The Monday American: A History Podcast 283i3d

This episode is brought to you by Sudio Headphones. Visit the website by clicking hereor visiting sudio.com/USand enter the promo code: “MONDAYAMERICAN” to get 15% off of anyorder placed including free international shipping!   Visit the official website(www.themondayamerican.com) to listen to all our episodes, shop for officialMonday Americanswag, us, and appreciate our use of the oxford comma!   The Monday Americanis proudly part of the Podcast Advocate Network.To find out more visit the website by clicking hereor by going to podcastadvocate.network   America reels in the face of the worst economic disaster ever faced. The attempts to bring the country and its people out of the Dust-bowl of despair only make things worse.   The nation of wealth and prosperity in the post World War I era suddenly finds itself scrambling to keep its own people from starving in the streets while the world watches on. The attempts to right the ship serve as a lesson to future generations on the danger of government power-grabbing; even when fueled by the most noble of intentions.   Democracy is challenged on a global stage after it nearly collapsed from the Civil war. America pays a painful price to learn the lessons of economics and what happens when the Government takes action and control despite honest intentions.     Sources Used: Beschloss, Michael. Presidents of War.Random House, 2018. Cooper, William J., Tom E. Terrill, and Christopher Childers. The American South. a History. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017. Egan, Timothy. The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl.Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2013. Powell, Jim. FDRs Folly: How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression. Rocklin, CA: Forum, 2004. Schlesinger, Arthur M. The Crisis of the Old Order, 1919-1933: 1919-1933, The Age of Roosevelt.Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003. Shales, Amity. The Forgotten Man. New York, NY: Harpercollins Publishers, 2008. Roosevelt, Franklin D. (FranklinDelano), 1882-1945. Franklin D. Roosevelt's Inaugural Address of 1933. Washington, DC :National Archives and Records istration, 1988. https://guides.lib.monash.edu/c.php?g=219786&p=1454691  

Audience Appreciation Giveaway! Details on how to enter to win in our audience appreciation are all within this episode's intro! Anyone can enter to win T-shirts, stickers, gift cards and more! The last day to enter will be one month after this episode is aired! Visit our website to enter by clicking here and filling out the form with the answer to the question within this episode's intro. If the link isn't available just visit http://themondayamerican.com/ to sign up! Ending the Conflict in Stalemate: The Korean War is a conflict that has been largely forgotten from the memories of current. As so it shows us not only the lessons we can learn from history, but that the simple knowledge of an event happening is a lesson all its own. To the podcast you can visit our Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/mondayamerican) as well as visiting our online store where you'll find t-shirts, stickers, mugs, notebooks and much more! This Podcast is proudly part of the Podcast Advocate Network.

Audience Appreciation Giveaway! Details on how to enter to win in our audience appreciation are all within this episode's intro! Anyone can enter to win T-shirts, stickers, gift cards and more! The last day to enter will be one month after this episode is aired! Visit our website to enter by clicking here and filling out the form with the answer to the question within this episode's intro. If the link isn't available just visit http://themondayamerican.com/ to sign up! Ending the Conflict in Stalemate: The Korean War is a conflict that has been largely forgotten from the memories of current. As so it shows us not only the lessons we can learn from history, but that the simple knowledge of an event happening is a lesson all its own. To the podcast you can visit our Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/mondayamerican) as well as visiting our online store where you'll find t-shirts, stickers, mugs, notebooks and much more! This Podcast is proudly part of the Podcast Advocate Network.

Audience Appreciation Giveaway! Details on how to enter to win in our audience appreciation are all within this episode's intro! Anyone can enter to win T-shirts, stickers, gift cards and more! The last day to enter will be one month after this episode is aired! Visit our website to enter by clicking here and filling out the form with the answer to the question within this episode's intro. If the link isn't available just visit http://themondayamerican.com/ to sign up! Ending the Conflict in Stalemate: The Korean War is a conflict that has been largely forgotten from the memories of current. As so it shows us not only the lessons we can learn from history, but that the simple knowledge of an event happening is a lesson all its own. To the podcast you can visit our Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/mondayamerican) as well as visiting our online store where you'll find t-shirts, stickers, mugs, notebooks and much more! This Podcast is proudly part of the Podcast Advocate Network.

Part II highlights the dichotomous type of war that the Korean War seemed to become once the Chinese Army threw their hat into the ring. It not only changed the war, it was an action that had rippling effects of change for the whole world. On Sale now, official t-shirts and more! Visit the online store here! the podcast by visiting our Patreon page! A full list of sources used as well as maps of the battles can be found on our official website by visiting www.themondayamerican.com  Don't forget to follow us on twitter, @MondayAmerican, Instagram, and our Facebook page for all the latest updates! The Monday American is proudly part of the Podcast Advocate Network Timestamps: Past the 38th Parallel: [00:05:00] McArthur's Desires Become Priority: [00:16:00] The Chinese Attack the US 8th Cavalry: [00:21:50] About China and Why they Entered the War: [00:39:17] David Halberstam excerpt on McArthur: [00:45:55] Summary of McArthur's Errors: [00:51:10] China Overwhelms the US 2nd Division: [01:00:26] The affect of Fear on men in Battle: [01:11:26] US forces are reluctantly ordered to retreat: [01:13:28] Military Chiefs React and Blameshift [01:24:50] "The Gauntlet" of retreat: [01:27:12]  

The Korean War is known, ironically so, for being America's forgotten war. It was a war that sparked America's involvement in southeast Asia for next thirty years.  Part one of this series on the war begins by explaining how we got to the point of war in Korea, and the history of Korea itself.  One unique aspect of this war is that it never officially ended, and the ramifications of the events are still in place today.  A list of sources as well as maps is available on this episode's page on the official website by clicking here or visiting www.themondayamerican.com/korean-war-sources.  To help the podcast you can visit our Patreon page by clicking here.

This episode tells the story of the Battle of the Bulge, one of the worst battles in American history. This battle took place in late December of 1944 in the Ardennes Forest region of Belgium, near the town of Bastogne.  View maps detailing the battle here. This episode is brought to you by the book titled "Last Judgement", written by Michael Canon. To purchase a copy for only $7.99, click here. Michael Canon is also working on a graphic novel based off of the book. You can see a preview for the graphic novel set to come out in early 2019 by clicking here. You can help donate to the project by clicking here. We have a Patreon page! Help the podcast and Become a patron of the show!

This episode tells the story of the Battle of the Bulge, one of the worst battles in American history. This battle took place in late December of 1944 in the Ardennes Forest region of Belgium, near the town of Bastogne.  View maps detailing the battle here. This episode is brought to you by the book titled "Last Judgement", written by Michael Canon. To purchase a copy for only $7.99, click here. Michael Canon is also working on a graphic novel based off of the book. You can see a preview for the graphic novel set to come out in early 2019 by clicking here. You can help donate to the project by clicking here. We have a Patreon page! Help the podcast and Become a patron of the show!

Cowboys and Indians The Monday American Podcast is now on Patreon! To the show in its journey to reach more people with history, click the link above or visit www.patreon.com/mondayamerican This episode tells the story of America's journey from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Pacific. The great American migration west is a story that tells of America's growth in land as well as national identity.  The Manifest Destiny ideology served as the foundation that the nation built itself upon, in methods both good and bad. America's saga is a story of happiness and tragedy in so many ways, this chapter is no exception to the highs and lows of human behavior.  For a detailed list of sources cited you can click this link or visit the website at www.themondayamerican.com

Interview with Bruce Carlson: Host of "My History Can Beat up Your Politics" We are ed by Bruce Carlson who hosts the podcast called "My History Can Beat Up Your Politics." Bruce is a very educated man in both history and politics and the conversation we had is a great footnote to the recently concluded Vietnam War Series.  To find out more about Bruce and his podcast you can visit his website by clicking the link above or listen to his show anywhere you find podcasts! This episode is brought to you by: "The Three Brothers", a book written by Stephen E. Marantelli that tells the story of a dinner with George Washington and Edmund Barton. It's "history with a mystery" as it convey's Australia and America's similarities in their founding days. The Monday American is proudly part of the Podcast Advocate Network. To find more amazing podcasts like this one or for more about the network, click the link. You know you want to...

The Vietnam War (Part V): America's Costly Lesson. Apologies for the delay in releasing the fifth and final episode for the Vietnam series. Technical difficulty combined with operator error can be a deadly combo!  The fifth episode picks up right where part four left off. Nixon takes the reigns of Presidential burden and responsibility from the hands of Lyndon Baines Johnson. The most daunting task ahead of the nation and the new istration, to no one's surprise, is the looming war in Vietnam and the path out of the conflict.  Nixon and Henry Kissinger fell into a trap that was partly due to their own pride, their own arrogance and their own insecurities. It was also in part due to the nature of the Vietnam War itself. It was a bloody, gruesome and gory affair. The arrogant Nixon and Kissinger duo somehow managed to convince themselves that reality was something other than what was in front of them. They decided on the paradoxical, if not tragically ironic, policy of "War for Peace".  Nixon allowed himself to believe he could use brute force to force the North Vietnamese into a peace settlement adhering to his definitoin of "peace with honor". Each step and decision he took became more obsessive, paranoid and constitutionally unsound as he drug America through its final stages of the conflict in Vietnam that would become America's longest war; as well as one of it's most costly lessons. This episode is sponsored by Sudio. Sudio is a company making studio quality headphones with a stylish design; all while not overcharging just because they can. Visit the website and use the promo code THEMONDAYAMERICAN for 15% off any order! This episode is also brought to you by "The Three Brothers: When George Washington and Edmund Barton Sat Down to Dinner" This is a book written by Australian author Stephen E. Marantelli. The best way to sum up this book is the phrase "history with a mystery". Stephen sent me a copy and I've been thoroughly enjoying it! If you're a fan of history this book is a must read! To find a list of sources used please visit the website where you'll find a Chicago Manual of Style list of Works Cited.    This show is proudly part of the PodcastAdvocate.Network. To find other amazing shows like this one or to find out more about the network such as its award winning editing service, click the link. You know you want to...

The Vietnam War (Part IV): Tet Unravels the West. This episode is sponsored by Sudio. Sudio is a company making studio quality headphones with a stylish design; all while not overcharging just because they can. Visit the website and use the promo code THEMONDAYAMERICAN for 15% off any order! This episode is also brought to you by "The Three Brothers: When George Washington and Edmund Barton Sat Down to Dinner" This is a book written by Australian author Stephen E. Marantelli. The best way to sum up this book is the phrase "history with a mystery". Stephen sent me a copy and I've been thoroughly enjoying it! If you're a fan of history this book is a must read! Lyndon Johnson comes to with the reality he and his istration of "wise men" had been avoiding until this point. The reality that they were in a war that was neither winnable nor popular was no longer a "sweep it under the rug" thought for them. They reached the crucial point where we (looking back from today) see the decisions they made and the responsibility they bore; or in this case the responsibility they deflected.  Rather than take the blame for their own actions these men, men like LBJ and McNamara, decided to cast the blame of their own actions onto the very American public they "represented and served", they cast the blame onto the press, onto the people, onto any other thing other than themselves. The Tet Offensive pushes the conflict in Vietnam to a boiling point both abroad and within the United States. The American public after Tet, the odd victory without reward, finally was able to see the real situation in Vietnam. What was even more jarring to the public than the "principals" and their malfeasance was the unsettling realization that the war in Vietnam had somehow started a civil war in America. This show is proudly part of the PodcastAdvocate.Network. To find other amazing shows like this one or to find out more about the network such as its award winning editing service, click the link. You know you want to...

The Vietnam War (Part III): Manipulation and Deceit. Stickers! The intro of this episode has all the info you need to get your free stickers of the show's logo! Part III of the series takes an in-depth dive into the man largely credited for the escalation, continuation and cover-ups regarding the Vietnam War: Lyndon Baines Johnson.  Picking up where we left off in part II, we learn a bit more about who LBJ was and what helped him to make the fateful decisions made throughout his istration regarding the Vietnam War, its escalation and its subsequent veiling to the American public.  The former Senate Majority Leader was a master of manipulation, skilled like none other in the art of politics, personal flattery and the ability to read a man in order to face off against him. Lyndon B. Johnson masterfully avoided the rebuke of Congress and the American people while further involving the nation in a conflict with no hope of resolution.  Using the attack of Pleiku airbase, as well as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, LBJ was able to position himself as the President leading the charge of retaliation against the "aggressor" North Vietnamese. Operation "ROLLING THUNDER" would kick off the bombing campaign that would prove the North Vietnamese would not only withdraw in their campaign, but they would escalate it on a magnitude with which the United States was un-willing and un-able to match.  As always, you can us by sending an email to @themondayamerican.com, following us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and by visiting the website at www.themondayamerican.com To find the list of sources used, visit the episode page on the website.

Special Episode: Interview with William Timmons Although this podcast is not an interview format show (usually), I had the chance to sit down with a State Senator from South Carolina who is running for Congress in the election. I believe that what he has to say about politics, congress and the country in general are beneficial for not only his constituents but for any American listening in. Please excuse the interruption of the Vietnam War series (of which part III will release shortly) in order to enjoy a conversation with a congressional candidate.   To learn more about William Timmons and his run for congress please visit his pages listed below: Website: www.votetimmons.com  Facebook: Timmons for Congress Twitter: @votetimmons  email: [email protected]

The Vietnam War Series presented by The Monday American Podcast    Thank you for listening and ing Part II of the series covering the Vietnam War. If you're interested in finding out the sources used and cited during the series, you can find all of them on the website by visiting www.themondayamerican.com or if you'd like to email us you can send it to @themondayamerican.com    The Vietnam War has hardly begun in the point where we left off part one and now start part two, yet it isn't difficult for us looking back to see how much destruction is on its way.  Part II continues the story of America's involvement in Indochina and Vietnam and touches on topics such as: The Buddhist Crisis, the JFK assassination, Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society, The Gulf of Tonkin Incident, as well as the Gulf of Tonkin Congressional Resolution, the Strategic Hamlet Program.    The Monday American: A History Podcast is proudly part of the Podcast Advocate Network. Visit the network's website at podcastadvocate.network where you'll get great podcast tips and news, editing services, the only newsletter you won't unsubscribe from and much more!

 The Vietnam War (Part I)  The analogy of Domino's falling is ittedly a lazy subtitle on our part. That said, even though it rings as a loud cliché it is easily the most appropriate way to describe the entire American involvement in the Indochina (Vietnam), South Asia and overall struggle against the "un-ceasing" growth of communism.  Part One of the series provides the context that is necessary to glean the story out of the Indochina conflict. Without understanding not only how, but why these events came to be, the story within the history doesn't get through and it doesn't teach those of us looking back at it today.  The difficult aspect of covering this specific war in American history is the sheer amount of lies, misdirection and flat out confusing amount of sources and historical data are available. It is ironically fitting however, the Vietnam war remains one of the most complex and farthest thing from "simple" that endures in the history of America.  Part one of the series begins the journey that is the story of the Vietnam War, we hope you enjoy.  As always, please email your thoughts, complaints, arguments or general dad jokes to @themondayamerican.com you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Youtube and don't forget to check out the website at www.themondayamerican.com    Sources Used: McManus, John C. Grunts: Inside the American infantry combat experience, World War II through Iraq. New York: NAL Caliber, 2011. Herring, George C. Americas longest war: the United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 2002. Sheehan, Neil. A bright shining lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam. New York: Modern Library, 2009. Downs, Frederick. The killing zone: my life in the Vietnam War. New York: Norton, 2007. Moïse, Edwin E. Tonkin Gulf And the Escalation of the Vietnam War. Univ of North Carolina Pr, 2004. Mason, Robert. Chickenhawk. New York: Penguin Books, 2005.

The American Civil War (Part V) The Monday American podcast is brought to you by the Podcast Advocate Network. If you'd like to learn more about the other shows on the network you can visit the website or subscribe to the network newsletter.  Part Five of the series opens with the full realization of the Confederate States of America that the war cannot be won setting in. General Ulysses S. Grant moves into Richmond, VA and occupies the recently abandoned Confederate government headquarters. Robert E. Lee takes his men on a "march from hell" only to realize the only option is surrender, which he does on April 9, 1865. When everything seems to be coming together, the nation loses Abraham Lincoln to an assassins bullet. Altering the course of the new nation forever...   Sources Used Ellis, Joseph J. Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation. Vintage Books, 2000. Winik, Jay. April 1865 the month that saved America. New York, NY: Harper Perennial, 2008. Blight, David W. Race and reunion: the Civil War in American memory. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2002. Alexander, Edward Porter. Military Memoirs of a Confederate. New York, NY:  C. Scribners Sons, 1907. Fellman, Michael, Lesley J. Gordon, and Daniel E. Sutherland. This terrible war: the Civil War and its aftermath. New York: Pearson Longman, 2008. Coski, John M. The Confederate battle flag: Americas most embattled emblem. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2006. Taylor, Michael W. The Cry is War, War, War. Dayton, OH: Morningside Press, 1994. Geer, Walter. Campaigns of the Civil War. Old Saybrook, CT: Konecky & Konecky, 2009.

