American Political History

Washington's First Term - The Election of 1792 29.06.2026 5:47 ↓

Short, Simple, Duty. President Washing accepts his second term.  

Washington's First Term - Neutrality Crisis 22.06.2026 15:11 ↓

The French revolution breaks out, then France declares war on England. America is unprepared for war.  

Washington's First Term - Western Troubles 16.06.2026 14:47 ↓

We cover the battles to secure the Ohio territory ceded to America in the Treaty of Paris. 

Washington's First Term - The Emergence of Political Parties 09.06.2026 11:21 ↓

We detail the emergence of political parties from Washington's own cabinet. 

Washington's First Term - The Bank Wars 02.06.2026 11:57 ↓

Secretary Hamilton moves to create the Bank of the United States, in pushing so hard, the national divide over the issue marks the creation of political parties in America.  

Washington's First Term - The Debt Assumption Fight 25.05.2026 15:28 ↓

America still is buried by the accumulation of debt from the revolutionary war. Secretary of Treasury Hamilton has a plan.   

Washington's First Term - The People's Shield 18.05.2026 21:54 ↓

We cover the story of the ratification of the Bill of Rights

Washington's First Term - The Establishment of the Third Branch 11.05.2026 17:11 ↓

We cover the creation of the court system and the earliest history of the Supreme Court.

Washington's First Term - Building The Machinery 04.05.2026 11:23 ↓

President Washington selects his cabinet and sets the precedent on how cabinet meetings work.  

Washington's First Term - The Election of 1789 27.04.2026 19:11 ↓

This wasn't really an election... not in the way we think of elections today. This was more like... a coronation by consensus.

Ratification - Virginia 13.04.2026 19:22 ↓

We move to Virginia, whose ratification will complete the supermajority required for ratification of the Constitution of the United States of America.   

Ratification - Massachusetts 06.04.2026 16:17 ↓

We turn to the debates in the Massachusetts ratification convention.   

Ratification - Pennsylvania 30.03.2026 17:00 ↓

The first major convention starts in Philadelphia with mobs forcing a vote for the date. Everyone knows, so goes Pennsylvania so goes the small states around them.    

Ratification - The People's Attention 23.03.2026 15:05 ↓

The proposed constitution hit the newspapers, and public figures start taking positions and or writing with pen names to argue their points in the public sphere

Ratification - Introduction 16.03.2026 10:05 ↓

Without records of all of the debates, I give the context of the materials we will cover in this season.  

The Constitution of the United States of America 02.03.2026 27:13 ↓

The completed constitution of the Unite States of America.  

Road to The Constitution - Rising Sun 23.02.2026 13:16 ↓

The Philadelphia convention will close with a draft of a new American constitution.  

Road to The Constitution - Committee of detail 16.02.2026 9:19 ↓

The convention settles on the Sherman compromise for the legislature and take up the issue of slavery. Washington will form a committee of detail to draw up all of the points agreed to into a new document.  

Road to The Constitution - Disillusion 09.02.2026 10:23 ↓

The convention begins to breakdown, delegates threaten each other, and cannot find compromises on distribution of voting power  

Road to The Constitution - The New Jersey Plan 02.02.2026 9:50 ↓

The opposition unveils their own plan, and we see the factions of the federalists and anti-federalists break into the open. 

Road to The Constitution - Fractures 26.01.2026 12:21 ↓

The convention starts tackling the composition of the legislative branch. Fractures begin to appear as the convection gets closer to discussing appropriations of votes and power in the proposed federal legislature    

Road to The Constitution - The Whole of the People? 19.01.2026 13:12 ↓

The convention will discuss the makeup of the legislative bodies House/Senate while avoiding the truly contentious topic of the allocation of the votes of the states   

Road to The Constitution - The Virginia Plan 12.01.2026 10:05 ↓

The convention begins with the unveiling of the, which was to the shock of many, an outline for a new government. 

Road to The Constitution - The Federal Convention 05.01.2026 7:36 ↓

In May 1787, the Federal Convention begins to assemble in Philidelphia. 

A Failed Nation - The Wedge 15.12.2025 11:46 ↓

We discuss the bitter negations for a Spanish trade treaty and how the Philidelphia convention eventually got support.