PODCAST · history
History Comes Alive
by Jeff Nichols
Join host Jeff Nichols for a weekly deep-dive into a specific era of history!Learn more about Jeff and connect with him through his website: https://historywithjeff.com
Episodes
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Ep. 81: Oliver Cromwell and the Failure of the Commonwealth
After the Civil Wars, after Ireland and Scotland had been tamed, the focus turned to national governance. Oliver Cromwell and the New Model Army were in control. The balance between Cromwell and Parliament was never met. There were several Parliaments called and dismissed. Although the…
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Ep. 80: Oliver Cromwell: The Irish Campaign
The death of Charles I did not end the controversy or the terror in England. It did not end the controversy or terror in Ireland. It did not end the controversy or terror in Scotland. In fact, it may have just begun... In this episode, we look at the Irish Campaign of Oliver Cromwell with a brief...
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Ep. 79: King Charles I, Pt. 7: The Civil War Years and the Emergence of Oliver Cromwell
After Charles fled London, it only got worse. There was trouble in England. There was trouble in Scotland. There was trouble in Ireland. The emergence of Oliver Cromwell changed the dynamics. The Scots had helped the Parliamentarians, but they were not as successful when it came to Charles. The…
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Ep. 78: The XYZ Affair: Lessons in Diplomacy and Decorum for a Young Nation
What do the Jay Treaty, the Logan Act, Fries' Rebellion, and the Alien and Sedition Acts have to do with this time? Are they all connected? We are taking a short break from our series on Charles I this week. Instead we will be discussing the XYZ Affair. The 1790s in America were almost as messy…
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Ep. 77: King Charles I, Pt. 6: Political Chess with John Pym
As 1641 rolled into 1642, there was a monumental political battle that took place in London. A political chess match that forever changed the English government. It would be the catalyst for change throughout the "Western" world. In the end, John Pym would force Charles I to flee England. John...
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Ep. 76: King Charles I, Pt. 5: The Irish Rebellion and the Death of the Earl of Strafford
As Charles wrestled with the Scottish invasion and a necessary Parliament, the Irish rebelled and complicated everything. The Earl of Strafford, a trusted advisor, was in the crosshairs of John Pym. The politics of the 1640s was off to a roaring start! The walls seemed to be closing in on…
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Ep. 75: King Charles I, Pt. 4: The Scottish Challenge and the Rise of John Pym
Over the course of his reign, Charles I had made a lot of enemies. He managed to insult just about everybody at one time or another. Nothing compared to what happened with Scotland. This was a situation he had created that could not be ignored. They would not let it go. He needed help. He needed...
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Ep. 74: King Charles I, Pt. 3: Revenue, Saltpetre, and the Book of Common Prayer; How to Make Enemies in a Time of Peace
King Charles found a way to survive without Parliament. He found creative ways to collect revenue. In spite of a round of plague, the 1630s were not so bad in England. But Charles found a way to aggravate not only the "system" but the people as well, in all levels of society. Once his work was…
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Ep. 73: King Charles I, Pt. 2: The Era of Personal Rule: How the Land Owners Came to Loathe Charles
Perspective is a funny thing. Tricky. Charles I was never popular with Parliament. From the start, his autocratic approach was in direct conflict with the Parliamentarians. So, he dissolved Parliament for over a decade. To raise funds, he leaned on ancient and questionable taxes. Through Forced...
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Ep. 72: King Charles I, Pt. 1
What happens when an autocratic Anglican King crosses a Puritan Parliament? Disaster. In this episode, we will introduce King Charles I with a short biography and a peek inside the lifestyle of this Scottish king. He was a totalitarian at heart. Parliament did not like his policies, his advisor…
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Ep. 71: The English Arrival in Carolina: How the Plantation System of Barbados Ended Up in Carolina
As the English were solidifying their colonies in New England and the Caribbean, there remained a contested but largely unsettled area from the Chesapeake through Georgia. The Spanish and French had been there. But in the opening decades of the 17th Century, this area was all but abandoned. It...
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Ep. 70: Triangular Trade, Pt. 3: Rum, Rhode Island, Barbados and the African Slave Trade
With the growing relationship between New England and Barbados, the economy stabilized. The North to South trade benefited everybody. Sugar and rum seemed to share a co-monarchy. They were KINGS! The East to West trade across the Atlantic promised more. Men like Emanuel Downing, John Smith, and...
