us a great deal about the hemisphere, the industrialization of American economies, and the growth of a new order.

Essential Reading:

Roberto Saba, American Mirror: The United States and Brazil in the Age of Emancipation (2021).

Recommended Reading:

Emilia Viotti da Costa, The Brazilian Empire: Myths and Histories (2000).

Sven Beckert, The Empire of Cotton: A Global History (2015).

Matthew Karp, This Vast Southern Empire: Slaveholders at the Helm of American Foreign Policy (2016).

Angela Alonso, The Last Abolition: The Brazilian Antislavery Movement, 1868-1888 (2021).

Greg Downs, The Second American Revolution: The Civil War-Era Struggle Over Cuba and the Rebirth of the American Republic (2019).

Teresa Cribelli, Industrial Forests and Mechanical Marvels: Modernization in Nineteenth-Century Brazil (2016).

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Megan Kate Nelson takes us on a journey to Yellowstone, the first national park and a site of iconic western beauty. From the scientific surveys that explored the park's geysers, to the railroad expansion through Native American territory, Dr. Nelson's book paints a vivid portrait of the place. Join us for a conversation about the American environment, economic panics, landscape photography, and how to write narrative history.

Essential Reading:

Megan Kate Nelson, Saving Yellowstone: Exploration and Preservation in Reconstruction America (2022).

Recommended Reading:

Ferdinand V. Hayden, “The Wonders of the West II. More about the Yellowstone,” Scribner’s Monthly (February 1872): 388-396.

Thomas Moran, The Grand Cañon of the Yellowstone (1872).

Ernie LaPointe, Sitting Bull: His Life and Legacy (2009).

M. John Lubetkin, Jay Cooke’s Gamble: The Northern Pacific Railroad, The Sioux, and the Panic of 1873 (2006).

Heather Cox Richardson, West from Appomattox: The Reconstruction of America after the Civil War (2007).

Mark David Spence, Dispossessing the Wilderness: Indian Removal and the Making of the National Parks (2000).

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When you think of the artists of the Gilded Age, you might recall John Singer Sargent or James Abbott McNeill Whistler. But have you heard of Amalia Küssner? She painted royalty and robber barons, and became one of the era's most sought after artists. This week is an extra special treat as Kathleen Langone takes over the show. Kathleen is host of the People Hidden In History podcast, and Amalia Küssner features as one of those people she hopes to remind the world about. You can listen to an extended version of this episode on Kathleen's show.

Kathleen has published several article, including with Boston Magazine and has appeared on television and radio related to her work on historic events in New England. Check out her podcast and should you wish to get in touch, her Twitter handle is: @phihpod.

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Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Jane Addams take center state in Neil Lanctot's latest book The Approaching Storm, an intimate look at America's decision to enter World War I. Lanctot's character-driven narrative takes the reader on transatlantic peace missions and a deep introspective about American values.

Essential Reading:

Neil Lanctot, The Approaching Storm: Roosevelt, Wilson, Addams and Their Clash over America's Future (2021).

Neil Lanctot, "Biden, like Woodrow Wilson in WWI, treads a fine line in refusing to send troops to Ukraine," Chicago Tribune, 14 March 2022.

Recommended Reading:

John Milton Cooper, The Warrior and the Priest (1983).

Kathleen Dalton, Theodore Roosevelt: A Strenuous Life (2002).

Louise W. Knight, Citizen: Jane Addams and the Struggle for Democracy (2005).

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Disaster relief became an instrument of U.S. foreign policy in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. The "progressive presidents" particularly utilized aid for American interests, sparking a trend. Prof. Julia Irwin joins me to discuss her upcoming book on this very topic.

Essential Reading:

Julia Irwin, Making the World Safe: The American Red Cross and a Nation's Humanitarian Awakening (2013).

Julia Irwin, "Our Climatic Moment: Hazarding a History of the United States and the World," Diplomatic History 45, no. 3 (June 2021): 421-44.

