An American history podcast moving sequentially from the Tudor era to the 20th Century. Formerly the American History Podcast.
american history, detailed, show.
Listeners of Rejects & Revolutionaries: The origins of America that love the show mention:An audio-only version of my presentation at the 2022 Intelligent Speech Conference. For video, click here! In this presentation, I took a step back to explore the process of settling a new colony, a big-picture discussion of the colonies we've discussed through the lens of 20th Century research on settlement requirements and dynamics. It should surprise no one that a huge factor in success vs. failure deals with psychology and settler mental health, but it is an angle that's been oft overlooked in those early histories.
The story of Carolina's second settlement attempt was the type of failure we've frequently discussed, but it was also a failure for a new era. English proprietors got distracted, severe supply shortages emerged, and conflict with indigenous tribes ultimately caused the colony to collapse. But, colonists knew what to do, they forcefully made their feelings known, and they were led by people sympathetic to their plight. This meant that a story which, 20 years before, would have left the colonists either dead or destitute, ended with most able to move on with their lives. Website (transcripts) Patreon BMAC
Carolina was a colony for a new era. The Jacobean settlements of Virginia, Bermuda and Plymouth had been tiny, struggling outposts in a very New World. The colonies formed under Charles I (the rest of New England, Barbados, Maryland and others) had been defined by the political and religious turbulence of his reign. Now, a revolution had come and gone, an empire had been born, and it was time for the next era of English colonial expansion. Because of all of this, settling Carolina would look dramatically different than colonial history that had come before. As we start discussing Carolina, we take a quick look at what some of those differences were. Website (transcripts) Patreon BMAC
Henry Morgan's privateering exploits had turned to full on piracy by the time he attacked Maracaibo and, especially, Panama City. Still, he enjoyed the support of the island's population and leadership, and the money he brought to the colony facilitated its transformation into one of England's wealthiest colonies. Website (transcripts) Patreon Buy Me a Coffee Twitter
After the Willoughby brothers, the king imposed governors in Barbados who he expected to be loyal to him instead of the colony. The first two backfired in dramatically different ways, one siding with the colonists, and the other descending into embarrasing levels of tyranny and corruption. Website (transcripts)
Neither the king nor Barbados was willing to budge over the financial issues surrounding the Second Anglo-Dutch War, and what ensued was the biggest showdown between king and colony in American history. Website (transcripts, sources, etc) Patreon or BMAC Intelligent Speech is coming!
Henry Morgan's piratical exploits during the Second Anglo-Dutch War took him into combat not with England's allies, but rather against the Spanish of Cuba and Panama. Website (transcripts) Intelligent Speech Conference information!
Barbados would never really recover from the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Compared to islands like St. Kitts, it had gotten through the conflict without too much damage, but it had still funded and fought a full theater of war almost alone, and when the war was over, the demands and impositions (not least, the Navigation Acts finally being fully enforced) just kept coming. This pushed the colony to the point of irreconcilable hostility to England, its king, and its governor. Colonists united and demanded self rule and free trade. Website (transcripts) Patreon BMAC INTELLIGENT SPEECH CONFERENCE!
Information about this year's Intelligent Speech Conference! 35 presentations in four virtual rooms bringing together the independent educational podcast community. This year's theme: Crossings Date: June 25, 2022 Place: Your home, via Zoom Tickets: $20 before June 1. 10% off with promo code RnR. Standard price $30. Learn more: https://intelligentspeechconference.com
The First Anglo-Dutch War hit Barbados hard. After a 10 hour battle expended all their ammunition, colonists and king bickered over who should be responsible for buying more. Ultimately, the compromise was to put off the issue by loaning the king the money, and for two years, Barbados defended England's Caribbean holdings, spending 100,000 pounds, recruiting thousands of soldiers, facing severe food shortages, and ultimately losing its governor in a hurricane. It would never recover. Find transcripts and more at my website Support me on Patreon! or BMAC for one-time donations!
If you enjoy this show, would you please rate/review on whatever podcast app you use? Thank you! As Jamaica limped along after the Western Design, escaped slaves maintained their own colony in the island's central mountains, and pirates controlled Port Royal. From 1661-64, Jamaica had a series of governors, one of whom lasted only 10 weeks in the role. Modiford's defeat in Barbados, though, sent him to Jamaica and in Jamaica he began to make his mark. He quashed all democratic governance in the colony, helped organize the privateers and established valuable crops on the island. Intelligent Speech is coming June 25! Get your tickets before May 15 and use the promo code RnR to get your tickets for $18! It will be a day with dozens of presentations and panel events featuring amazing, independent history podcasters.