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Ep. 69: Triangular Trade, Pt. 2: The Death of Captain William Pierce
Once the relationship between the Puritan New England colonies and the their Puritan counterparts had begun, there was a lot of opportunity for both regions. One obstacle that had to be overcome was the temptation for northerners to relocate to the warmer south. The final voyage of Captain…
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Ep. 68: Triangular Trade, Pt. 1: The Introduction of Captain William Pierce
Puritan New England, more specifically, Massachusetts Bay, never experienced a lack of colonists. Their population exploded almost from the start. What they did experience was a lack of hard currency. Even with all the natural resources and commercial opportunities it took a while to establish a...
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Ep. 67: The Political Economics of Puritan New England, Pt. 3: Wampum, Fur, and the Emergence of a Transitory Economy
As Puritan New England's population grew, they needed a sustainable economy. They needed an industry that could build wealth. They needed a commodity and a currency. For a season, those needs were met by wampum and fur. Although that economy would fail, it, like the initial trade triangle of...
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Ep. 66: The Political Economics of Puritan New England, Pt. 2: Codfish, Spanish Wool, and Early Triangular Trade
They say necessity is the key to invention. The English colonies had needs. They were very resourceful. As we develop the Puritan economy, we want to begin by asking some basic questions. How would you build an economy from scratch? What would you do if you had limited access to hard currency but...
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Ep. 65: A Conversation on the Big Questions Surrounding the Study of History
How do you process and apply history? What do you really know about history in the first place? ...just trivia, or deep understanding that impacts your beliefs and actions? What's the purpose of government? ...and how does your understanding of history impact how you answer that question? Jeff...
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Ep. 64: Mercantilism: An introduction from Jean-Baptiste Colbert to The Boston Tea Party
Mercantilism was the theory that drove colonial economic activity. In today's episode, we will introduce its core concepts and how it functions. We'll view this definition through two historical examples: Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Colbert and The Boston Tea Party. These are like bookends to the...
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Ep. 63: The Political Economics of Puritan New England, Pt. 1: An Overview of Contemporary Systems to Build Wealth
How is wealth created? Who is in charge of the mechanisms for building wealth? Much of what we consider the study of history is really the study of applied economic policies. In this episode, we focus on the contemporary systems we are all familiar with, at least in a trivial sense. Our main…
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Ep. 62: Education In Puritan New England: A Model Beyond Literacy and Memorization: Building an Educated Society
The topic of education is a HUGE deal, and it has massive implications. What does it mean to be educated? What value does education bring to a society? Does literacy matter? How focused should society be around the education of its young? Many of the aspects of Puritan education have been lost....
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Ep. 61: The Politics of Puritan Missions: The Coming of John Eliot, Pt. 3
Puritan missions in New England were slow to start. Once they did, it became difficult to know where sincere evangelism ended and politics began. John Eliot received a lot of help to launch his missionary work, but there was a lot of controversy surrounding those efforts. In this episode, we will...
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Ep. 60: The Politics of Puritan Missions: The Coming of John Eliot, Pt. 2
If there is a sincere desire to succeed, one will often look to those who have already succeeded for guidance. Thomas Mayhew had been successful in missions. John Eliot and Massachusetts Bay did not look to Thomas Mayhew's example. His had been genuine. Instead, their commitment became political....
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Ep. 59: The Politics of Puritan Missions: The Coming of John Eliot, Pt. 1
In the wake of so many controversies, there arose one more for the Puritan Oligarchy. This was in their wheelhouse and presumably should have been a slam dunk. It wasn't. The missionary efforts of The United Colonies, led by John Eliot, was marred with political intrigue and disappointing…
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Ep. 58: Massachusetts Bay vs. Samuel Gorton: The Battle for Rhode Island, Pt. 2
Massachusetts Bay had been eyeing Narragansett Bay for a long time. They had been positioning themselves to absorb it. They were invited to come. Then they overreached. They scared the people that had invited them. They created a political firestorm. A legal firestorm that would be carried across...
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Ep. 57: Massachusetts Bay vs. Samuel Gorton: The Battle for Rhode Island, Pt. 1
In a post-Pequot world, in a post-Miantonomo world, Narragansett Bay and all of Rhode Island was a coveted piece of property. The Puritans wanted it. All the Puritan groups. Even though they had formed the United Colonies, a formidable power block, they were still acting independently in their...
