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© Zach Garrison, Riley Keltner, and Mike Hill
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APUSH for All is a history podcast designed for students, history enthusiasts, and anyone eager to understand the past’s impact on today. Hosted by experienced APUSH teachers, each episode explores key historical moments, connects them to current events, and makes history engaging, accessible, and relevant. Whether you’re prepping for the AP exam or just love history, this podcast is for you!
29 Episodes
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In the wake of revolution, Americans faced a new question: how do you build a republic strong enough to last, yet safe from tyranny? This episode traces the journey from the Articles of Confederation to Philadelphia’s closed-door debates—Shays’ Rebellion, rival plans, and the Great Compromise that balanced liberty with order. In this episode, we'll explore how republican ideals collided with fears of “the people,” how Hamilton and Madison defended a bold new federal system, and why the Constitution’s design—federalism, checks, and balances—still defines our political experiment today.
In this episode of APUSH for ALL, we journey from the First Continental Congress through Yorktown, tracing how protests turned into revolution. We explore Lexington and Concord’s “shot heard ’round the world,” the debates of the Second Continental Congress, and the explosive impact of Paine’s Common Sense and Jefferson’s Declaration. Along the way, we follow Washington’s struggling army, Franklin’s diplomacy, and the war’s brutal civil conflicts. But beyond battlefield victories, we wrestle with contradictions—Native nations dispossessed, enslaved people promised freedom yet denied it, women pressing for rights. How revolutionary was the Revolution? Tune in to find out.
Welcome back to APUSH for ALL! In today’s episode, we explore the turbulent decade after Britain’s victory in the French and Indian War. From the Proclamation of 1763 and the Stamp Act crisis to the Boston Massacre and Tea Party, we’ll see how taxation, propaganda, and protest reshaped colonial identity. Along the way, we’ll ask tough questions: were the Sons of Liberty heroes or thugs? Why did Boston lead the resistance? And how did debates over sovereignty and representation set the colonies on the path toward independence?
What happens when bold ideas cross an ocean and collide with a volatile world? In this episode, we trace John Locke’s natural rights and Montesquieu’s separation of powers as they meet colonial realities—of indentured servitude, the Middle Passage, and the Stono Rebellion; of tobacco, rice, and merchant trade; of print shops buzzing with debate and pulpits alive with revival. From Enlightenment reason to evangelical fervor, from Scots-Irish migrations to the Seven Years’ War, these forces reshaped British America—setting the stage for rebellion long before 1776.
In Episode 2 of APUSH for ALL, we trace the uneasy path of faith, dissent, and empire in 17th-century America. From the Pilgrims’ fragile alliance with the Wampanoag to John Winthrop’s “city upon a hill,” we see how ideals collided with survival and authority. Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson challenged Puritan orthodoxy; Metacom’s war scorched New England’s frontier. Meanwhile, the Restoration colonies—Carolinas, New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia—took shape under shifting imperial ambitions. Navigation Acts tightened Britain’s grip, planting seeds of resistance. It’s a story of covenant and conscience, of dissenters, dominion, and the habits of self-rule that endure.
From Jamestown’s shaky start to Bacon’s Rebellion, this episode traces how profit and power shaped early English America. We unpack mercantilism’s rules of empire, the tobacco boom that tethered Chesapeake fields to Atlantic markets, and 1619—the year a Jamestown assembly met and the first recorded Africans arrived—reshaping labor and law. Through indentured servitude, land hunger, and conflict with Native nations, colonial elites learned to manage class tensions and harden racial boundaries. By 1676, Virginia’s ruling class turned crisis into strategy, accelerating hereditary slavery. It’s the seedbed of the plantation South—and the American story—told with sources, context, and classroom-ready insights.