Recommended Reading:

Cynthia Kierner, Inventing Disaster: The Culture of Calamity from the Jamestown Colony to the Johnstown Flood (2019). 

Ted Steinberg, Acts of God: The Unnatural History of Natural Disaster in America (2000).

Olivier Zunz, Philanthropy in America: A History (2012).

Heather Curtis, Holy Humanitarians: American Evangelicals and Global Aid (2018). 

William N. Tilchin, “Theodore Roosevelt, Anglo-American Relations, and the Jamaica Incident of 1907,” Diplomatic History 19, no. 3 (1995): 385-405   

Salvatore LaGumina, The Great Earthquake: America Comes to Messina’s Rescue (2008).

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I spoke with Prof. Nelson the very day Russia invaded Ukraine and we talk about the history of the black paths that fed the world with bushels of grain, but also became the most fought over space in Eastern Europe. Scott's new book Oceans of Grain (Basic Books) is out this week and it couldn't have come at a better time to help us understand our world today.

Essential Reading:

Scott Reynolds Nelson, Oceans of Grain: How American Wheat Remade the World (2022).

Recommended Reading:

Neal Ascherson, The Black Sea (1996).

Bettany Hughes, Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities (2017).

Avner Offer, The First World War: An Agrarian Interpretation (1989).

Vaclav Smil, Creating the Twentieth Century: Technical Innovations of 1867-1914 and their Lasting Impact (2004).

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European imperialism had an influence on American policy makers, changing the way they thought about overseas colonization and building a new world order. Prof. Andrew Priest joins the show to discuss his latest book Designs on Empire: America's Rise to Power in the Age of European Imperialism.

Essential Reading:

Andrew Priest, Designs on Empire: America's Rise to Power in the Age of European Imperialism (2021).

Recommended Reading:

Mary Ann Heiss, “The Evolution of the Imperial Idea and U.S. National Identity,” Diplomatic History 26 (October 2002): 511-540.

A.G. Hopkins, American Empire: A Global History (2018)

Michael H. Hunt, Ideology and U.S. Foreign Policy (2nd ed. 2009).

Walter LaFeber, The New Empire: An Interpretation of American Expansion, 1860–1898 (Thirty-Fifth Anniversary edition, 1998)

Frank Ninkovich, Global Dawn: The Cultural Foundation of American Internationalism, 1865-1890 (2009).

Jay Sexton, The Monroe Doctrine: Empire and Nation in Nineteenth-Century America (2012).

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Professor Clive Webb tells the story of Lord Gordon Gordon, a impostor and fraud that stole millions from railroad tycoon Jay Gould. The theft also sparked a diplomatic row between the United States and Canada that nearly led to war.

This story first appeared in Canada's History and the publishers have kindly allowed us to reproduce the story with Clive as the narrator. Please visit their website: https://www.canadahistory.ca/ or you can find the original article here: https://canadas-history.myshopify.com/collections/canadas-history-back-issues/products/december-2021-january-2022

Many thanks to Fesliyan Studios for the free background music. You can find royalty-free tracks at their website: https://www.fesliyanstudios.com or their YouTube pages: https://www.youtube.com/user/fesliyanstudios

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This week we hear from early career scholars about cutting-edge research and research. Aroop Mukharji will talk with me about the War of 1898 and presidential decision-making; Chelsea Gibson will share teaching innovations and her work on Russian-American activism; and Alex Bryne discusses the birth of aviation and its effect on Pan-Americanism. Please take some time to read their publications!

Essential Reading:

Aroop Mukharji, "What One Word Teaches Us about the Uncertainty of American Empire," War on the Rocks (February 12, 2021).

Chelsea C. Gibson, "The John Browns of St. Petersburg: Former Abolitionists and Russian Terrorism in the Late 19th Century," OAH Presentation (2020).

Alex Bryne, "The Potential of Flight: U.S. Aviation and Pan-Americanism During the Early Twentieth Century," 19, no. 1 (January 2020): 48-76.

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