https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-american-story-a-narrative-history-of-the-united-states--1044469These episodes originally aired as a regular segment on 610 KVNU's For The People radio program originating from Logan, UT throughout 2013. Daily episodes of For The People may be downloaded separately.]]>enHistoryCopyright Andy Rasmussenhttps://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/6a20a138e6f4e359a3da1e427d1f0f45.jpghttps://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-american-story-a-narrative-history-of-the-united-states--1044469Sun, 07 Jan 2024 22:25:07 +0000Andy RasmussenAndy Rasmussenfeeds@spreaker.comAmerican history is more than a collection of interesting stories, so why is it most often presented as such? It matters why things happened in the order they did. Join social historian Dr. Heath Mitton as he unpacks the story of the American...These episodes originally aired as a regular segment on 610 KVNU's For The People radio program originating from Logan, UT throughout 2013. Daily episodes of For The People may be downloaded separately.]]>cleanepisodichttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/22-pax-americana-empire-for-liberty--4141022https://api.spreaker.com/episode/4141022Tue, 04 Mar 2014 05:28:03 +0000Andy RasmussenDr. Mitton concludes this series with several questions: Is the United States an Empire? Is it is possible for a republican empire to be benevolent? Finally, how do the decisions of average American consumers both demand and support global empire?2216americanempire,americanhistory,consumerism,jefferson,politicscleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/21-the-age-of-terror--4140917https://api.spreaker.com/episode/4140917Tue, 04 Mar 2014 04:37:38 +0000Andy RasmussenHow did the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1967 lay the groundwork for the age of terrorism? Dr. Mitton takes us right up to our own day in this episode.2186americanhistory,coldwar,middleeast,nuclearweapons,terrorismcleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/20-the-reagan-revolution--4066751https://api.spreaker.com/episode/4066751Mon, 17 Feb 2014 15:57:30 +0000Andy RasmussenWhat political & economic elements led to the Reagan Revolution? Did Ronald Reagan win the Cold War? And how conservative was Reagan really? Dr. Mitton takes us through the recent past.21011980s,americanhistory,coldwar,reagan,republicanscleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/19-america-global-leadership--4066465https://api.spreaker.com/episode/4066465Mon, 17 Feb 2014 15:07:51 +0000Andy RasmussenTaking lessons from Nixon and the concept of the Imperial Presidency, Dr. Mitton asks the question "Are the American people fit for world leadership? And does the world need a leader at all?"2277americanhistory,credibilitygap,internationalrelations,nixon,watergatecleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/18-civil-rights-moral-geopolitics--4028821https://api.spreaker.com/episode/4028821Mon, 10 Feb 2014 00:29:28 +0000Andy RasmussenWas the Civil Rights Era in the U.S. a response to the geopolitical forces of the Cold War? Can the LBJ's Great Society be understood in the context of international affairs? And how can we explain the evolution of the American political parties,...2131americanhistory,civilrights,greatsociety,lbj,political-partiescleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/17-cold-war-welfare-v-socialism--4008046https://api.spreaker.com/episode/4008046Thu, 06 Feb 2014 04:50:43 +0000Andy RasmussenThis episode begins a thematic approach to 20th century history as Dr. Mitton explores the emergence of the American superpower and the simultaneous development of the social welfare democratic state. -- And why these two themes are mutually reinforcing.2120americanhistory,capitalism,coldwar,communism,russiacleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/16-pearl-harbor-american-leadership--3991937https://api.spreaker.com/episode/3991937Mon, 03 Feb 2014 00:59:25 +0000Andy RasmussenWhat specific United States policy was Japan responding to when they attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941? How did the Depression lead directly to World War II? And why, after half a century as the largest economy on earth, did the U.S. finally...2074americanhistory,fdr,fourfreedoms,pearlharbor,wwiicleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/15-great-depression-interlude-to-war--3953991https://api.spreaker.com/episode/3953991Mon, 27 Jan 2014 04:25:54 +0000Andy RasmussenTwo themes dominate 20th Century world history: The emergence of the United States as a global superpower, and the simultaneous emergence of the modern Social Welfare State. This episode examines the roots of both in the Great Depression. Was the...2219americanhistory,fdr,greatdepression,smoothawleytariff,wwiicleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/14-wilson-wwi-the-end-of-idealism--3952594Woodrow Wilson understood that, as the largest economy on the planet, United States had responsibilities in the global community. But the horror of World War I disabused most modernists of the ideological notions of a global order based on self-interested nation states. - Join the discussion of the ideas that shaped a generation...and likely led directly to the most destructive conflict in the history of humankind: World War II.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/3952594Sun, 26 Jan 2014 21:43:40 +0000Andy RasmussenThe U.S. has officially declared war just five times; yet American troops have been involved in hostile incursions on foreign soil a total of 272 times! In this episode Dr. Mitton begins a discussion of American in the world. Woodrow Wilson...Woodrow Wilson understood that, as the largest economy on the planet, United States had responsibilities in the global community. But the horror of World War I disabused most modernists of the ideological notions of a global order based on self-interested nation states. - Join the discussion of the ideas that shaped a generation...and likely led directly to the most destructive conflict in the history of humankind: World War II.]]