A special episode on the Election of 1800 is now available!

Season 4

Feb. 12, 2024

4.29 - The Twilight

Year(s) Discussed: 1812-1813 After the failed campaign in Russia, French Emperor Napoleon had to regroup. And by regroup, I mean launch another war, of course. It soon became clear, though, that the tide was shifting, and…
Jan. 28, 2024

4.28 - Burnt Corn and the Fort

Year(s) Discussed: 1813 Tensions had been building between the Native inhabitants and the incoming American settlers in the Gulf South, and the year 1813 saw open hostilities which resulted in a joint operation planned by…
Dec. 13, 2023

4.27 - Don't Give Up the Ship

Year(s) Discussed: 1813 The 1812 ground campaign in the north may have been a bust, but with a new year and a new Secretary of War in place, surely the invasion of Canada would go better in 1813, right? Meanwhile, Preside…
Nov. 5, 2023

4.26 - Hello, Goodbye

Year(s) Discussed: 1810-1814 Though it took a while, in 1813, news of the war between Britain and the US arrived on the West Coast and would have ramifications for the Americans at the Pacific trading post of Astoria. Mea…
Oct. 15, 2023

4.25 - The Westward Retreat

Year(s) Discussed: 1812-1813 Though the French Army captured Moscow in the fall of 1812, Emperor Napoleon quickly learned that holding it and forcing the Russians to capitulate would prove to be a tougher prospect. Meanwh…
Oct. 1, 2023

4.245 - Puerto Rico and the Early US Republic

Year(s) Discussed: Prehistory-1954 Being in the midst of a war with Great Britain did not stop some Americans in the early 19th century from thinking about territorial expansion into Spanish-held colonies in the Americas …
Aug. 27, 2023

4.24 - The First Texas Revolution

Year(s) Discussed: 1811-1813 As if the United States didn't have enough military conflicts to be involved in, agents of the Madison administration worked to support the efforts of would-be revolutionaries leading the Repu…
July 16, 2023

4.23 - Out with the Old

Year(s) Discussed: 1812-1813 As the USS Constitution brought home the nation's first major victory in the War of 1812, the Madison administration had to carefully consider how to readjust its strategy in ground operations…
June 11, 2023

4.22 - The Eastward March

Content Note: There is a mention of death by suicide in this episode around the 32 minute mark. Year(s) Discussed: 1811-1812 Even after the declaration of war in 1812, US and British officials on both sides of the Atla…
May 28, 2023

4.21 - When It Rains

Year(s) Discussed: 1812 In the aftermath of the surrender of Detroit, the Madison administration had to consider whether its strategy against Britain had already gone awry in the early days of the War of 1812. Meanwhile, …
April 30, 2023

4.20 - Once More Unto the Breach

Year(s) Discussed: 1812 With the path to war set, the Madison administration had to develop a strategy to prosecute warfare against Great Britain. On top of logistical difficulties, having a Secretary of War and a Secreta…
April 9, 2023

4.19 - Let Slip...

Year(s) Discussed: 1810-1812 Tensions had been building for years between Britain and the United States. By June 1812, the American government was ready to take action. The circumstances by which they would declare war, h…
March 12, 2023

4.18 - Put Your Best Plot Forward

Year(s) Discussed: 1811-1812 In 1811, President Madison brought in a new US Minister who he felt might actually be able to navigate the complicated diplomatic intrigues of the Napoleonic French government to bring about a…
Feb. 26, 2023

4.17 - Unsettled Ground

Year(s) Discussed: 1807-1812 With changes happening in the nation's capital and abroad, the Madison administration worked as 1811 gave way to 1812 to navigate through new circumstances. In the House of Representatives, ne…
Feb. 5, 2023

4.16 - We're Not Going to Take It Anymore

Year(s) Discussed: 1810-1811 As a new British Minister made his way to the US, a naval engagement off the Eastern Seaboard further complicated relations between the United States and United Kingdom. In Washington, Preside…
Jan. 15, 2023

4.15 - Affairs of State

Year(s) Discussed: 1810-1811 As President Madison struggled to fill various vacant positions in both the executive and judicial branches, the administration's enemies in Congress gathered their forces to take on an instit…
Dec. 11, 2022

4.14 - Freedom or Death

Year(s) Discussed: 1809-1811 As news of Macon's Bill No. 2 reached Europe, US Minister John Armstrong worked to take advantage of the increasingly precarious situation for the French in order to secure a deal with the gov…
Oct. 30, 2022

4.13 - The Spanish Situations

Year(s) Discussed: 1810-1811 With the Spanish government on the Iberian peninsula in disarray, people in their colonial holdings in the Americas had to figure out what to do in the meantime. Some decided to stay the cours…
Oct. 9, 2022

4.12 - The Two Shawnee Brothers

Year(s) Discussed: c. 1764-1810 In the latter decades of the 18th and the first decade of the 19th century, native peoples in the old Northwest found themselves under threat from a westward push from Europeans wishing to …
Sept. 25, 2022

4.11 - Intrigue in Washington

Year(s) Discussed: 1809-1810 In the wake of the failed negotiations with British Minister to the US Francis James Jackson, the Madison administration and Congress had to determine next steps to address the tensions with b…
Sept. 4, 2022

4.10 - Yazoo v Yazoo

Year(s) Discussed: 1795-1810 For fifteen years, one controversy popped up time and again to disrupt the public arena - the Yazoo Land Controversy. From newspaper essays to debates in Congress, this issue involved some of …
Aug. 21, 2022

4.09 - Fear and Loathing in Napoleonic Europe

Year(s) Discussed: 1808-1810 Despite achieving a victory in the War of the Fifth Coalition, French Emperor Napoleon's hold on control over the European continent was looking increasingly shaky. This would make the recepti…
July 24, 2022

4.083 - Dolley Madison Part Three

Year(s) Discussed: 1817-1858 James and Dolley Madison left Washington, DC in 1817 anticipating a peaceful retirement in Montpelier. Little did they know what life had in store for them or that Dolley would end up returnin…
July 10, 2022

4.082 - Dolley Madison Part Two

Year(s) Discussed: 1768-1849 We continue our examination of the life and legacy of Dolley Madison with a discussion with Hilarie Hicks, Senior Research Historian at James Madison's Montpelier. In this episode, we talk abo…
Guest: Hilarie Hicks