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Ep. 56: Miantonomo was Framed!
Using the same playbook as with Sassacus, the English destroyed Miantonomo. Nobody is perfect, but he appears to have tried to accommodate and appease his English counterparts repeatedly. Even at the expense of his own culture and reputation. It did not change the outcome. Audio Production by...
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Ep. 55: How Do You Process and Apply History?
In part three of our Trilogy on the Philosophy that drives the podcast "History Comes Alive", we will distill down the two questions: "What is the role of government?" and "What do you really know about American History?" into application. How do you process the history that you know? Does it…
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Ep. 54: What Do You Really Know About American History?
Last week we asked the question, "What's the Purpose of Government?" This week, we'll expand some of the principles we discussed and move the conversation forward. What do you really know about American History? Like last week, the idea behind the question is more philosophical than specific.…
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Ep. 53: What's the Purpose of Government?
As we move past the pivotal Pequot War and more toward the development of the New England Colonies, we are going to take a few weeks and begin to develop an outline of the philosophical approach to government, from my perspective, under our current order, The Constitution of the United States of...
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Ep. 52: Flight of the Pequots
It would seem reasonable that after the massacre at Mystic the remaining Pequots would have been able to simply escape into the landscape and slowly be absorbed into other native groups. They weren't. The English goal had shifted. They wanted to completely erase the Pequot name from the list of...
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Ep. 51: Mystic Aftermath: English Victory and Retreat
In the aftermath of a very lopsided English victory over the Pequots at Mystic, the English were forced to make a hasty retreat. Most of their native support abandoned them. The Pequots rallied, and the English fled. Sassacus, the main sachem of the Pequots did not fare much better. Audio...
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Ep. 50: The Pequots, Pt. 16: The Mystic Massacre: 30 Minutes of Hell
What does total war look like? Can a people suffer the effects of total war and survive? Can their will to continue be crushed? What if they still have fighting power and ability? As we work through the massacre at Mystic, you be the judge. Were the actions taken justified? How would you have…
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Ep. 49: The Pequots, Pt. 15: The Enemy Within
They say a house divided against itself cannot stand. Well, the Pequots in 1637 were one such house. We've developed a working model of their last several years as far as relationships to other people. We've seen how the Europeans had first traded with them and then tried to subvert their power…
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Ep. 48: The Pequots, Pt. 14: The Organization of New England
The Pequots made a statement when they attacked Wethersfield. The Englishmen responded. It took a while for them to get on the same page, but eventually they did. Massachusetts Bay was the first to declare war, but Connecticut was the first to truly mobilize. They had no choice. The war would be...
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Ep. 47: The Pequots, Pt. 13: The Attack on Weathersfield
The Pequots had been treated unfairly by both the English and, to a lesser extent, the Dutch, for a long time. What would happen if the Pequots fought back? This week we'll see what happened at Wethersfield when the Pequots struck. We'll also examine why they struck when they did. Audio…
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Ep. 46: The Pequots, Pt. 12: The Arrival of Two Johns and the Influence of Machiavelli
After a long lonely winter, Saybrook began to get the attention of both Massachusetts Bay and the other Connecticut settlements. How did that work? What were the motives? The Europeans had a very different mindset from the natives. Where did that come from? Was their collective world view and...
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Ep. 45: The Pequots, Pt. 11: A Small Break From Pequot Aggression: The Arrival of Thomas Stanton at Saybrook Fort and the Parlay That Followed
The winter of 1636-7 was a long and dangerous time for the folks at Saybrook Fort. Under siege and isolated. With the arrival of Thomas Stanton there would be one more meeting between the English at Saybrook and the Pequots. Stanton would be the interpreter. It did not go well. Who was Thomas...
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Ep. 44: The Pequots, Pt. 10: The Continuation of Pequot Aggression: The Siege of Saybrook Fort During the Winter of 1636-7
What were the conditions at Saybrook Fort? What did Edward Gibbon think about Saybrook and Lion Gardiner? Who were Thomas Hurlbut, Thomas Ramble, and Arthur Branch? What roles did they play in the Battle of the Burning Fields? These questions and more will be answered in this episode of History...
