Historical Controversies

Season 3, Episode 6. The official beginning of the Civil War came on April 12th, when the Confederacy commenced their attack on Fort Sumter. In this episode, Chris Calton gives the immediate context of the battle, and tells the incredible story of one of the most significant episodes in the history of the United States. Chris Calton recounts the controversial history of the Civil War. This is the sixth episode in the third season of Historical Controversies.

Season 3, Episode 5. With Lincoln in office and the Confederate government formally in place, the decision about how to handle Fort Sumter changed hands. Even before taking office, Lincoln had resolved to maintain the Fort, or retake it in the event that Buchanan had the fort evacuated. Once in office, the new president was faced with military leaders and a cabinet that were almost unanimously in favor of evacuating the fort. Lincoln decided to ignore their advice. In this episode, Chris Calton analyzes Lincoln’s momentous—and historically controversial—decision. Chris Calton recounts the controversial history of the Civil War. This is the fifth episode in the third season of Historical Controversies.

Season 3, Episode 4. Once more Deep South states joined South Carolina in seceding from the Union, the South was faced with the need to quickly form their own national government. This meant the drafting of a constitution, the election of a president, the appointment of a legislature, and the establishment of an administrative framework. With war on the horizon, they had to act quickly, all while hostilities continued to heat up off the coast of Charleston.

Season 3, Episode 3. With disunion looming, conservative Republicans and southern unionists sought a compromise that would keep the Union together. John Crittenden proposed a compromise that was too conciliatory for many Republicans, but out of these compromise plans came a proposal for what nearly became the Thirteenth Amendment, which would have protected slavery in the states where it already existed. Abraham Lincoln endorsed the Amendment, and worked behind the scenes to find a compromise that could prevent disunion without rupturing the Republican Party. Chris Calton recounts the controversial history of the Civil War. This is the third episode in the third season of Historical Controversies.

Season 3, Episode 2. For almost a month, South Carolina was the only state to have formally seceded from the Union. Off the coast of Charleston, the Union still had a garrison stationed in Sullivan Island’s Fort Moultrie, which became a matter of foreign policy between the United States and what was essentially the “nation” of South Carolina.

Season 3, Episode 1. In this episode, Chris Calton introduces the third season of Historical Controversies. He gives an overview of Ludwig von Mises’s views on the study of history and how it applies to the division between secession and war in 1861. He also tackles the question of whether or not the American Civil War was an actual “civil war”. Chris Calton recounts the controversial history of the Civil War. This is the first episode in the third season of Historical Controversies.

Season 2, Episode 24. Throughout the 1850s, tensions over slavery continued to divide the Northern and Southern states. Finally, after the election of Abraham Lincoln — who didn’t win a single southern state — seven of the fifteen slave states broke away from the Union, hoping the other eight slave states would join them. Chris Calton gives a revisionist look at the antebellum period leading up to the Civil War. This is the 24th and final episode in the second season of Historical Controversies.

Season 2, Episode 23. After John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry, the South was on edge. The Republican Party, in their eyes, was proof of the overwhelming presence of violent abolitionists in the North. The result was a North-South split in the Democrat Party, threats of secession if a Republican won, and a four-way presidential race.

Season 2, Episode 22. After losing several men, John Brown’s cause was hopeless. With Robert E. Lee and a company of United States marines showing up to end the attack, John Brown resolved that he would be better off as a martyr than a liberator. This episode is part 3 of 3 on John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry.

Season 2, Episode 21. After more than a year of planning, John Brown conducted his raid on Harpers Ferry. With only eighteen men, John Brown terrorized the Virginia town for three days, holding citizens as hostage inside the federal armory and waiting for slaves to flock to join his cause. This episode is part 2 of 3 on John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry.

Season 2, Episode 20. After being radicalized in Kansas, John Brown wanted to start a war against slavery. His plan involved secret conspirators, a provisional government, a spy, and a traitor. This episode is part 1 of 3 on John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry. Correction: I say that John Brown claimed to be nine years old at the time of his witnessing the beating of a slave child, but John Brown actually claimed to be twelve.

