From the rings on our fingers, to coins in our pockets and, for a select few, the medals hanging around our necks. Gold is one of the most coveted metals in the world.

Gold still has the power to change lives, but in the mid 19th century, it also sparked the largest migration in the history of the United States.

Don is joined by Professor Mark Eifler, author of 'The California Gold Rush: The Stampede that Changed the Nation', to find out how gold was discovered in California and who benefitted from it.

Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Siobhan Dale. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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He's the best president that the United States has ever had ... at least according to one 2021 C-span study.

But how did Lincoln's religious views affect his life and leadership? In this episode, Don is joined by Joshua Zeitz, author of 'Lincoln's God: How Faith Transformed a President and a Nation'.

We hear about Lincoln's journey from scepticism to spiritualism, and the growth of connections between politics and the church in the United States.

Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Siobhan Dale. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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13 equal horizontal stripes in red and white, with a navy blue square in the top left bearing 50 small white five pointed stars. It's recognisable the world over as the flag of the United States of America.

But how did this become the American flag? When did it develop its own 'cult'? And does Betsy Ross have anything at all to do with this story?

Don is joined by Marc Leepson, author of Flag: An American Biography.

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Was the USA already a superpower when it joined the Second World War? How did it turn from an isolationist nation to a force ready for action? 

Today Don is joined by Craig Nelson to find out how President Franklin D. Roosevelt manoeuvred the country from the isolationism of the interwar years to supplying an arsenal and, eventually, manpower to its European allies.

Craig's new book is 'V Is For Victory: Franklin Roosevelt's American Revolution and the Triumph of World War 2'.

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Between 1871 and 1872, Labette County, Kansas became a source of mystery. Several people have gone missing on their journey west and a few bodies have been found. Is this the work of highway robbers? Or could it be the peculiar family who live beside the Great Osage Trail?

Don is joined for this episode for Susan Jonasus, author of 'Hell's Half-Acre : The Untold Story of the Benders, America's First Serial Killer Family'.

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The Vietnam War or the Great Society? Which event looms larger in the history of the United States? 

The 36th President of the United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson, is often weighed up in these terms - the balance between domestic and foreign policy. But what is his legacy? Could he be called the first President of our modern era?

In this episode, Don is joined by Mark Lawrence, Director of the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum in Austin, Texas.

Produced and mixed by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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He was the most famous man in the world at the turn of the 20th century, bringing the American frontier to the rest of the United States, the United Kingdom and Continental Europe. But who was Buffalo Bill?

In this episode, recorded at the Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave in Golden, Colorado, Don is joined by Steve Friesen to find out about the rise of America’s first celebrity.

From boy scout to breadwinning buffalo hunter, how did William Cody become a showman and an iconic household name?

Produced by Sophie Gee. Mixed by Siobhan Dale. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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When it was founded in 1585, Roanoke was intended to be the first permanent English outpost in America. So how did it become the 'lost colony'?

In this episode, Don is joined by Professor Mark Horton, archaeologist from the Royal Agricultural University in the UK. Together they delve into the mystery.

Why did John White take three years to return to the colony? What clues were left by the one hundred people missing from the island? And why did those who found the island abandoned not follow these clues to find their countrymen?

Produced by Sophie Gee. Editing and sound design by Siobhan Dale. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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In 1939, on the invitation of Franklin D. Roosevelt, King George VI became the first reigning British monarch to set foot on American soil.

So what triggered this monumental moment in the transatlantic relationship? How has it trickled down to today's special relationship? And how was King George assisted in his diplomacy by his wife, Elizabeth?

In this coronation special, Don is joined by author Sally Bedell Smith to find out more.

For more from Sally, you can find her substack here: https://sallybedellsmith.substack.com/

Produced by Sophie Gee and Stuart Beckwith. Editing and sound design by Siobhan Dale. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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In August 1918, the battle of Amiens brought the German army's 'black day' and the beginning of the end of the First World War.

