Show Notes
In the mid-20th century, it was fashionable for historians to speak of a “Blundering Generation” of pre-Civil War politicians, people who—well intended or not—made a long series of foolish and short-sighted mistakes. They made blunders that make for wonderfully detailed political histories “from below,” as it were, but what appear to be mistakes were often intentional, and what appear to be great men were often just the schemers whose plans succeeded in the end. Who is the worst politician to come out of Illinois? Who were the “F Street Mess”? What happened to the Whig party between 1852 and 1856? Who were the first Republicans? Was the Civil War avoidable? Further Reading: Stephen A. Douglas: A Featured Biography Stephen A. Douglas, History Channel What Can the Collapse of the Whig Party Tell Us About Today’s Politics?, Smithsonian Magazine
Music by Kai Engel Related Content: Whiggery’s Last Gasp, Liberty Chronicles Episode Was Frederick Douglass a Libertarian?, Liberty Chronicles Episosde Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Today Anthony Comegna (@DrLocoFoco) leaves us with one final message as we end chronicling liberty: “I certainly will continue my own end of the deal we have struck here—you couldn’t drag me away from my Locofocos, my Spiritualists, my Free Love anarchists, or my radical English Dissenters, to name just a few—but I’ll close with one final plea to each of you: History is not an instruction manual; it is a cautionary tale. No intellectual tradition, no set of good or just ideas, no heroes nor villains are ever remembered unless we do the labor of memory. Our tradition, our ideas, our tales of heroes and our villains all deserve to be remembered, and we deserve to learn from their examples.” Be sure to check back with libertarianism.org to learn about our new history adventures in the coming months. Our Most Memorable Episodes: Eggnog Riot!! The Possession of Frances Whipple Reasonable Crimes: Humanizing Pirates There’s No Excuse for Slavery (Updated) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Last week we left off with selections from William Graham Sumner and we pick up right there today with Christopher Preble. Preble’s new book was released today on our site and it not only explores America imperialist tendency in the past, but also recognizes our foreign policy blunders of today. Does the U.S. think they are in a perfect position to solve the problems of other countries? How did the war against Spain turn out? Does the American imperial empire exist today? When did the U.S. start to get influenced by the imperial mindset of Europe? What is corporatism? Was it honorable to be a soldier in the 1900s? What was the anti-war movement and what happened to it after World War II? Further Reading: Peace, War, and Liberty: Understanding U.S. Foreign Policy, written by Christopher A. Preble, available April 30, 2019. Dreams of a City on a Hill, 1630, written by John Winthrop Related Content: Address Delivered at the Request of the Committee for Arrangements for Celebrating the Anniversary of Independence, written by John Quincy Adams Jackson: The First Imperial President, Learn Liberty The Conquest of the United States by Spain, written by William Graham Sumner Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Christopher A. Preble joins us for the first episode of a 2-part discussion about early America’s role in the world. Comegna and Preble focus their conversation around two historical documents that are cited in Preble’s new book Peace, War, and Liberty. The first document is John Quincy Adam’s “Address Delivered at the Request of the Committee for Arrangements for Celebrating the Anniversary of Independence”. The second document is, “The Conquest of the United States by Spain”. Be sure to tune in next week to hear part 2 of this discussion and to download a free copy of the Preble’s book! What is realpolitik? Why weren’t Native Americans seen as sovereign peoples by the United States? What did Americans think of their place in the world by 1820? Did Americans still fear the British in 1820? How did we use the Navy to expand markets in the early and late 1800s? Further Reading: Peace, War, and Liberty: Understanding U.S. Foreign Policy, written by Christopher A. Preble, available April 30, 2019. Dreams of a City on a Hill, 1630, written by John Winthrop Related Content: Address Delivered at the Request of the Committee for Arrangements for Celebrating the Anniversary of Independence, written by John Quincy Adams Jackson: The First Imperial President, Learn Liberty The Conquest of the United States by Spain, written by William Graham Sumner Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Can you imagine people getting themselves all worked up over banks and money today? Having that intensely boring issue so thoroughly dominate political life that presidents and parties rise and fall on this one subject alone? No one today knows anything about the Fed and no one wants to know about the Fed. People back in the 1830s and ‘40s, were in a constant state of agitation about it. It seemed to Jacksonian Americans that the individual pursuit of self interest was natural and inevitable. What was important about Adam Smiths’ Wealth of Nations? Were banks corrupt? Have banks always been corrupt? How did views of banks and the Fed change since Jacksonian America? Further Reading: The Myth of Class in Jacksonian America, Cambridge University Press The Bank War and the Partisan Press, written by Stephen W. Campbell Andrew Jackson, Banks and the Panic of 1837, Lehrman Institute Related Content: Jackson Kills the Bank, Part One, written by Andrew Jackson Jackson Kills the Bank, Part Two, written by Andrew Jackson Make America Young Again, Liberty Chronicles Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.