In Part IV of the American Civil War the nation reels from the cost of the conflict. The Battle of Antietam takes its toll as the nation's bloodiest single day of combat - ever. The Battle of Gettysburg becomes the country's most costly single battle, still to this day. The Union army control is given to Ulysses S. Grant who battles Robert E. Lee through the Overland Campaign, inching closer to Richmond where the life of the Confederate States of America seems to be waning. 

The American Civil War (Part III) A House Divided Welcome to Part III of The Monday American series on the American Civil War; the story of America's darkest days in which it ultimately becomes the nation's brightest hour. In order to find out more about this episode, or the series as a whole, please visit the official website by clicking here!    Fill out the new (anonymous) 6 question survey to contribute to the growth of the show! Six questions and less than seconds gives the podcast anonymous information about its audience in order to further grow and expand the listener base!   Please leave a review on iTunes and subscribe to the show on whatever platform you listen on! It helps the show out tremendously when you do so and we greatly appreciate the !   Show Topics and Timestamps: Nat Turner’s Rebellion (2:45) The Fugitive Slave Act (8:30) Uncle Toms Cabin (13:30) The Kansas-Nebraska Bill (14:25) The Dred Scott Case (16:40) The Emergence of Abraham Lincoln (20:55) Secession from the Union (30:45) Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address (36:20) The Fort Sumter Crisis (40:00) The Battle of Bull Run (54:04) Gen. Ulysses S. Grant Takes Forts Henry and Donelson (1:01:53)   Other: For general inquiries, questions, criticisms or words of encouragement you can email the host directly by sending an email to: @themondayamerican.com  If you would like to make topic suggestions or offer historical (primary) sources for potential future episodes please don't hesitate to do so!  For media inquiries, interview requests, requests to guest on The Monday American Podcast or any other media related topic please use the submission form on the website here. 