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Ep. 43: The Pequots, Pt. 9: The Beginning of Pequot Aggression
What happens when you push a people too far? Who pays the price when the agitators come from far away, but leave their countrymen to deal with their actions? What is the value of having a trained military leader at these points? What happens if that trained military leader is ignored? Who was...
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Ep. 42: The Pequots, Pt. 8: The Anticipation of Pequot Aggression: English Diplomacy in the Wake of the Success of Roger Williams
With the success of Roger Williams, the magistrates of Massachusetts Bay took the lead role in securing not just the neutrality of the Narragansetts in the coming war with the Pequots. They took the lead in securing Narragansett support. Full support on both offensive and defensive actions. Thus...
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Ep. 41: The Pequots, Pt. 7: The Anticipation of Pequot Aggression: English Diplomacy in the Wake of the Failure of John Endecott
After the failed Saybrook Conference and expedition of John Endecott the English concern was growing. That concern was quelled from an unlikely source: Roger Williams. The recently exiled preacher would help to set the course for Puritan dominance for generations. Williams skillfully navigated…
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Ep. 40: The Pequots, Pt. 6: The Provocation of the Pequots Toward Aggression
The Conference at Saybrook had failed. The Block Island expedition had not yielded the results John Endecott had hoped for. Now, against the better judgement of Lion Gardiner, he would take his men and his mission to the heart of Pequot Country. He would again fail to accomplish his intended…
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Ep. 39: The Pequots, Pt. 5: The Heavy Hand of John Endicott at Block Island
The Conference at Saybrook had failed. As far as the English were concerned, the time for diplomacy was passed. The Pequots were the designated enemy, but the Easter Niantics would also have to be put in their place. John Endicott was dispatched to dispense English justice. Block Island was his...
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Ep. 38: The Pequots, Pt. 4: Fallout from the Failed Conference at Saybrook and the Murder of John Oldham
After the failure of the Saybrook Conference, the Pequots were even more isolated. Their options were limited. They were victims of paranoia and covetousness. It seems nothing they did helped to advance their cause, or the cause of peace. The rumors of Pequot viciousness toward the English never...
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Ep. 37: The Pequots, Pt. 3: The English Population Invasion of Connecticut
After the murder of John Stone, the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay came to terms with the Pequot Nation through an agreement known as The Treaty of 1634. The terms definitively favored the English. They took full advantage of the provisions afforded them. Within two years, they were very well...
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Ep. 36: The Pequots, Pt. 2: The Left Bookend to Destruction: The Misidentification of John Stone
In 1633 the seemingly invincible Pequot Nation suddenly found themselves dealing with multiple crises. Their stable leadership was gone. Their commanding population was eroding. The world was changing and they had real enemies. One group they had not had a lot of interaction with was the...
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Ep. 35: The Pequots, Pt. 1: Who Were the Pequots?
Who were the Pequots, and what happened to them? In this episode, we will be introduced to the Pequot nation. They enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top. Where did they come from? What were the dynamics that drove their world? Show Notes for Ep. 35 Audio Production by Podsworth Media.
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Ep. 34: John Underhill, Pt. 5: The Administrative Years in New Netherland
John Underhill had really done it all. After his arrival in 1630, he was very active for whomever he was working for at any given time. In his later years, living under Dutch rule, he maintained an unusual flair for public service and controversy. In our final episode looking at the life of…
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Ep. 33: John Underhill, Pt. 4: His Military Service in New Netherland
John Underhill lived enough for two men while serving the New England colonies. It was not enough. In the 1640s he left his English responsibilities behind and began an aggressive military campaign against many of the native groups located in New Netherland. Like his time in the service of the...
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Ep. 32: 3 Blogs on the Lead-Up to the American Revolution
We have been developing the advent of Puritan society in New England. We have met several characters and worked through several events that helped to establish Puritan dominance. In today's episode, we are going to take a detour and introduce some of the events and people that were directly...
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How many episodes does History Comes Alive have?
History Comes Alive currently has 83 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is History Comes Alive about?
Join host Jeff Nichols for a weekly deep-dive into a specific era of history!Learn more about Jeff and connect with him through his website: https://historywithjeff.com
How often does History Comes Alive release new episodes?
History Comes Alive has 83 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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Who hosts History Comes Alive?
History Comes Alive is created and hosted by Jeff Nichols.
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