>2192americanhistory,leagueofnations,teddyroosevelt,woodrowwilson,wwicleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/2-genesis-of-partisan-politics-in-u-s--3918134https://api.spreaker.com/episode/3918134Mon, 20 Jan 2014 02:46:38 +0000Andy RasmussenDespite the fact that no mention of political parties can be found in the Constitution, bitter partisan divides have characterized U.S. politics since George Washington's administration. In this episode Dr. Mitton first explores the unique qualities...2034alexanderhamilton,americanhistory,georgewashington,politics,thomasjeffersoncleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/13-progressive-era-iii-jim-crow--3882559https://api.spreaker.com/episode/3882559Mon, 13 Jan 2014 03:47:00 +0000Andy RasmussenProf. Mitton discusses how Jim Crow laws were actually a progressive policy response to conditions in the South. And we begin a thematic approach to 20th Century American history with a brief outline of how we got from a deeply racist progressive...2123americanhistory,americanpolitics,jimcrow,obama,racismcleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/12-progressive-era-ii-dueling-memories--3882343https://api.spreaker.com/episode/3882343Mon, 13 Jan 2014 02:24:28 +0000Andy RasmussenWas the American West built by rugged individualism or by massive Federal intervention? Much of today's partisan battles are rooted in the stories both sides tell about the history of this era of American history. But the truth often lies outside...2219americanhistory,incometax,politics,progressiveeracleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/11-progressive-era-i-the-west--3844423https://api.spreaker.com/episode/3844423Sun, 05 Jan 2014 00:21:32 +0000Andy RasmussenFollowing the Civil War American's attention turned to the "civilizing" and "reclamation" of the arid West. How the trans-continental railroad and the gold rush of 1849 laid the groundwork for the rise of Western political power and set the stage for...2312americanhistory,americanwest,goldrush,politics,progressiveeracleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/10-reconstruction-new-victors--3844390https://api.spreaker.com/episode/3844390Sun, 05 Jan 2014 00:11:16 +0000Andy RasmussenBeginning with Emancipation and the Election of 1864 through the end of the Civil War and the period known as Reconstruction. Why did the American North not offer a "Marshall Plan" of sorts for the American South? How did the Secretary of War's...2076americanhistory,civilwar,emancipation,lincoln,reconstructioncleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/9-collapse-into-civil-war--3844375https://api.spreaker.com/episode/3844375Sun, 05 Jan 2014 00:02:38 +0000Andy RasmussenProfessor Heath Mitton takes us to the brink of Civil War with an exploration of American politics in the 1850s. How did the "slave power" of the American South come to the point that they valued the institution of slavery over the benefits of Union?...2247americanhistory,civilwar,johnbrown,lincoln,slaverycleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/8-dred-scott-origin-of-original-intent--3802239https://api.spreaker.com/episode/3802239Wed, 25 Dec 2013 21:15:37 +0000Andy RasmussenAs we review the final flash points of the sectional crisis that finally led to civil war, Dr. Mitton identifies the genesis of the judicial doctrine known as "original intent" as the 1857 Dred Scott case when U.S. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney held...2041civilwar,consitution,dredscott,history,original.intentcleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/7-the-economics-of-slavery--3796295https://api.spreaker.com/episode/3796295Tue, 24 Dec 2013 03:55:53 +0000Andy RasmussenWhich American state was founded as a free labor experiment; which experiment was then abandoned for the more profitable model of human slavery? In this episode Dr. Mitton debunks the theory that slavery was an unprofitable enterprise in the era of...2241civil.war,constitution,history,politics,slaverycleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/6-tocqueville-s-tyranny-of-the-majority--3786765In 1831, when Alexis de Tocqueville landed in New York, the United States was a country in transition. Caught somewhere in the evolution from an agrarian economy to commercial mercantilism, the young republic was a stage for competing and contradictory social paradigms. This episode explores the Frenchman's observations of early America, where he saw what has come to be known as the “soft despotism” of individuals in a democracy attempting to bend political power to their own benefit.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/3786765Sun, 22 Dec 2013 00:17:19 +0000Andy Rasmussen"Democracy! Don’t you recognize that these are the waters of the deluge? Can’t you see them advancing ceaselessly with gradual but irresistible force?...Let us attempt, then, to foresee the future with open eyes and steady gaze.” -Alexis de...In 1831, when Alexis de Tocqueville landed in New York, the United States was a country in transition. Caught somewhere in the evolution from an agrarian economy to commercial mercantilism, the young republic was a stage for competing and contradictory social paradigms. This episode explores the Frenchman's observations of early America, where he saw what has come to be known as the “soft despotism” of individuals in a democracy attempting to bend political power to their own benefit.]]>1964america,capitalism,history,political.science,tocquevillecleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/5-negotiation-compromise--3732376https://api.spreaker.com/episode/3732376Tue, 10 Dec 2013 00:58:31 +0000Andy RasmussenA broad discussion of the art of compromise in American politics, focusing on the Compromise of 1790 between Jefferson, Madison, and Hamilton. Why are ideological arguments ill-suited to the compromise needed to govern?2167hamilton,history,jefferson,obama,politicscleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/4-states-rights-then-and-now--3732347https://api.spreaker.com/episode/3732347Tue, 10 Dec 2013 00:47:54 +0000Andy RasmussenThe concept of states' rights and the idea of state nullification of Federal laws is as old as the American Republic itself. In this episode we get into the beginnings of the sectional crisis in the 1820s, and trace these popular contemporary themes...2148america,history,nullification,politicscleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/3-father-of-american-superpower--3661931https://api.spreaker.com/episode/3661931Sun, 24 Nov 2013 17:19:01 +0000Andy RasmussenDid Alexander Hamilton's ideal of a strong, centralized federal government and his commitment to American industrialization provide the foundation for the United States' global dominance?2172alexanderhamilton,americanhistory,founders,hamilton,history,jefferson,thomasjeffersoncleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/1-heath-mitton-politics-of-founding--3661873https://api.spreaker.com/episode/3661873Sun, 24 Nov 2013 17:04:05 +0000Andy RasmussenDr. Mitton explores the surprising and even conflicting political climates that gave us the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.2246americanhistory,constitution,declarationofindependence,founders,historycleanfull