American history is more than a collection of interesting stories, so why is it most often presented as such? It matters why things happened in the order they did. Join social historian Dr. Heath Mitton as he unpacks the story of the American Republic with special attention to how social and economic factors drove the politics of ideas, from the American Revolution through the presidency of Barack Obama. These episodes originally aired as a regular segment on 610 KVNU's For The People radio ...
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Dr. Mitton concludes this series with several questions: Is the United States an Empire? Is it is possible for a republican empire to be benevolent? Finally, how do the decisions of average American consumers both demand and support global empire?By Andy Rasmussen
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How did the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1967 lay the groundwork for the age of terrorism? Dr. Mitton takes us right up to our own day in this episode.By Andy Rasmussen
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What political & economic elements led to the Reagan Revolution? Did Ronald Reagan win the Cold War? And how conservative was Reagan really? Dr. Mitton takes us through the recent past.By Andy Rasmussen
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Taking lessons from Nixon and the concept of the Imperial Presidency, Dr. Mitton asks the question "Are the American people fit for world leadership? And does the world need a leader at all?"By Andy Rasmussen
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Was the Civil Rights Era in the U.S. a response to the geopolitical forces of the Cold War? Can the LBJ's Great Society be understood in the context of international affairs? And how can we explain the evolution of the American political parties, and their reversal of historical positions in the middle of the Twentieth Century?…
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This episode begins a thematic approach to 20th century history as Dr. Mitton explores the emergence of the American superpower and the simultaneous development of the social welfare democratic state. -- And why these two themes are mutually reinforcing.By Andy Rasmussen
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What specific United States policy was Japan responding to when they attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941? How did the Depression lead directly to World War II? And why, after half a century as the largest economy on earth, did the U.S. finally decide to take up the mantle of world leadership in 1941?…
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Two themes dominate 20th Century world history: The emergence of the United States as a global superpower, and the simultaneous emergence of the modern Social Welfare State. This episode examines the roots of both in the Great Depression. Was the depression inevitable? Was it a result of gross mis-management of the economy, or a natural by-product …
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The U.S. has officially declared war just five times; yet American troops have been involved in hostile incursions on foreign soil a total of 272 times! In this episode Dr. Mitton begins a discussion of American in the world. Woodrow Wilson understood that, as the largest economy on the planet, United States had responsibilities in the global commu…
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Despite the fact that no mention of political parties can be found in the Constitution, bitter partisan divides have characterized U.S. politics since George Washington's administration. In this episode Dr. Mitton first explores the unique qualities of the American political system that guarantee an acrimonious two-party system. Then he guides us t…
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Prof. Mitton discusses how Jim Crow laws were actually a progressive policy response to conditions in the South. And we begin a thematic approach to 20th Century American history with a brief outline of how we got from a deeply racist progressive Democrat in the White House (Woodrow Wilson) to a progressive African-American Democrat President just …
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Was the American West built by rugged individualism or by massive Federal intervention? Much of today's partisan battles are rooted in the stories both sides tell about the history of this era of American history. But the truth often lies outside either party's interpretation of events. For instance, can you tell the story of how the settlement of …
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Following the Civil War American's attention turned to the "civilizing" and "reclamation" of the arid West. How the trans-continental railroad and the gold rush of 1849 laid the groundwork for the rise of Western political power and set the stage for a century of contradictory anti-Federal political animus in Western states.…
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Beginning with Emancipation and the Election of 1864 through the end of the Civil War and the period known as Reconstruction. Why did the American North not offer a "Marshall Plan" of sorts for the American South? How did the Secretary of War's decision to barricade himself in his office lead to the impeachment of Andrew Johnson? Dr. Mitton explore…
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Professor Heath Mitton takes us to the brink of Civil War with an exploration of American politics in the 1850s. How did the "slave power" of the American South come to the point that they valued the institution of slavery over the benefits of Union? Are there parallels in ideology in contemporary U.S. politics?…
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As we review the final flash points of the sectional crisis that finally led to civil war, Dr. Mitton identifies the genesis of the judicial doctrine known as "original intent" as the 1857 Dred Scott case when U.S. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney held that African Americans, whether free not, could never become American citizens because, as Taney saw …
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Which American state was founded as a free labor experiment; which experiment was then abandoned for the more profitable model of human slavery? In this episode Dr. Mitton debunks the theory that slavery was an unprofitable enterprise in the era of industrialized capitalism and free labor markets. By 1860, far from declining, American slavery was s…
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"Democracy! Don’t you recognize that these are the waters of the deluge? Can’t you see them advancing ceaselessly with gradual but irresistible force?...Let us attempt, then, to foresee the future with open eyes and steady gaze.” -Alexis de Tocqueville In 1831, when Alexis de Tocqueville landed in New York, the United States was a country in transi…
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A broad discussion of the art of compromise in American politics, focusing on the Compromise of 1790 between Jefferson, Madison, and Hamilton. Why are ideological arguments ill-suited to the compromise needed to govern?By Andy Rasmussen
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The concept of states' rights and the idea of state nullification of Federal laws is as old as the American Republic itself. In this episode we get into the beginnings of the sectional crisis in the 1820s, and trace these popular contemporary themes of conservative Constitutional interpretation to their ideological roots.…
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Did Alexander Hamilton's ideal of a strong, centralized federal government and his commitment to American industrialization provide the foundation for the United States' global dominance?By Andy Rasmussen
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Dr. Mitton explores the surprising and even conflicting political climates that gave us the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.By Andy Rasmussen
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