When the Restoration happened, Barbados requested to be made a crown colony, thinking its rights would be better protected. In return for giving up his proprietary rights, Willoughby was made Barbados's first royal governor. Suddenly, Barbadians were faced with the first real imposition to their self-government in well over a decade, and the conflict frustrated both Willoughby and the colonists. Meanwhile, an illegal slave deal with the Spanish ultimately gives Barbados the right to sell slaves to other countries. Website Patreon Buymeacoffee Intelligent Speech Conference information! I will be speaking alongside a bunch of other amazing indie educational podcasters at this June 25 event! You can find both ticket information and information about all the speakers at this link. Early bird ticket price is $20, plus 10% off if you use the code RnR. If you like some of my earlier topics, you will definitely enjoy my presentation. ;)
Charles II kept a stronger Parliament within England than his father could have imagined, and he expanded the Navigation Acts, kept the policy of transportation, and pushed the slave trade. When news of the new king's planned policies reached Virginia, Berkeley rushed to ask that they be revoked or modified to avoid crushing his colony. Website & transcripts Patreon Buy Me A Coffee
A political fight in Maryland highlights the colony's new state of affairs - Lord Baltimore may own the colony, but he has virtually no power there. Find transcripts and more on the website Support this podcast on Patreon Buy me a Coffee for one-time donations
After the Restoration prompted a bloody revolt by Thomas Venner's Fifth Monarchist group in London, Charles II cast a wary eye on New England. Meanwhile, regicides Whalley and Goffe had escaped punishment in England to make their home in Massachusetts. The fallout would lead to the end of New Haven as a colony. Website & Transcripts: Americanhistorypodcast.net Patreon BuyMeACoffee
A quick recap of everything that's changed in America during the period of the English Civil Wars and Interregnum/Commonwealth, as well as problems colonists are facing going into the reign of King Charles II. By the way, I've got a patreon (for ongoing support) and Buy Me a Coffee (easier for one-time donations) now, so if you're interested in helping support the show, the links are below! https://www.patreon.com/RNRPod https://www.buymeacoffee.com/RNRPod
In the final episode of our English Civil War series, we discuss the Restoration. After Cromwell died, there was chaos that could have erupted in yet another round of war. Instead, though, the return of Charles II to the throne of England occurred without bloodshed, which only intensified the excitement over his return. With the exception of most New England colonies, to, colonists were overjoyed to see the return of the king. With the Restoration, they could hope to reverse the hated Navigation Act, reclaim some of their autonomy, and once again enjoy the benefits of free trade.
While New England's comfort generally increased in the Cromwell years, Rhode Island suffered from a lagging economy, political divisions and even issues with religious dissidents who worked to destabilize the already unstable colony. Plymouth's prosperity also waned as trade came to dominate the New England economy. And in the United Colonies, the issue of infant baptism continued to create problems. In response to the limits of Church-membership exclusivity (including but not limited to infant baptism), younger people were either losing interest in religion or turning to more radical Puritan sects, like the Baptists. Baptists, who advocated for no infant baptism at all, rather than simply limited infant baptism, grew more numerous and popular throughout New England. Their ideology evened the social/political playing field as well as providing a simple solution to religious questions. In response to these trends in New England religious life, United Colony Churches (with some exceptions) adopted the Half-Way Covenant.
Cromwell decides in favor of Baltimore's proprietorship in Maryland, Virginia works to subvert English puritan leadership and reinstall a royalist government, Bermuda has its first slave revolt, and Barbados foreshadows Revolutionary War sentiments by opposing taxation without representation.
The Western Design was supposed to be England's plan to conquer Spanish America, starting with Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Cartagena (Colombia). Instead, after a disastrous expedition, England had ended up with Jamaica. For a while, owning Jamaica was disastrous in and of itself. Tens of thousands of people died, a huge percent of them Irish victims of transportation.
Former Anne Hutchinson disciple Mary Dyer was the third of four Quakers to be executed in New England. Persecution of Quakers was rampant across the English speaking world, ranging from imprisonment in Suriname to whipping in the Chesapeake to executions in New England. In England, itself, by 1655, they were dubbed the greatest threat left to England's future. But why? (This episode is a little bit more inappropriate than most. I wouldn't say it's explicit, exactly, but various instances of public nudity are discussed).