The American Civil War The Road To War (Part II)   John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry   On November 2nd of 1859 John Brown made a bold claim stating,     “Now if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice and          mingle my blood further with the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments…I submit; so let it be done!"     Six months earlier he was heard interrupting a meeting of the New England Antislavery Society when he shouted out“Talk! Talk! Talk! That will never free the slaves…what is needed is action!…action!”Action indeed was what John Brown gave the nation when a little more than a month after that he took matters into his own hands and led a raid on a federal arsenal located in Harper’s Ferry Virginia. It was here that Brown took a fatal leap from angry talk to revolutionary action.      If contradictions within the national structure regarding slavery and democratic principles co-existing amid some awkward unspoken peace agreement, those contradictions that were nearly tangible weren’t enough, on their own right, to bring the country to war as it were. Before John Brown, the economic, social and political system had proved sufficiently coherent to hold the nation together. After his revolutionary raid on Harper’s Ferry, the United States was thrust into the fast lane that led only to war.      Although John Brown’s raid on the federal arsenal was a complete tactical, strategical and any other conceivable means a total defeat militarily, he gained what is all too common a theme in history by winning a moral victory for his cause. Isn’t it interesting how often these moral victories spurned from a military defeat come to alter the history of nations so often? John Brown’s moral victory amid military disaster was certainly no different.      Brown’s idea that led to the eventual action was a fairly simple idea to begin with. He had long held the belief that was common of that day that slaves were not only capable but eager for violent insurrection and Brown took it upon himself to make sure that outcome happened. He was so optimistic in his plan that he commissioned the forging of one thousand pikes which he would supplement with the stands of rifles he would seize later at the arsenal. Why one thousand pikes? He certainly didn’t have that many men in his band of marauders; Brown assumed that when word of his raid spread and the slaves heard of his daring initiative, they would rush to him at the arsenal and then, protected by mountains, travel south where slaves existed in far greater numbers. His idea was that he was going to start the slave insurrection by raiding Harper’s Ferry and causing a “spontaneous”, chain reaction type revolution.      Brown had 21 men who ed his cause, three of them were his own sons and those men marched to and managed to seize the arsenal while taking thirty hostages, among those hostages where ten “quite bewildered” slaves. This was the end of the success portion of his raid as not a single slave came to Brown and his men at Harpers Ferry. As a man of Brown’s demeanor would be expected to do he refused to it his cause, his noble mission as he saw it, was not only staring at defeat but it had already failed. He and his men barricaded themselves inside the nearby brick walled building of a fire engine house and were quickly surrounded by local citizens at first followed shortly by a company of United States Marines commanded by none other than Col. Robert E. Lee. The following day the marines stormed the building killing several of Brown’s gang and severely wounding Brown as well.      On a military level this raid was a disaster, which Brown later would concede to. He was imprisoned, tried, and hanged within six weeks. Where Brown was able to pull a surprise victory however was during his trial and execution and rather than a weapon found in an arsenal, his greatest weapon was his eloquence with the english language. Brown had a “come to Jesus” moment that seems to be mostly an act of an observant man than an honest one. Brown held the prisoners at Harpers Ferry but did not kill them, he later itted he“should have gone away, but I had thirty-odd prisoners whose wives and daughters were in tears for their safety, and I felt for them. Besides I wanted to allay the fears of those who believed we came here to burn and kill.”This won over the sentiment of the public of a man surrendered to his cause with the noblest virtue and as he said himself,“I never did intend murder or treason or to excite or incite slaves to rebellion or to make insurrection.”This was a lie obviously but a genius defense plea that shows the mans understanding of the human nature to root for the underdog while also showing his own deep sympathy. The reality  that on May 24, 1856 just three years prior in Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas a group of men were led by none other than John Brown when they encountered five pro-slavery settlers and proceeded to hack all five of the men into pieces and mangle their bodies. But that mattered little now because Brown had played the game perfectly with the cards he was presented with. He had secured himself as the martyr that would spark the fire of freedom for slaves, one way or another.      Brown’s defense attempted a plea of insanity (something not far from the truth as insanity ran in his family) but Brown would hear none of it; any plan to break him free would have been even more insane as the military guard surrounding Brown had swollen to 1,500 men on the day of his execution. Before Brown was hung he made his last statement that ultimately ignited the nation over the issue of slavery when he said“I pity the poor in bondage that have none to help them: that is why I am here, not any personal animosity, revenge or vindictive spirit. It is my sympathy with the oppressed and the wronged that are as good as you and as precious in the eyes of God.”He was able to secure himself as the spark that set the fire of the debate that consumed the nation for the next two years. As he walked towards his scaffold that would hang him until he died he handed a note to one of his captors, in what was ultimately his moment of prophetic wisdom because the note stated that the type of insurrection he had attempted wouldn’t be sufficient to free slaves and that only a vast, civil war was capable of ending the violent slave system. It read:  “I John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of the guilty land; will never be purged away; but with blood." The Desire for War     John Brown had successfully started the insurrection in America he had dreamt of, although not in the way that he had thought or hoped it would occur. Instead of inciting slaves to rebel and take up arms, he sparked the fire of the American people themselves and the country was on a track not only for eventual war, but a track that saw the people adopt a view of the necessity to wage war.      