The Other States of America: History Podcast

Who were the Wampanoag in the period immediately preceding contact with Europeans? How did they view themselves and the world around them? In this episode Eric reconstructs the Wampanoag in the time before the Thanksgiving story, Tisquantum, or Plymouth. 

This season will cover the  many forgotten English colonies that became the Middle and New England Colonies we all know and love so well. Rather than serve as missteps and side stories, these ventures shaped the borders, nature and circumstances of the Colonies that would one day declare their independence, beginning yet another state of America. A few topics covered this season: The Wampanoag, The United Colonies of New England, Lygonia, West New Jersey and many more.

In this episode Eric rambles on about the season, people who reached out and the sources used to put together season two.

The people of New France witness the utter desolation of many of their Native allies, only to find themselves living under the constant siege of the Haudenosaunee. Desperate pleas to New England to start a Holy War against the Iroquois fall on deaf ears as the English leave the French to fend for themselves. Martyrs and Heroines are made, visions and signs of the end times abound.   

Image credit: By Unknown - http://www.cmhg.gc.ca/cmh/fr/image_57.asp?page_id=42, PD-US, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13424183

Champlain is dead, but the order he put in place holds New France together. However, the Haudenosaunee have returned armed with guns and determined dominate the fur trade along the St. Lawrence. Montreal is settled by a secret society and a mutilated missionary seeks Martyrdom among the Mohawks... 

In the 17th Century, the mighty Huron Confederacy, or Wendat Confederacy consisted of several Iroquoian speaking nations who held a monopoly on the fur trade from all points North and West headed to New France. Both the French and the Wendat became economically dependent on one another and the acceptance of Jesuit missionaries into the lands of the Confederacy in the 1630's a French precondition to keep the Fur flowing. Despite their best intentions the Jesuits cause a rift among the Wendat and and the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy) seeks to assimilate the Wendat, take over their territory and monopolize the trade for themselves. The ensuing war has left us with perhaps the most graphically depicted acts of torture from the Colonial Period, not for the faint of heart. 

(Picture Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada)

The French, for the third time are determined to rebuild Acadia. However, competing titles split Acadia into two, run by rival claimants with powerful wives. Fate seemingly switching favor from one man to another, the outcome of the war is wholly unexpected. 

Baron Poutrincourt returns to Acadia to find the great Mi'kmaq Chief Membertou, true to his word, preserved Port Royal for the French. Now he and his son Biencourt, without Champlain, de Mons, or Pont-Grave seek to rebuild Acadia all on their own. However, funded by a headstrong Noblewoman, the Jesuits mean to take Acadia for themselves and a rival settlement on Mount Desert Island (in present day Maine) splits Acadia in two. Both factions are in for a surprise from Virginia, and here a now the epic colonial wars between England and France begins. 

After 30 years of hard work in the New World Champlain finds himself a prisoner, his colony destroyed, his friends turned to enemies and his family torn apart. For most, this would be the end of the story, but Champlain had one more chapter left to be written. 

Photo Credit: By Cephas - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6984208

Samuel de Champlain's days of exploration were over, he had built up New France along the St.Lawrence into a profitable enterprise requiring constant management. Helene, his reluctant wife, joins him in Quebec and the colony begins to take on the character of French society, rather than a frontier outpost. Champlain's successes make New France a lucrative target to his personal enemies and the adversaries of the French Empire. All will be lost, but not for long.