The History of the Americans

It is the fall of 1621. After the show of force at Nemasket, the cementing of relations with Massasoit, and the three day feast we now regard as "the first Thanksgiving," the Pilgrims confront enemies within. The Pilgrims did not yet know it, but for the next year and a half they would battle perfidy, betrayal, and enemies within who would threaten them existentially.  The perfidy would come from Thomas Weston, the same investor who changed the terms of their deal at the last minute back in London, forcing them to sell critical supplies in order to make up for Weston’s unfulfilled promises, and a new batch of settlers who would shortly arrive in Plymouth at Weston’s behest. The betrayal would come, sad to say, from Tisquantum, who would play both sides against the middle and disrupt the alliance with Massasoit just when it was most important.  Before we do any of that, though, I talk about the topic of presentism, which became a social media kerfuffle in the last week or two following an opinion piece by Professor James Sweet, the current president of the American Historical Association, and his rapid apology after a backlash. [Addendum added 12/4/2022: For a well-written and balanced recap of the Sweet controversy, including thoughts on why he provoked such a strong reaction among "very online" historians, you might read "What AHA President James Sweet Got Wrong—And Right".] Twitter: @TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook: The History of the Americans Podcast Selected references for this episode James H. Sweet, "Is History History?" and appended apology. Lynn Hunt, "Against Presentism." [Commission earned on sales through the following links] Nathaniel Philbrick, Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War John G. Turner, They Knew They Were Pilgrims: Plymouth Colony and the Contest for American Liberty Nick Bunker, Making Haste From Babylon: The Mayflower Pilgrims and Their World: A New History William Bradford and Edward Winslow (presumed), Mourt’s Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Edward Winslow, Good News From New England

In the spring of 1621, the Pilgrims have met Samoset and Tisquantum, and were learning from Squanto to feed themselves. This they would be able to do within one growing season, something the settlers at Jamestown took many years to accomplish. They had also signed a peace treaty with the grand sachem of the Wampanoag, Massasoit. Now they are learning that Massasoit was weaker than he postured, and that even some of his own sachems were planning to rebel, just as the Narragansetts to his west were increasing the pressure on him. From May to August 1621, the Pilgrim leaders would make decisions and take actions, all very much in the fog of pre-war, that would cement the peace with the tribes closest to them, and strengthen their ally Massasoit immeasurably. They did this without any loss of life, all while constructing their settlement, growing their own food, rebuilding their families, and worshiping their God. They concluded their miraculous year with a great three-day feast, in which they were joined by almost 100 Indian warriors. Even at that "first Thanksgiving" they might have been slaughtered at any time, but had so established themselves as measured and, it should be said, useful, that no trap was sprung, no ambush launched. Twitter: @TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook: The History of the Americans Podcast Selected references for this episode Nathaniel Philbrick, Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War John G. Turner, They Knew They Were Pilgrims: Plymouth Colony and the Contest for American Liberty William Bradford and Edmund Winslow (presumed), Mourt’s Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth

"Welcome, Englishmen!" The Pilgrims had had been building houses and establishing defenses for Plymouth for three months before Samoset, an Abenaki sagamore representing the Wampanoag chief Massasoit, marched boldly into town. Until that moment, they had seen a few Indians watching them, but had made no contact. Now, Massasoit had to decide whether to seek a treaty with the Englishmen, or to fight them. Along the way we reconnect with Tisquantum, and tell one of the most famous stories in early English-American history with, of course, a couple of twists. Twitter: @TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook: The History of the Americans Podcast Errata: Oops, at one point I said "ancestors" once when I meant "descendants." You'll figure it out... Selected references for this episode Nathaniel Philbrick, Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War John G. Turner, They Knew They Were Pilgrims: Plymouth Colony and the Contest for American Liberty William Bradford and Edmund Winslow (presumed), Mourt’s Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Jonathan Mack, A Stranger Among Saints: Stephen Hopkins, The Man Who Survived Jamestown And Saved Plymouth Caleb H. Johnson, The Mayflower and her Passengers Lynn Ceci, "Fish Fertilizer: A Native North American Practice?", Science, April 4, 1975. The Charter of New England The Three Sisters (agriculture)

It is November 11, 1620. The Mayflower has anchored in the harbor at today's Provincetown, Massachusetts. The passengers and crew of the Mayflower had been stuffed into the small ship for at least ten weeks, and for those who didn't go ashore in England longer than that. They were eager to get off the ship, explore the region, and find a permanent place to settle. That would prove to be more difficult than they expected, in no small part because winter in New England was much colder than at the corresponding latitude in Europe. Nevertheless, after three dramatic expeditions along Cape Cod, they found a place to call home. Unfortunately, winter was coming, and hard. If you are looking at these show notes on the website, the credit for the featured photograph for the episode, the marker at Pilgrim Spring, belongs to listener Adam Page. Thank you! Link to more of Adam's photos of Pilgrim Spring as it is today. Twitter: @TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook: The History of the Americans Podcast Selected references for this episode Nathaniel Philbrick, Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War John G. Turner, They Knew They Were Pilgrims: Plymouth Colony and the Contest for American Liberty William Bradford and Edmund Winslow (presumed), Mourt's Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth

Who were the Pilgrims, and how was it that they settled in the Netherlands, only to sail on the Mayflower for the lower Hudson River? And having done that, what was it like on board, and how was it they ended up in New England? All will be revealed, including the story of John Howland, who narrowly escaped death on the crossing and who is today ancestor to more than two million Americans, roughly 0.6% of all of us. Errata: I obviously misspoke when I said the Mayflower II sailed in the 1590s. It was the 1950s, doh! Twitter: @TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook: The History of the Americans Podcast Selected references for this episode Nathaniel Philbrick, Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation John G. Turner, They Knew They Were Pilgrims: Plymouth Colony and the Contest for American Liberty

This episode starts at the end of the story of the Pilgrims at Plymouth by looking at the famous "Mayflower Compact," and how Americans have spoken and written about it for more than 200 years. Was it a "document that ranks with the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution as a seminal American text," or merely an expediency for heading off the possibility of mutiny? Everybody from John Adams to historians writing today - and now the History of the Americans Podcast! - have debated that first grassroots American social contract. Twitter: @TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook: The History of the Americans Podcast Selected references for this episode (If you buy any of these books, please click through the links on the episode notes on the website.) Nathaniel Philbrick, Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War George Bancroft, A History of the United States From the Discovery of the American Continent to the Present Time (Vol 1) Winston Churchill, A History of the English-Speaking Peoples: The New World Samuel Eliot Morison, The Oxford History of the American People Paul Johnson, History of the American People Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United States Alan Taylor, American Colonies: The Settling of North America Walter A. McDougall, Freedom Just Around the Corner: A New American History 1585-1828 Jill Lepore, These Truths: A History of the United States Louis P. Masur, The Sum of Our Dreams: A Concise History of America Wilfred M. McClay, Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story The American Yawp (Vol 1) Mark L. Sargent, "The Conservative Covenant: The Rise of the Mayflower Compact in American Myth," The New England Quarterly, June 1988.

This year’s Independence Day "Sidebar" episode is about 18 year-old Daniel Webster’s first public speech, on the 4th of July, 1800, in front of an audience of good citizens in Hanover, New Hampshire.  The speech is interesting for a number of reasons, including that it shows how early in our history the 4th of July became the national holiday for ordinary Americans, and also that it is an early indicator that Webster would go on to become perhaps the greatest orator in American history. References for this episode Daniel Webster, "An oration, pronounced at Hanover, New-Hampshire, the 4th day of July, 1800; being the twenty-fourth anniversary of American independence." Robert V. Remini, Daniel Webster: The Man and His Time Dierks Bentley, "Home"

The first Africans arrive at Jamestown

The year 1619 is a famous one in the history of Virginia. There were two big moments -- the introduction of the "Great Charter," which brought representative government to the future United States for the first time, and the first importation of enslaved Africans in English North America. This episode, Part 1, looks at the innovation of the Great Charter, the invention of the "General Assembly," and the context in which representative government, if that is what it was, first came to the future United States. Please subscribe on your favorite podcast app and tell all your friends! Twitter: @TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook: The History of the Americans Podcast Selected references for this episode James Horn, 1619: Jamestown and the Forging of American Democracy W. W. Henry, "The First Legislative Assembly in America: Sitting at Jamestown, Virginia, 1619," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Jul., 1894) Sir Edwin Sandys (1561–1629) The Graves of the Powhatan "The Dutch"

This episode looks at the kidnapping of Squanto - Tisquantum - in 1614, along with 26 other Wampanoags, in the context of the extraordinarily robust trade between northern Europeans and the tribes along the northeastern Atlantic Coast of North America. Tisquantum would become one of the most important "cosmopolitan" Indians of the era, and in a horrifying twist of fate would become one of the last of his people to survive. Twitter: @TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook: The History of the Americans Podcast References for this episode Charles C. Mann, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus David Hackett Fischer, Champlain’s Dream Neal Salisbury, "Treacherous Waters: Tisquantum, the Red Atlantic, and the Beginnings of Plymouth Colony," Early American Literature, Vol 56 (2021) John Booss, "Survival of the Pilgrims: A Reevaluation of the Lethal Epidemic Among the Wampanoag," Historical Journal of Massachusetts, Winter 2019. Squanto (Wikipedia) The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Gold) Narragansett Beer commercial