What John Brown had just accomplished, that most didn’t realize at the time although they certainly would realize it in the days ahead, is he had altered the very mindset of the national argument. He took the entire radical anti-slavery movement and shifted their view to one that saw them clamoring for national redemption through the absolute necessity for war. History is full of some truly incredible things for us today to be able to understand and this certainly makes the list for one of the more wild instances in the past. Now I’m one of those History guys who thinks that although History is typically considered the past, I believe history is an inevitability of sorts. That inevitability, or the natural order of the world in a way dictates that things are going to happen regardless of what certain people decide to do. This is one of those occurrences where the inevitable is tremendously sped up through the actions of just one man. One man was able to speak a few well placed words that essentially changed the future of the country, well for that matter the world really, in a way he never could have conceived to be possible.      But that’s the beautiful part about history, that speculation is essentially meaningless because history deals with facts and it doesn’t matter how much we decide to speculate and debate, it happened the way it did. The result of the actions of John Brown obviously wasn’t an immediate armament or immediate conflict breaking out but it absolutely was the last real piece of the puzzle that ensured there was no other alternative to war even though the people at the time thought otherwise.      What’s interesting about all of this is the somewhat awkward position that politicians were finding themselves in while watching reactions from the public and the world to the remarks and actions of John Brown. The Republicans of the day, though they were far more conservative than the radical abolitionist, found themselves attempting to navigate a seemingly impossible situation in which they were forced to pick their own political poison. If they denounced Brown too strongly they would come across as a pro-slavery advocate and surely would lose the coming election; but the failure to onish him at all would ensure they lose the vote of any pro-slavery voter.      Perhaps the most talented at avoiding this political poison pill was the famously moderate and cautious Republican from the state of Illinois named Abraham Lincoln. He calculated the effect of Brown politically and was able to navigate those treacherous waters by embracing them head on. He spoke frequently about Brown and when doing so he always called him wrong, sometimes even insane noting that “an enthusiast broods over the oppression of a people till he feels commissioned by Heaven to liberate them…which ends in little else than his own execution.” The difference in the mass of republicans who succumbed to political death in the John Brown fallout versus the overwhelming success that Lincoln experienced was his ability to anticipate the attacks of the democrats before they were able to be launched at all. Lincoln denied that either he or even a single republican had ed brown and on December 5th 1859 during a speech in Kansas he told his audience that    “Old John Brown has just been executed for treason against a state. We cannot object, even though he agreed with us in thinking that slavery [is] wrong. That alone cannot excuse violence, bloodshed and treason. It could avail [Brown] nothing that he might think himself right.”        Lincoln was able to find that delicate balance that so many others sought after, and that was obviously something he was eventually known for, giving some of the greatest speeches in history. Unlike others who were uncomfortable with how to handle their political plight, Lincoln embraced it. He used John Brown to his own political gains by speaking about him very often, using him almost as a kind of warning should the nation take a turn against his advice. In his famous Cooper Union address on February 27, 1860 he successfully predicted that if the Democrats should try and succeed (which they eventually did) in using Brown to break up the Republican party, that the majority of antislavery proponents would turn away from what he called “the peaceful channel of the ballot box” and instead would embrace the very same violent means embraced by John Brown and his men in the first place.       Lincoln was able to avoid utterly disavowing someone who was willing to go to the gallows due to his hatred of slavery, which was a feeling Lincoln and Brown shared; but was also able to use Brown as a warning to voters about the consequences should they not follow Republican moderation and instead embrace the un-thinkable. Ultimately though, Lincoln could not disassociate Brown from his own feelings of hatred for slavery as well as his larger antislavery political goals. Lincoln certainly wasn’t alone in that mindset as it wouldn’t be very long at all when men from all over the north, with an array of backgrounds would be marching together in the south while singing    “John Brown’s body lies amouldering in the grave, but his truth goes marching on!”   It’s an interesting look at the inability of humanity at times, obviously nothing is 100% consistent, to excuse actions that are wrong when commited in the name of a cause they agree with.    The National Identity   The nation reacted to the raid from John Brown in a way that would further the national divide of “north” vs. “south” so much so that each further action made it impossible to go back to the way things were without the inevitable conclusion of war in America.  This section of the podcast goes over some of the details about changing American life in the nineteenth century in order to further assist the listener in understanding the perceived and the actual differences between the north and south in the United States as well as how those differences came to fruition.  As well as the description and detail of nineteenth century life in America, this last section of the episode touches on two crucial portions that led the nation to war with itself. The Missouri Compromise and the Nullification Crisis; both are events in the history of the country that aren’t exactly “riveting” stories in their own right but to tell the story of the civil war in America without these two events is to tell the story in an incomplete way. They are both events that helped cement the issue of slavery as the central issue in all debates as well as the issue that leads to the first threat of a state to secede from the Union; the civil war nearly began thirty years before it did had it not been for the political wisdom of America’s oldest politicians and some cautious maneuvering from representatives.    Part III of the story picks up amid the “action” as the nation votes on the new president during the election of 1860, which is also an election for war in a way that the nation would soon find out for themselves.    Works Cited: Ellis, Joseph J. Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation. Vintage Books, 2000.   Winik, Jay. April 1865 the month that saved America. New York, NY: Harper Perennial, 2008.   Blight, David W. Race and reunion: the Civil War in American memory. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2002.   Fellman, Michael, Lesley J. Gordon, and Daniel E. Sutherland. This terrible war: the Civil War and its aftermath. New York: Pearson Longman, 2008.   Coski, John M. The Confederate battle flag: Americas most embattled emblem. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2006.   Taylor, Michael W. The Cry is War, War, War. Dayton, OH: Morningside Press, 1994.   Geer, Walter. Campaigns of the Civil War. Old Saybrook, CT: Konecky & Konecky, 2009.