Turn of the Century

UPDATE: I'm sorry in advance for the limited release of episodes! I've had to cut back on the frequency of Turn because I’ve been inundated with audio editing and production work. The positive side is that I’m getting ready to launch some exciting new projects, which I think you will really enjoy (details to come)! What this means for Turn of the Century, though, is that we’re going to move to a monthly release schedule. I’ll post more often when I can, but I just want to be upfront about what to expect

But anyway, you're interested in the history! From 1899 to 1901, the secret society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists, nicknamed “Boxers”, led a massive uprising in China. This rebellion allied with the Qing dynasty to try and topple Western colonists and Christian missionaries. Over several dramatic months, the Boxers made it all the way to Beijing and laid siege to the foreign legation. A coalition army of Russian, Japanese, American, Austrian, British, French and Italian troops fought their way to the capital and defeated the Boxers.

Edi, host of Sinobabble, joins the show to retell the events and importance of the Boxer Rebellion. It’s time to lace up and get ready for history at the Turn of the Century....

Last time we spoke with Professor Oliver Charbonneau, we unpacked the myriad goals and context for US colonization in the official Southern Philippines. Americans had practical and racialized reasons for invading, and local Moros were experienced at resistant AND collaborating with Western/European governments.

In this second conversation, we delve into the strategies of colonization and occasional violent confrontation. We also discuss the long-term lessons that US officials took from the ‘Moro Wars’. How did this period affect Moros and the nascent Filipino nation in the 20th century? And how are modern government officials misunderstanding the legacy of America in Sulu and Mindanao?

Oliver Charbonneau researches and teaches the history of US foreign relations at the University of Glasgow. His specialist interests include colonial empire, transimperial and transnational exchanges, global histories of violence, and race in the Gilded Age / Progressive Era. Most of his writing focuses on the period between 1865 and 1939 and he is presently working on a project about the global history of industrial education. You find his book on the Southern Philippines here. 

After declaring victory in the bloody Philippine-American War around Luzon and the North, US forces turned south to subdue the Muslim communities and Datus. Moros are only about five percent of the official Philippines population, yet the Americans organized a decades-long campaign to colonize these people. Commonly known as the ‘Moro Wars’, this period left a complicated military and cultural legacy. But why did the United States strive so hard to control the southern archipelago? How did Americans understand their role around Mindanao?

Professor Oliver Charbonneau joins us to discuss the various objectives and context of this long and winding period. Charbonneau researches and teaches the history of US foreign relations at the University of Glasgow. His specialist interests include colonial empire, transimperial and transnational exchanges, global histories of violence, and race in the Gilded Age / Progressive Era. Most of his writing focuses on the period between 1865 and 1939 and he is presently working on a project about the global history of industrial education. You can read more his book on the Southern Philippines here. 

Produced by Joseph Hawthorne

I actually came across our next guest at the library! The good student that I am, I was looking at the Hillsborough Library for information on a mysterious local soldier named David Fagen. I stumbled upon Ersula Odom’s book on African American history in Tampa Bay, and I had to reach out.

Ersula and I talk about Tampa at the turn of the Century, the Black diaspora after the Civil War and the realities of growing up in 1900s Florida. This is rich history that helps us understand the post-reconstruction South and the industrial age.

Ersula K Odom is a publisher, writer, keynote speaker and MM Bethune Performer. You can find her work and events at www.sulatoo.com.

The Balangiga incident/massacre/battle was a shocking twist in a war that seemed to be winding down. To many Americans and Filipinos, though, the conflict was just beginning...

Novelist Jennifer Hallock shares her research on Balangiga, and her experience teaching Philippines History in a US classroom. She explains how the surprise attack on US troops in Samar was the culmination of years of brutal warfare from 1898 to 1902. Local men disguised themselves covertly and snuck around town before striking Americans at breakfast. But while villagers may have repelled American soldiers temporarily, the aftermath of Balangiga would last for a very long time. On today's episode we're going to use events from a short battle to understand the effects of a much wider war...

Jennifer Hallock spends her days teaching history and her nights writing historical happily-ever-afters. She has lived and worked in the Philippines, but she currently writes at her little brick house on a New England homestead—kept company by her husband, a growing flock of chickens, and a mutt named Wile E.

If you’re a regular news consumer, Supreme Court decisions can often feel very technical. We know these cases are important, but we normally need an “explainer” to understand the jargon.

Technical cases like these became critical at the end of the 19th century, when the court ruled on Labor and Contract Law. The precedents set in this era affected average workers across America, and would come to define Union organizing and Progressivism for years to come. 

In our second episode on the Supreme Court, Legal Expert Craig Estlinbaum rejoins the show to explain the ‘Lochner Era’ and unpack high-stakes contact law. Get ready for a Supreme Roller Coaster!