America's history of witch executions started 40 years before the Salem Witch Trials. Its first victim was Connecticut's Alse Young in 1647. Soon, Massachusetts had joined in the practice, as had Bermuda. Devastated Bermuda and legally-dubious Connecticut saw the largest numbers of witch trials in these years, and we examine how that came to be. Featuring a random elk that bugled outside my window as I was recording.
A brief history of the Province of Maine, culminating in its takeover by Massachusetts Bay in 1652/3.
England's participation in the Western African trade started very slowly, and the slave trade was explicitly rejected by early English traders to Africa. Still, within 40 years, English participation in the slave trade became common, and England's most valuable colony (Barbados) had shifted to slavery as a labor source. This episode looks at the history of that trade, as well as nuances of the history of the adoption of slavery in Virginia.
Bennett and Claiborne had control of Virginia, and two weeks later they went to Maryland to demand it renounce its loyalty to Lord Baltimore. When Marylanders refused, they took over the colony's government. Baltimore ordered his governor to fight to maintain the colony's government (and therefore, its stance of toleration toward Catholics), and this fight culminated in a bloody fight involving nearly 400 colonists. This came to be known as the Battle of the Severn.
England moves to suppress the colonies which declared allegiance to King Charles II over the Commonwealth. The battle reaches its climax in Barbados, with a three month siege and potential battle between armies of thousands. After suppression, though, it passes the Navigation Act of 1651, declaring that all English colonies must trade only with English ships. With this, the foundations of the British Empire were laid.
The execution of Charles I led to one last wave of war in England and Scotland, dubbed the Third English Civil War, and the English Invasion of Scotland. England's victory left them in control of Scotland, with a military government led by George Monck. It also led to thousands of POWs being transported to England's American (and African) colonies as unwilling indentured servants. These people would never return to Scotland, but instead form the original group of Scottish settlers in America.
In part one of a two part episode on the British Civil Wars in Scotland, we discuss the early events of the war. The unlikely Royalist conquest of Scotland under James Graham, Marquess of Montrose, and Alasdair MacColla has made Montrose one of the most romanticized figures of Scottish history. After the surrender of the king, Hamilton (not that one) led the creation of the Engagement Party to ally with the King against Cromwell's Independents, but the movement ended in catastrophe - the Whiggamore Raid kicked them out of power in Scotland, while defeat in England led to POWs being sent to America, as well as the execution of Hamilton and the King.
An overview of the situation in Scotland leading into 1643, with a brief history of the origins of the Ulster Plantation and Scots Irish.
The United Colonies of New England enjoy unprecedented peace and prosperity in the years following Cromwell's rise to power, and Cotton encourages ordinary people that the regicide was part of God's plan to bring about the millennium. Pardon the roughness of this episode. Still re-getting my sea legs, while adjusting to a new computer and recording space. And thank you for being patient!
In response to the execution of King Charles I, the colonies of Bermuda, Virginia, Maryland, Newfoundland, Antigua and Barbados declared their allegiance to his uncrowned and exiled heir. In doing so, they declared their separation from the English government. Some even went so far as to arm and defend themselves to defend this separation.
Back in England, the King had surrendered to the Scots at Newcastle, but the victorious Parliamentarians were divided. Presbyterians versus Independents, Parliament versus the Army. Discontent in the countryside turned into unrest, and the failure of either side to successfully negotiate with the King led to round two of war. At the end of this war, Parliament was ready to finalize negotiations, but the Army had other ideas. Pride's Purge settled the question of whether Parliament or the Army would control England's future, and it sealed the King's fate - regicide. Charles I's execution and the establishment of the English Commonwealth would become one of the most pivotal moments in American history.
In the aftermath of the Remonstrance of 1646, two things happen. One, Massachusetts deputies and magistrates stay united long enough to implement watered down versions of some of the reforms the deputies had been pushing for all along. Second, though, New England set about to declare to the world what the Congregational way to govern a Church was (and by this, I do mean the United Colonies, everyone except Rhode Island). By rejecting both Presbyterianism (which was too hierarchical, and accepted the inclusion of almost anyone as an individual) and the Independents (a movement comprised of a wide variety of denominations, some of which were quite radical, and others quite heretical), New England found itself growing unpopular in England. The possibility existed that Parliament would intervene in the future, so they had to write a document which would show exactly how their ideas worked, and the merits of those ideas. That document became the Cambridge Platform, and it became one of the most important religious documents in American history, and one of the most important documents in American Colonial history. Also, Massachusetts executes its first woman for witchcraft.
Following the Plundering Time, Maryland needed to re-evaluate its trajectory and the extent to which maintaining its original vision was feasible in the aftermath of the First English Civil War. While the colony worked to stabilize itself internally, Baltimore prepared a rebranding and reset of his colony, replacing Catholic leadership with Puritan, but also implementing a series of measures to ensure continued toleration of religious minorities. The most famous of these was the Toleration Act, which required toleration in the colony on both the personal and governmental levels. Unlike anywhere else in the English speaking world, this toleration would extend to every single Christian who reached Maryland's shores.
In 1645, Parliament abolished the English Book of Common Prayer, and in response, Virginia strengthened its laws requiring ministers to use it. By 1648, tension surrounding the Prayer Book caused two more puritan leaders to be kicked out of Virginia, and this left the rest of the colony's puritans wondering whether they should stay.
In this episode, we look at what happens at the end of the First English War in Bermuda and Barbados. A new colony emerges, and Barbados's neutral days are numbered as the end of war brings threats to the status quo from both sides.
A quick episode back in England, discussing the polarizing experience of war, which drove thousands of new immigrants to the colonies, and also created a seriously different mindset between new colonists and old ones.
The biggest threat yet to Massachusetts Bay autonomy also provoked some of its most ruthless political suppression. But, the colony wins, the deputies and magistrates unite, a new synod of New England Churches is planned, and if anything, the region's status quo is strengthened. Plus, Plymouth's Edward Winslow goes back to England to advocate on Massachusetts's behalf, and becomes increasingly involved in Parliamentary governance.
When Parliament allows Samuel Gorton to appeal decisions made by the Massachusetts General Court, a small group of disgruntled New Englanders gets together to push for reform in Massachusetts, in a way which threatens the autonomy the colony has always valued so much.
Bermuda Presbyterians beg for an anti-Congregationalist governor, and when they get him, retaliation pushes Congregationalists to England, where they become a focal point of the debate between Presbyterians and Independents. Barbados maintains its neutrality, despite repeated attempts by Parliament to push it to declare its allegiance.
Berkeley returns from England to find the Powhatan War mismanaged. Calvert returns from Virginia to reinstate Maryland's Proprietary government. But ... the last remaining Royalist port, Bristol, falls, an event which spells trouble for all American colonies, not just Royalist ones. Also, Opechancanough is murdered.
Richard Ingle returns to Maryland to lead a revolt which topples Maryland's Catholic leadership, and steals everything they own. Fathers White and Copley return to England as prisoners, and Calvert escapes to Virginia.
Congregationalists seize control of Bermuda's government and Church, imposing an era of oppression of the colony's Royalists/Anglicans and Presbyterians. The Third Anglo-Powhatan War begins, and William Claiborne and Richard Ingle join forces for an attack on Maryland. Plus, we briefly discuss the life of Thomas Rolfe, son of Pocahontas and John Rolfe.
Deputies clash with magistrates and Presbyterians with Congregationalists, resulting in Massachusetts's most heated political battle since 1636, and leading John Winthrop to give his famous "Little Speech on Liberty."
ANNOUNCEMENT: I'm planning to change the name of this podcast, either to "American Origins" or "Rejects & Revolutionaries." Richard Ingle is arrested for treason in Maryland, Virginia starts kicking out Puritans, Barbados takes a unique approach to avoiding factional conflict, and Barbados colonist James Drax asks the Dutch for help cultivating sugar.
In 1643, the debate between the deputies and the magistrates intensified in Massachusetts, and puritans in both old and New England debated the merits of Presbyterianism and Congregationalism. The fundamental issue underlying both controversies was how far the revolution should go. Should England retain an aristocratic hierarchy, or move toward democracy?
A brief overview of the events leading to civil war in England, plus Americans' initial responses to developments in their home country.
This episode is identical to the last episode, but because I'd uploaded a truncated file the last time, and the file change itself can cause some technical glitches, I'm just re-uploading this as a whole new episode. This one will expire at the end of the month.
An overview of what English America looked like before war started in 1642, including a brief introduction to the foundation of the earliest successful Caribbean colonies.
The final collapse of the Providence Island project, plus reflections on the end of this era of American history, and how Providence Island contributed to the outbreak of the English Civil War.
The civilians drive Butler from Providence Island, but he leaves the abusive Andrew Carter in his place. Parliament is called in England, and the colony faces its second Spanish attack.