American History Revealed

The premier episode of American History Revealed deals with the first attempt to create an English settlement in what one day would become the United States of America. Shipwreck and conflict with the local Native American tribes doomed the endeavor almost from the start. Eventually, nearly all the settlers opted to return to England, and the first effort to create an English colony in North America failed.

The second attempt to establish a colony at Roanoke, how within months after the arrival of the settlers poor planning made it necessary to dispatch a relief ship to England for supplies. Although the supply ship was supposed to return the following spring, the Spanish Armada and England’s war with Spain delayed its return for three years, by which time the Roanoke settlers had vanished without a trace.

This episode tells the story of the founding of Jamestown Colony - the conflict with the Native Americans, the struggle of the colonists to survive, and John Smith’s adventure with the Indian princess Pocahontas (which may or may not have occurred) - all of which set the stage for disaster to come.

After the departure of Cap. John Smith, the "starving time" begins. Surrounded by hostile tribesmen, the settlers are compelled eat their dogs, cats, and rats. At last, driven to extremity, they resort to cannibalism. By the end of winter, 1610, only 60 settlers (out of 214) remain alive.

The members of the Scrooby congregation in England - the original “Pilgrims” - plan to flee the country because of religious persecution. They attempt to leave England illegally, but are foiled on two occasions. At last, they reach Holland, a place of refuge, where they will remain for 13 years, before sailing on the Mayflower for America.

During the voyage of the Mayflower to America a crack in one of the ship's beams almost produces a catastrophe. Having landed on Cape Cod, the passengers encounter Native Americans for the first time. After much searching the settlers discover the site of their proposed settlement, to which they give the name "Plymouth."

In this episode, we talk about the earliest English settlements in our country - Roanoke, Jamestown and Plymouth - and how the fascinating histories of all three contributed to what you might call the epic story of the creation of our country. We also touch on the fact that in the end none of those places ever developed into a vibrant political, commercial, and cultural center.

After years of religious persecution, a group of English Puritans decides that life in the country of their birth has become unbearable. Lawyer John Winthrop becomes not only the nominal leader of the group but one of its spiritual leaders, and members of the group plan their departure for the New World

The Winthrop fleet sails from England with high hopes, but a prolonged voyage, poor diet, crowded conditions, disease, and a miserable winter after its arrival in Massachusetts, end in bitter disappointment and tragedy.

Roger Williams was one of the most brilliant, mysterious, complicated, and in the end admirable human beings in the history of our great nation. That having been said, he was a walking, talking bundle of contradictions - a fanatic who ultimately became one of our great humanitarians, a devout Christian who in time opened his mind and heart to other ethnicities and faiths, a man who was instrumental in creating a world - one of modest size, to be sure - the guiding principles of which were, very simply, decency and civility. In his life he set a standard which has inspired thoughtful, decent Americans ever since.

Season two premier. After his banishment from Plymouth Colony, Roger Williams and his family are taken in by the Salem Colony with open arms. Little did they expect that Williams' incindiary views of worship, and disallegance to the crown, would cause uproar within this small New England community, and with the high council of Boston. Listen in the follow his adventures through banishment, persecultion and ultimately, adoption by an unlikely ally.

In this episode of AHR, we discuss the role of Mistress Anne Hutchinson, now regarded by many as one of the most influential female figures in early American History. Defiant of the enforced spiritual laws of New England, she becomes an object of fixation for Govenor of Massachusetts John Winthrop. As her following builds, he begins his campaign to defame and smear her name as a spiritual leader. Meanwhile, Roger Williams continues to fight the powers that be in Boston.

In this episode, we discuss the beginnings of The Pequot War, a violent series of battles that cost both settlers and natives alike countless lives. We begin with the attack of trader John Stone and his men by Pequot chief Sassaucs and his fellow tribesmen, and the violence that ensued for years to come. 

In this second installment of the two-part tale of The Pequot War, we see the aftermath of the brutal attack and murder of John Oldham and his crew. As outrage ripped through the New England colonies, Massachusetts officials called upon a once exiled Minister Roger Williams for help in a surprise twist. Meanwhile, violence ensued between the Pequots and the settlers in what became one of bloodiest chapters of early American history.

In this episode, we examen the persecution of religious freethinker Anne Hutchinson and her subsequent exile. Accused by Minister John Winthrop of two crimes: being adverse to the standard teachings of the religious community she inhabited, and for being a woman that didn’t know her place, she faced a slanderous trail that held her future, and the future of her family, in the balance. 

In this follow-up the the last episode, Anne Hutchinson and her family leave Boston for New Amsterdam with the permission of the Dutch. Anne faces the most painful moment of her life, and after believing they had finally found sanctuary, the entire Hutchinson family is met with a gruesome and untimely fate. 

Tensions in New England provoked fear in the minds of the settlers, and created deep aprihensions about the possibility that Satan was attemping to take over the colonies. 

In this episode, we touch on one of the most taboo of sinful practices in the New England Colonies - beastiality. Join us as we discuss the most well known cases of colony members who were accused, tried and found guilty for their crimes - and the impact it left on the moral image of their communities. 

Over the course of two decades the English settlers of New England came to believe that the Pequot War marked the end of Native American resistance to English rule in the region. They could have been more mistaken in that view, and for that reason they were totally unprepared for the revolt inspired by the charismatic Indian chieftain known as "King Philip," whose war against the whites (1675-1676) is considered by historians to have been the most successful Native American rebellion in the history of the continent.