Craig Estlinbaum was judge of the 130th District Court of Texas from 2001 through December 2020 and has been adjunct professor of law at South Texas College of Law since 2004. He regularly speaks before bar associations and law school programs and his work has been published in law journals at St. Mary's Law School, at South Texas College of Law and elsewhere. He also co-hosts the podcast Hooks & Runs, a podcast about baseball, music and culture

Produced by Joseph Hawthorne

Dill Pickles Rag by Charles L Johnson
The Entertainer by Scott Joplin

The ‘History of Africa’ podcast rejoins us to discuss the FOURTH and FIFTH wars in this colonial conflict. The British had scored previous victories, but defeating the Ashanti would be dangerous and costly.

These conflicts on the Gold Coast, or modern-day Ghana, would have major implications for Africa in the 20th century. We learn about the practical and symbolic importance of these wars.

Andy is the host of the ‘History of Africa podcast’. He has been researching the Anglo-Ashanti wars in his newest season, but has also covered Egypt and Ethiopia on excellent previous seasons.

Hosted and Produced by Joseph Hawthorne

Edited by Jordan Hawthorne (surprisingly unrelated!)

Today part of Ghana, the Gold Coast in West Africa was a Crown Jewel of the British Empire. Over the 19th century, the Brits fought FIVE wars with the Ashanti Kingdom for control of this territory.

We’re joined by the ‘History of Africa’ podcast to understand how these specific wars began and what they meant for the future of the continent. 

Andy ____ is the host of the ‘History of Africa podcast’. He has been researching the Anglo-Ashanti wars in his newest season, but has also covered Egypt and Ethiopia on excellent previous seasons.

Hosted and Produced by Joseph Hawthorne

Edited by Jordan Hawthorne (surprisingly unrelated!)

When we last left professor Louis Perez Jr, Cuban revolutionaries seemed on the verge of independence. The United States was willing to help overthrow the Spanish empire, but many US politicians seemed to have self serving motives.

To make a long story short, 1898 was a big year. The USS Battleship Maine mysteriously exploded on a peaceful visit to Havana Harbor and the North Americans used this as a pretext to invade Cuba. Led by Theodore Roosevelt, the US military helped overwhelm Spanish forces around the Caribbean.

In theory, this was a humanitarian campaign to free refugees from colonial rule. In practice however, the US often ignored local forces and began to set up a Cuban government that was sympathetic to big business. 

The island became a kind of US “protectorate” and the North Americans reserved the right to intervene as they saw fit. To many Cubans, this was simply a new form of colonialism.

Professor Perez describes the immediate aftermath of the Spanish-Cuba-American War and evaluates the legacy of this time period. Why do North Americans and Caribbean Americans view this history differently? How does this history affect us today?

Louis A. Pérez, Jr. is the J. Carlyle Sitterson Professor of History and the Director of ISA. His most recent books include Rice in the Time of Sugar: The Political Economy of Food in Cuba (2019) and Intimations of Modernity: Civil Culture in Nineteenth-Century Cuba (2017) Pérez's principal teaching fields include twentieth-century Latin America, the Caribbean, and Cuba. Research interests center on the nineteenth and twentieth-century Caribbean, with an emphasis on Cuba.

If you enjoyed this show, please subscribe and review! It really helps us get discovered. 

Editing and production by Jordan Hawthorne

"Dill Pickles Rag" by Charles Johnson

"The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin

“Free Cuba” means different things to different people. For some, it’s about fighting western imperialism. For others, its about being anti-communist or anti-Castro. And for many thirsty adults, a “Cuba Libre” simply means a “Rum and Coke.”

But at the end of the 1800s, Cuban freedom was about overthrowing the Spanish Empire. Local revolutionaries campaigned to end Madrid’s despotic rule over the island. And they succeeded!

But nothing is ever that simple when you’re less than 90 miles from the United States…
Cuba would grow to become one of the most influential, and contested, islands in the world. How did we get here? Caribbean History Professor Louis Perez Jr. explains the roots of the Cuban revolution. What were Cubans soldiers fighting for? And why did the North Americans decide to get involved?

Louis A. Pérez, Jr. is the J. Carlyle Sitterson Professor of History and the Director of ISA. His most recent books include Rice in the Time of Sugar: The Political Economy of Food in Cuba (2019) and Intimations of Modernity: Civil Culture in Nineteenth-Century Cuba (2017) Pérez's principal teaching fields include twentieth-century Latin America, the Caribbean, and Cuba. Research interests center on the nineteenth and twentieth-century Caribbean, with an emphasis on Cuba.

If you enjoyed this show, please subscribe and review! It really helps us get discovered. 

Editing and production by Jordan Hawthorne

"Dill Pickles Rag" by Charles Johnson

"The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin