The History of the Americans

The year is 1675, and we are in Virginia. All kinds of social, demographic, fiscal, and economic pressures have been building for decades, and the common people are restive. There have been a string of small revolts and disruptions in the years since 1660, but they all failed for lack of effective leadership. The “masterless men” in the colony needed a leader, and the leader, when he arose, would need a cause. Nathaniel Bacon, a ne’er do well son of a wealthy gentleman in English, would be that leader. He arrived in Virginia in 1674 with a fat bankroll, sent there by his father after he got in a scrape with the law. By 1675 he owned two plantations, one of them at the falls of the James River, just at the edge of Indian country. The spark that would set off the chain of events that would lead to Nathaniel Bacon stepping forward as the leader of a rebellion would be the theft of some hogs by Indians in Northern Virginia who had been stiffed for payment in an ordinary trading transaction. The English colonials would blow their response, and blunder into war. Waging that war would be Nathaniel Bacon’s cause. Check out the new merch store! X – @TheHistoryOfTh2 – https://x.com/TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans Map of relevant indigenous nations c. 1675 (Credit Matthew Kruer) : Selected references for this episode (Commission earned for Amazon purchases through the episode notes on our website) Matthew Kruer, Time of Anarchy: Indigenous Power and the Crisis of Colonialism in Early America Edmund S. Morgan, American Slavery, American Freedom James D. Rice, Tales from a Revolution: Bacon’s Rebellion and the Transformation of Early America Wilcomb E. Washburn, The Governor and the Rebel: A History of Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia Charles McLean Andrews, Narratives of the Insurrections, 1675-1690

We are back in Virginia, finally! In my defense, offered in response to the many listeners who have asked for “more Virginia,” the thirty years before the Third Anglo-Powhatan War and Bacon’s Rebellion are almost blank spaces on published timelines of Virginia history, most noting only the legalization of slavery in 1661. Well, we are now on the brink of the civil war known as Bacon’s Rebellion, which was ramping up as the tide was turning in King Philip’s War in the spring of 1676. To understand that sorry state of affairs, however, we have to step back and look at the evolution of Virginia in the years between 1644, the onset of the last Anglo-Powhatan War, and 1675. How was it that civil war broke out among the English of Virginia during the tumultuous 1670s? This episode explores the root causes of the civil instability that led to Bacon’s Rebellion, and will therefore be more thematic than narrative. Along the way we consider the severe gender imbalance in Virginia, the sorry state of indentured servants, the persistance of a brutally high death rate into the second half of the century, the relentless efforts of Virginia’s great planters to control the growing population of “masterless men” who roamed the colony, and the arrival in the region of the Susquehannocks, much reduced from the peak of their power mid-century, but still a formidable military force. Check out the new merch store! X – @TheHistoryOfTh2 – https://x.com/TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans Selected references for this episode (Commission earned for Amazon purchases through the episode notes on our website) Edmund S. Morgan, American Slavery, American Freedom Matthew Kruer, Time of Anarchy: Indigenous Power and the Crisis of Colonialism in Early America “The Sadder But Wiser Girl For Me” (YouTube)

I got the idea for this episode talking to a bartender in Prague. The place was empty, and the fellow was garrulous and quickly said he loved American history, which naturally prompted me to suggest a podcast where he could find some. The barkeep called my bluff – “did I know who Augustine Herrman was?” Uh, noooo. It turns out he was a Bohemian – now we would say Czech – from Prague who became one of the wealthiest and most influential men in mid-17th century English and Dutch America, particularly in New Netherland and Maryland. He would live and trade in the early colonies for more than 40 years before his death in Maryland in 1686, and such diverse characters as Pieter Stuyvesant and Lord Baltimore would rely on him for their most sensitive diplomatic matters. Most famously, Herrman would draw the most detailed map of the Chesapeake Bay, at a time when maps were evidence in the settling of disputes between empires. Hermann’s map would, among other things, determine the border between Virginia and Maryland on the Eastern Shore, and – through twists and turns – play a role in the establishment of the colony of Delaware. The Czechs are understandably proud of Augustine Herrman, so in gratitude to that bartender and his surprising knowledge of 17th century America, this episode is about Herrman, through the story of his map. Augustine Herrman’s Map: Augustine Herrman’s woodcut of New Amsterdam, mid 1650s: X – @TheHistoryOfTh2 – https://x.com/TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans Selected references for this episode (Commission earned for Amazon purchases through the episode notes on our website) Earl L. W. Heck, Augustine Herrman: Beginner of the Virginia Tobacco Trade, Merchant of New Amsterdam and First Lord of Bohemia Manor in Maryland Christian J. Koot, “The Merchant, the Map, and Empire: Augustine Herrman’s Chesapeake and Interimperial Trade, 1644–73,” The William and Mary Quarterly, October 2010.

Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Dr. Phillip W. Magness is an economic historian and the David J. Theroux Chair in Political Economy at the Independent Institute. Magness’ research has appeared in multiple scholarly venues, including the Economic Journal, the Journal of Political Economy, the Journal of Business Ethics, the Southern Economic Journal, and Social Science Quarterly. He is the author of several books including, most recently, The 1619 Project Myth, which is the subject of this conversation. Our conversation was wide-ranging, including an overview of the original 1619 Project of the New York Times, conceived of and edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones; how it was a departure from similar historical projects of the Times before it; the strengths of the 1619 Project; the particular shortcomings of the Project’s claims about the economic consequences of slavery; the attempt by the 1619 Project to tie slavery to capitalism; the actual anti-slavery origins of capitalist theory, starting with Adam Smith; the anti-capitalism ante-bellum arguments in the philosophical defense of slavery; the flawed scholarship of the “New History of Capitalism” school; the Project’s distortion of the importance of cotton to the American economy before the Civil War, and the strange rehabilitation of “King Cotton” theory; the criticisms of leading historians of the colonial and revolutionary era of Hannah-Jones’s claims about the importance of slavery to support for the American Revolution in the South; the status of the “20 and odd” enslaved Blacks who were brought to Jamestown in 1619; the varied influence of the Sommersett ruling in the colonies; Lord Dunmore’s famous declaration after the American Revolution had begun; Hannah-Jones’s dismissive response to academic criticisms of her claims; that Hannah-Jones was correct in her assessment of Abraham Lincoln’s advocacy of “colonization” as a solution to emancipation; the New York Times’s strange unwillingness to correct its 1619 Project errors transparently, as it would otherwise do in other contexts; the explicit political and policy agenda behind the 1619 Project; the slow walking-back of some of the Project’s most controversial claims via ghost-editing; the insertion of The 1619 Project in public school curricula; and how to develop a school history curriculum that does give a balanced treatment of the history of slavery and Reconstruction. X – @TheHistoryOfTh2 – https://x.com/TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans Selected references for this episode (Commission earned for Amazon purchases through the episode notes on our website) Philip W. Magness, The 1619 Project Myth Nikole Hannah-Jones and other authors, The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story An interview with historian James McPherson on the New York Times’ 1619 Project An interview with historian Gordon Wood on the New York Times’ 1619 Project Philip W. Magness, “The 1619 Project Unrepentantly Pushes Junk History” Jake Silverstein, New York Times Magazine, “We Respond to the Historians Who Critiqued The 1619 Project” (free link)

This is the last episode of our telling of King Philip’s War. We cover the fate of the last Algonquian sachems, including the daring capture of Annawon, and the consequences of the war for the Indians who fought it and the colonies of New England. We consider the wisdom of the war, and especially the morality, or lack thereof, in the fighting of it. Finally, we explore the fates of the main characters who were still alive at the end of the fighting. [Errata: Sam from Marietta, Georgia points out that in referring to the marker on Benjamin Church’s gravestone I said it was a Ranger tag, and it should be a “tab.” Good correction, insofar as I don’t need a lot of Rangers rolling their eyes, or worse.] X – @TheHistoryOfTh2 – https://x.com/TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans Selected references for this episode (Commission earned for Amazon purchases through the episode notes on our website) Lisa Brooks, Our Beloved Kin: A New History of King Philip’s War James D. Drake, King Philip’s War: Civil War in New England, 1675-1676 Nathaniel Philbrick, Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War Matthew J. Tuininga, The Wars of the Lord: The Puritan Conquest of America’s First People Daniel Gookin (Wikipedia)