Season 2, Episode 19. As William Walker struggles to maintain his control of Nicaragua, the Latin American Allies working with Cornelius Vanderbilt are finally able to dethrone the self-appointed “President of Nicaragua,” finally ending the American endeavor at conquering Nicaragua and the surrounding countries. This episode is Part 6 of 6 in the story of William Walker’s attempt at establishing his own Republic of Nicaragua. Clarification: I claim that the Sharps rifle had a range of "twenty football fields". A listener pointed out that Wikipedia lists an effective firing range of only 500 yards, and a maximum range of 1,000 yards. In Tycoon’s War, Stephen Dando-Collins writes, "The Hondurans thought they were out of range, but the Sharps rifle had a range of two thousand yards." Neither Wikipedia nor Dando-Collins offer a citation for their range estimates, so I don’t know which one is correct, but I was referencing Dando-Collins for my claim.

Season 2, Episode 18. After thwarting a conspiracy with by his Nicaraguan allies who turned against him, William Walker sets up a new government and installs himself as the President. While embroiled in a war, he issues decrees that he hopes will encourage American volunteers, including opening the country to slavery. This episode is Part 5 of 6 in the story of William Walker’s attempt at establishing his own Republic of Nicaragua.

Season 2, Episode 17. William Walker and his American filibusters find themselves in the middle of an even greater conflict in Latin America as the countries of Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala form an alliance with Walker’s opposition in Nicaragua to defeat him. This episode is Part 4 of 6 in the story of William Walker’s attempt at establishing his own Republic of Nicaragua.

Season 2, Episode 16. After ending the Nicaraguan civil war, William Walker sets up the provisional government for his new "Republic of Nicaragua". The peace is short-lived as the surrounding Latin American countries join forces—with financial support provided by Cornelius Vanderbilt—to remove William Walker from power. This episode is Part 3 of 6 in the story of William Walker’s attempt at establishing his own Republic of Nicaragua.

Season 2, Episode 15. Despite the bitter defeat in the First Battle of Rivas, William Walker and his small army of American filibusters successfully take control of the Democratico capital of Nicaragua, ending the Nicaraguan civil war. This episode is Part 2 of 6 of the story of William Walker’s attempt to establish his own Republic of Nicaragua.

Season 2, Episode 14. Looking for adventure and glory, William Walker leads a group of Americans into Nicaragua to join the country’s civil war, with the hope of “Americanizing” Latin America. This episode is the Part 1 of 6 of the story of William Walker’s attempt at establishing his own Republic of Nicaragua. Correction: I refer to John C. Calhoun as the vice-president, but this was well after the time Calhoun was vice-president, and he was a US Senator during the majority of the period referenced. I believe this mistake has been removed from every version except for the YouTube version.

Season 2, Episode 13. After Narciso López’s first attempt at overthrowing Spanish rule in Cuba, he found more support from American southerners and returned for a second try. Although he would fail, the idea of expanding slavery into new territories was now in the minds of a number of southern expansionists. Correction: I refer to William Crittenden as both the son and nephew of Attorney General John J. Crittenden at different points in the episode. He was the nephew.

Season 2, Episode 12. When Cuban slave owners started to worry that Spain was going to emancipate their slaves, Narciso López thought that the time was ripe to start a revolution to overthrow Spanish rule. American expansionists hoping for the annexation of Cuba volunteered to help López, and many of these expansionists wanted to see Cuba turned into a new slave state.

Season 2, Episode 11. After the Pottawatomie Massacre, Kansas continued to bleed through the summer of 1856. But as the country reacted to the 1856 election and the Dred Scott decision, the territory turned in favor of the Free State settlers and Kansas looked positioned to enter the country as a free state.

Season 2, Episode 10. What is now considered the worst Supreme Court ruling of all time, Dred Scott v. Sandford, was a decision that sought to end the controversy over slavery that had raged since the Compromise of 1850. By ruling that Congress had no legal power to prohibit slavery in the territories, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney poured gasoline on the fire that was dividing the nation.

Season 2, Episode 9. The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska act drove many northerners to form Anti-Nebraska coalitions that ultimately yielded the Republican Party. The election of 1856 did not yield a Republican presidential victory, but it did produce a party that, through compromise and political maneuvering, was able to emerge as the dominant new party to compete with the bitterly divided Democrats.

Season 2, Episode 8. In response to the Sack of Lawrence and the Caning of Charles Sumner, radical John Brown took matters into his own hands by murdering five pro-slavery settlers. With this, Brown ushered in the wave of violence Kansas would see in the summer of 1856. Chris Calton gives a revisionist look at the antebellum period leading up to the Civil War. This is the eighth episode in the second season of Historical Controversies.

Season 2, Episode 7. After the fraudulent elections in the Kansas Territory, tensions erupted following the death of a Free State settler. The pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers took up arms in the Wakarusa War and the Sack of Lawrence. In Washington, the Kansas controversy led to the brutal beating of an anti-slavery politician on the floor of the Senate.

Season 2, Episode 6. In this episode, Chris Calton talks about the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which only compounded the growing tensions over the slavery question. Following the act, Kansas settlers would face voter fraud, leading to the formation of two competing territorial governments. The fallout led to a small-scale civil war.

Season 2, Episode 5. In this episode, Chris Calton discusses some of the most significant outcomes of the Fugitive Slave Act, such as the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin — the most widely-read novel of the nineteenth century — and the attempted rescue of Anthony Burns.

Season 2, Episode 4. Chris Calton looks at one of the first episodes of armed resistance to the Fugitive Slave Acts. He explains how abolitionist William Parker, a free black man, changed America forever.

Season 2, Episode 3. In this episode, Chris Calton looks at the horrors of fugitive slave laws, the ways government incentivized the kidnapping of free blacks, and the rise of private defense groups to fight off slavers.

Season 2, Episode 2. Following the War with Mexico, the Gold Rush out west leads to the question of Californian statehood and the future of US expansion. In order to balance the tension between free and slave states, Henry Clay offers a compromise.

Season 2, Episode 1. In the first episode of the second season of Historical Controversies, Chris Calton gives a revisionist look at the antebellum period leading up to the Civil War. Correction: I refer to the “destruction of the first party-system,” when I meant to say “second party-system.” In the episode on the Election of 1856, I give a correct account of the party-system changes.

Season 1, Episode 12. Following the death and torture of a DEA agent, the War on Drugs is taken to even greater heights. In the final episode of the Historical Controversies "War on Drugs" series, Chris Calton explains the legislation and police operations that led to America having the world's largest prison population.

Season 1, Episode 11. During the 1980s, the war on drugs became defined by cocaine and crack. In this episode, Chris Calton explains how the potent mix of politicians and fake news created the myth of the "crack baby", while the CIA became drug runners for the Contras.

Season 1, Episode 10. In spite of declining drug usage, the Reagan Administration placed renewed interest in the War on Drugs. Chris Calton explains how President Reagan eliminated restrictions that prevented the US military from enforcing domestic laws, while also reducing Constitutional safeguards that prevented police from using illegally obtained evidence. The consequences? A rise in drug potency—and danger.

Season 1, Episode 9. In this episode, Chris Calton explores US drug policy between the Nixon and Reagan Administrations. Calton explains how one Christmas party in the 70s undermined the first serious effort to roll back the War on Drugs.

Season 1, Episode 8. In Vietnam, many soldiers found narcotics to be a coping agent against the horrors of war. Narcotics also became an easy scapegoat for a government looking to obfuscate the results of its own actions. In this episode, Chris Calton explains how the US government escalated the War on Drugs at home, while serving as a drug runner in Southeast Asia.

Season 1, Episode 7. In this episode, Chris Calton explains how the Nixon Administration kicked off the modern War on Drugs, featuring no knock raids, fictional crime stats, and the expansion of the American police state.

Season 1, Episode 6. Learn why Chris Calton believes that "of all the drugs we've talked about on this podcast, the history of LSD may be the most difficult to believe."

Season 1, Episode 5. While the phrase "War on Drugs" was coined by the Nixon Administration, it was FDR who earned the first headlines for his "Narcotic War." In this episode, Chris Calton details the first arrest made for marijuana in the US, the military's earliest attempts to control narcotics distribution, and how the FBI used drug laws to target black Jazz musicians.

Season 1, Episode 4. Chris Calton traces the history of cocaine, showing how it went from common medicine to the target of US military action.

Season 1, Episode 3. Chris Calton looks at the history of opium use around the world. The tale takes us to baby farms in Victorian England, 19th Century China, and even one of the most prominent examples of fake news from the Washington Post. For further reading, see Opium: A History edited by Martin Booth (St. Martin's Griffin, 1996).

Season 1, Episode 2. How did Americans fall for the government's reefer madness? Chris Calton explains how junk science, overt racism, and myths of bloodthirsty soldiers all played a role in the criminalization of marijuana in America.

Season 1, Episode 1. In the first episode of Historical Controversies, Chris Calton looks at how American society originally viewed drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and heroine, and he details the origins of prohibition in America.