Before 1492, the Americas were far from “empty.” Cities like Cahokia, Tenochtitlán, and Pueblo towns thrived with advanced engineering, agriculture, and trade networks. This episode challenges the “virgin land” myth, tracing Indigenous innovation and diversity before European arrival. We dive into the causes of exploration, Columbus’s gamble, Cortés’s siege of Tenochtitlán, and Las Casas’s powerful critiques of Spanish brutality. We also unpack the Columbian Exchange—disease, crops, animals, and cultural blending—that reshaped both hemispheres. From monumental earthworks to world-shifting encounters, this episode reframes early American history and highlights stories too often left as footnotes.
This episode of APUSH for ALL explores the long arc of the Civil Rights Movement, tracing its roots from the failures of Reconstruction through Jim Crow, the Great Migration, and WWII. It highlights both legal milestones and grassroots activism, including the roles of Ella Baker, Ida B. Wells, Rosa Parks, and Malcolm X. The hosts emphasize the movement’s complexity—its evolving strategies, internal tensions, and enduring fight for dignity and justice. They connect historical resistance to today’s movements like Black Lives Matter, reminding listeners that real change has always come from ordinary people taking extraordinary action.
This episode of APUSH for All explores the parallels between President William McKinley’s imperial policies and modern foreign policy debates. Hosts Ms. Keltner and Dr. Garrison discuss the late 19th-century expansionist movement, including the Spanish-American War, the annexation of the Philippines, and the justifications for U.S. imperialism. They highlight opposition from the Anti-Imperialist League and the long-term impact on American foreign policy.
Fast forward to 2025, former President Donald Trump has invoked McKinley’s legacy, advocating for territorial expansion and military power projection. The hosts examine how leaders past and present justify intervention in moral terms and how the legacy of imperialism continues to shape U.S. policy today.
This episode connects directly to APUSH themes on imperialism and U.S. interventionism, helping students prepare for key exam topics.
A special episode of APUSH for ALL on perseverance as we prepare to enter a new school year. We open at Valley Forge, where Washington’s starving army endures winter and emerges stronger under von Steuben. Then three portraits: John Wesley Powell, a one-armed Civil War veteran who braved the Green–Colorado canyons and later warned about settling the arid West; Penelope Barker and the Edenton women, who publicly signed a boycott and sustained it despite ridicule; and Bayard Rustin, beaten and jailed, who mastered nonviolent strategy and organized the 1963 March on Washington. Stories that inspire grit and reflection. Listen, learn, and keep going.
This episode of APUSH for ALL explores The Post, Spielberg’s film about the Washington Post’s bold decision to publish the Pentagon Papers. Through the lens of AP U.S. History, the hosts analyze themes like First Amendment rights, civic activism, and government power. They spotlight Katharine Graham’s groundbreaking leadership, the legal battle that shaped press freedom, and parallels to today’s journalism challenges—from surveillance to political censorship. The episode connects past and present, reminding students that constitutional crises unfold not just on battlefields, but in newsrooms—and that truth-telling often hinges on the courage of ordinary people in extraordinary moments.
In this episode of APUSH for ALL, the hosts analyze O Brother, Where Art Thou? through the lens of the Great Depression and AP U.S. History themes. They explore how the Coen Brothers blend Homeric myth with 1930s Southern culture—highlighting race, class, populism, religion, and the New Deal. The film’s symbolic characters and surreal events reflect real historical dynamics, from chain gangs to the Klan to the TVA. Its iconic soundtrack revives Depression-era music as a vehicle of survival and protest. Ultimately, the episode frames the film as both satire and historical allegory—rich in connections to APUSH curriculum and modern America.
In this episode of APUSH for ALL, the hosts analyze The Last of the Mohicans through a historical lens, unpacking the French and Indian War, Native diplomacy, and myths of frontier America. They explore how the film simplifies complex Indigenous alliances and perpetuates the “noble savage” trope. While it captures certain truths about colonial conflict, it also erases Native survival and resistance. The hosts emphasize using film as a springboard for critical thinking about race, empire, and historical memory—reminding students that history isn’t just what’s portrayed on screen, but what’s left out, and why that omission matters.
In this special review episode, APUSH for All welcomes a special guest to help us understand the ins and outs of the AP test, and offers strategies and approaches to help students get that 5.
This special AP Test review episode of APUSH for ALL spans 1920 to the present, tracing America's cultural shifts, global rise, and political transformations. The 1920s brought roaring prosperity and culture wars, followed by the Great Depression and FDR’s New Deal. WWII turned the U.S. into a superpower, leading into Cold War confrontations abroad and civil rights struggles at home. The 1960s–70s saw social upheaval and growing distrust in government. Reagan's conservative revolution reshaped economics and politics. In the 21st century, the U.S. faced terrorism, racial reckonings, and global crises. Through it all, key APUSH themes—power, identity, and change—remained central to America’s evolving story.
This special AP Test review episode of APUSH for ALL explores the transformative period from 1865 to 1919, highlighting industrial capitalism during the Gilded Age, Progressive Era reforms, U.S. imperial expansion, and World War I. The hosts examine the rise of monopolists like Carnegie and Rockefeller, labor struggles, muckraking journalism, and reform efforts led by figures like Roosevelt, Wilson, and Jane Addams. The U.S. emerges as a global power through the Spanish-American War and WWI, though racial inequality and anti-imperialist resistance persisted. The episode encourages listeners to analyze causes and consequences of reform, imperialism, and America’s growing international role.
This special AP Test review episode of APUSH for ALL explores the era from 1844 to 1877, focusing on expansion, Civil War, and Reconstruction. Manifest Destiny fueled U.S. territorial growth and reignited debates over slavery, with key moments including the Mexican-American War, Compromise of 1850, and Kansas-Nebraska Act. The Civil War, triggered by secession after Lincoln’s election, saw major battles like Antietam and Gettysburg. Reconstruction brought constitutional amendments and efforts to aid freedpeople, but resistance, racism, and waning Northern support ended reforms by 1877. The hosts stress causation, continuity, and comparison as key exam themes, especially on slavery, civil rights, and federal power.
This is the second special review podcast from APUSH for ALL, "Nation Building, Expansion & Sectionalism (1800–1848)". The hosts review the transformative period from 1800 to 1848, emphasizing four key themes: expanding democracy, the rise of industrial capitalism, reform movements, and growing sectionalism. They trace political shifts from Jefferson to Jackson, highlighting democratic expansion for white men but continued exclusion of others. The Market Revolution reshaped the economy, spurred immigration, and widened inequality. Religious revival fueled reform efforts, including abolition, temperance, and women’s rights. As the U.S. expanded westward under Manifest Destiny, debates over slavery intensified. The episode ends by urging students to focus on causation, continuity, and comparison for the APUSH exam.
In this special review episode, the gang provides a concise review of U.S. history from 1491 to 1800, covering APUSH Periods 1–3. They begin by highlighting the complexity of pre-contact Native societies and the transformative effects of the Columbian Exchange. The episode then examines the varied colonial strategies of the Spanish, French, and British, emphasizing how these approaches influenced interactions with Native populations and colonial development. As tensions rose, events like the French and Indian War and subsequent British policies, including the Proclamation of 1763 and various taxation acts, fueled colonial unrest. The hosts discuss the ideological underpinnings of the Revolution, drawing on Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke. Following independence, the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation led to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, resulting in a new government framework with checks and balances. The episode concludes by emphasizing key themes and skills essential for the APUSH exam, such as causation, continuity and change, and comparison.
This episode of APUSH for ALL explores key political, economic, and cultural developments from the 1990s to the early 2000s. It covers George H. W. Bush’s presidency, the Gulf War, Clinton’s centrist policies like NAFTA and welfare reform, and the rise of partisan politics with the 1994 GOP takeover and Clinton’s impeachment. The hosts trace the tech boom, the 2000 election controversy, and the transformative impact of 9/11, including the War on Terror and growing national security powers. The episode ends by connecting these events to today’s polarization, globalization, and debates over privacy, democracy, and American identity.
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