Maps of New England during King Philip’s War In May 1676 the tide of King Philip’s War had turned against the Algonquians of southern New England, but the New English settlers didn’t know it yet. They would soon. Suddenly, in a matter of a few weeks, the Algonquian resistance collapsed. This episode looks at that collapse through the eyes of Benjamin Church, whose men would finally catch and kill Metacom on August 12, 1676. Along the way, Church would persuade the Sakonnets, a Wampanoag group, to switch sides. They would teach him a new way of war, and Church would eventually be considered the “first American ranger,” at least by people who haven’t thought to give that credit to Nompash, the Sakonnet commander who taught Church. X – @TheHistoryOfTh2 – https://x.com/TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans Regicides on the Run! Selected references for this episode (Commission earned for Amazon purchases through the episode notes on our website) Thomas Church, The History of Philip’s War: Commonly Called the Great Indian War, of 1675 and 1676 Nathaniel Philbrick, Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War Matthew J. Tuininga, The Wars of the Lord: The Puritan Conquest of America’s First People Eric B. Schultz and Michael J. Tougias, King Philip’s War Lisa Brooks, Our Beloved Kin: A New History of King Philip’s War

Maps of New England during King Philip’s War March 1676 had been catastrophic for the settlers of New England. Algonquians allied with Metacom (King Philip) attacked all across the frontier, forcing the evacuation of far-flung towns in both Massachusetts and Plymouth, and destroying Providence, Rhode Island. The tide, however, was about to turn. The New English captured Canonchet, the leading military commander of the Narragansetts on April 3, 1676. Less than three weeks later, the Algonquians would win a decisive tactical victory at Sudbury, Massachusetts, but shortly thereafter their alliance would begin to fracture because of a shortage of food, a vicious epidemic, the dawning realization that the English had many more fighting men, and – perhaps most importantly – attacks by the Mohawks from the west. The coastal Algonquians, who had lived mostly at peace with the English for more than 50 years, were now between the ultimate rock and hard place. Along the way, both sides, but especially the English, would miss many opportunities for peace, and the war would continue in spite of catastrophic losses by both sides. X/Twitter – @TheHistoryOfTh2 – https://x.com/TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans Selected references for this episode (Commission earned for Amazon purchases through the episode notes on our website) Matthew J. Tuininga, The Wars of the Lord: The Puritan Conquest of America’s First People  Eric B. Schultz and Michael J. Tougias, King Philip’s War. William Hubbard, Sermon of May 3, 1676, before the General Court of Massacchusetts.

Maps of New England during King Philip’s War After the Great Swamp Fight, Josiah Winslow turned away overtures from the Narragansetts for a ceasefire, incorrectly believing he had the upper hand. Instead, he pursued the Narrangansetts, stumbling into the “hungry march,” in which Winslow and his starving militia were lured to the north by the Narragansetts, who were moving to join the Nipmucs and the Wampanoags in attacks on Massachusetts border towns. February and March would see a string of catastrophic losses, from the English point of view, and thrilling triumphs, from the Indian point of view. Famously, the destruction of Lancaster would result in the capture of Mary Rowlandson, who would go on to write an account of her captivity that would be New England’s first bestseller. By the end of March, even Providence had burned, notwithstanding a last appeal from Roger Williams, his last meaningful appearance in history. The situation in New England was desperate. As often happens, however, for the English it was darkest just before the dawn. X/Twitter – @TheHistoryOfTh2 – https://x.com/TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans Selected references for this episode (Commission earned for Amazon purchases through the episode notes on our website) Matthew J. Tuininga, The Wars of the Lord: The Puritan Conquest of America’s First People James D. Drake, King Philip’s War: Civil War in New England, 1675-1676 George Ellis and John Morris, King Philip’s War Mary Rowlandson, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God

Maps of New England during King Philip’s War It is the fall of 1675, and “King Philip’s War” rages on. The English colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Connecticut have been at war with the Wampanoag nation and its powerful allies, the Nipmucs, since late June. The Indians are beating the English everywhere, in part because the English cannot easily distinguish friendly and neutral Indians from enemies. The still neutral Narragansetts were the most powerful nation in the region. Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth did not, however, believe that the Narragansetts were in fact neutral, in part because some of their young fighters had gone rogue and joined with Nipmucs and also because the Narragansetts would not turn over Wampanoag refugees who had taken shelter in their lands. Paranoic fear of the Narragansetts would lead the New English to the most catastrophic diplomatic and military blunder in the history of European settlement up to that time. This is that story. And don’t miss the “trees of death”! Errata: In this episode I describe a possible friendly fire incident late in the Great Swamp Fight in which a group of Indians emerged outside the fort and colonial militia fired upon them. A sergeant had yelled out that they were friendlies, but after hesitating Benjamin Church concluded that they weren’t and had his men shoot at them, during which exchange Church himself was wounded.  I speculated that Church might have been correct, insofar as I had not read that there were Indian allies along with the thousand or so English involved in that campaign against the Narragansetts.  Within a day of posting the episode, however, I read in James Drake’s excellent book from 1999, King Philip’s War: Civil War in New England, 1675-1676, that in there were, in fact, 150 Mohegans and Pequots there with the Connecticut Regiment. It still isn’t certain that Church was wrong and the sergeant was correct, but the presence of those friendlies with Connecticut’s soldiers obviously tips the balance against Church’s judgment. X/Twitter – @TheHistoryOfTh2 – https://x.com/TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook – The History of the Americans Podcast – https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans Selected references for this episode (Commission earned for Amazon purchases through the episode notes on our website) Matthew J. Tuininga, The Wars of the Lord: The Puritan Conquest of America’s First People Nathaniel Philbrick, Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War Thomas Church, The History of Philip’s War: Commonly Called the Great Indian War, of 1675 and 1676 The Great Swamp Fight (Wikipedia)

This is an encore presentation of a Sidebar episode we originally posted on Memorial Day 2023. It seems even more relevant today, strange as that may seem, consumed as we are now about questions of war and peace, and the role of elite universities, such as Harvard, in our own national project. On May 30 – Memorial Day — 1895, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., a Harvard man and then a justice on the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, delivered an address to the graduating class of 1895 in Cambridge.  The speech, known as “The Soldier’s Faith,” is in and of itself fascinating substantively and also for its indirect effects. Regarding those, Theodore Roosevelt, another Harvard man, read the speech some seven years later and determined to appoint Holmes to the Supreme Court on account of it.  Beyond that, the speech is incredibly prescient, in certain respects, and eloquent, even poetic, on the question of personal courage and purpose to a degree that will seem alien to most Americans today, perhaps especially those of us who have never served. In this special episode for Memorial Day, we read (almost all of) “The Soldier’s Faith” with annotations and digressions, which we hope you find worthy to reflect upon. We conclude with a look at the historical context, the United States on the brink of its own imperial moment, and the national imperative to unite North and South at the dawn of a new century. X/Twitter: @TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook: The History of the Americans Podcast Selected references for this episode Stephen Budiansky, Oliver Wendell Holmes: A Life in War, Law, and Ideas “The Soldier’s Faith” John Pettegrew, “‘The Soldier’s Faith’: Turn-of-the-Century Memory of the Civil War and the Emergence of Modern American Nationalism,” Journal of Contemporary History, January 1996. George Root, “Just Before the Battle Mother” (YouTube)