But what happened at Amiens? How were US troops involved in this battle? And how is the battle remembered today?

In this episode, Don is joined by Dan Snow to talk about the American troops and their parts in the offensives at Hamel and Amiens.

Produced by Sophie Gee and James Hickmann. Editing and sound design by Siobhan Dale. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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Nearly a thousand years ago, America's first city appeared in the Mississippi flood plain. Don finds out about a day in the life of Cahokia, what its vast mounds were used for, and why it is so poorly remembered nowadays.

Our guest is Timothy Pauketat, archaeologist and author of several major books about Cahokia. His latest book is called Gods of Thunder: How Climate Change, Travel, and Spirituality Reshaped Precolonial America.

Editing and sound design by Stuart Beckwith. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

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Horses have been a bulwark of American culture and society for centuries. Think of cowboys in the Mid-West or Native Americans riding bareback on the Great Plains. But new, ground-breaking archeological evidence has emerged to suggest horses were present in the Americas more than 10,000 years ago, shattering our previous assumptions that they were first brought to North America by the Spanish.

In today’s episode of American History Hit, Don speaks to Dr William Taylor about these new findings, exploring how the mighty horse conquered America, went extinct, and then conquered it once more.

Produced by Benjie Guy and Freddy Chick. Mixed by Joseph Knight. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long

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Benjamin Franklin is considered by many to be one of the first to live the American Dream. He came from humble beginnings, Franklin was raised in Boston, the last of 17 children. Márcia Balisciano tells Don how he went from a printer’s apprentice to Founding Father of the United States, via stints in London.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Stuart Beckwith. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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Much of American history has been redacted. Since the World War 2, the number of secrets the US government has kept has grown exponentially. There are some things they think are too dangerous for the public to know. Matthew Connelly, author of the Declassification Engine, takes Don through America's top secrets of the 20th century.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Stuary Beckwith. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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July 20th, 1969. Neil Armstrong descends from Lunar Module Eagle to the Moon's surface. A momentous moment in American, and human history. For more than a decade, pioneers in the US and Soviet Union had competed in the exploration of space, the final frontier. Jay Gallentine tells Don how new technology was developed to go where no one had gone before. How America won the Space Race.

Produced by Freddy Chick and Benjie Guy. Mixed by Stuart Beckwith. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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Under segregation, African Americans' lives were severely limited. Restricted entry to public places, private businesses and public transport, cars provided liberty they were otherwise denied and protection from danger and discrimination. Gretchen Sorin, author of Driving While Black, tells Don that with the help of travel guides such as the Green Book, listing businesses that would accept African American customers - the car enabled African Americans to enjoy the freedom of the open road.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Tom Delargy. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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English-born artist Thomas Cole emigrated to the United States in 1818. Six years later he began what is now known as the Hudson River School, which became the first art movement of the United States.. Betsy Jacks, director of the Thomas Cole National Historic Site, tells Don how these artists captured the country's awe-inspiring natural beauty, at a time when the US was rapidly industrialising. Framing an image of America that would illustrate the spirit of the continent and the nation that sought to conquer it.

Produced and mixed by Benjie Guy. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long. 

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Claire Bellerjeau tells Don the the story of Liss, an enslaved Black woman in 18th century New York, and her involvement with one of George Washington's spies. Her story sheds light on the experiences of people of colour in New York from the colonial period, during the revolution and into the early republic.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Aisha Deva & Tom Delargy. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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The story of the American Revolution is one of the best known in American history. But it could have been very different. Outgunned and outmanned against the might of the British Empire, America’s revolutionaries found themselves backed into a corner from the start. Their solution was to turn to Europe’s other superpower - France - for military aid. But the French were wary. 

Were it not for the actions of a renegade French spy and a secretive committee held in Philadelphia’s Carpenters Hall in 1775, then French support may not have been forthcoming. Johanna Dunphy tells Don about this cloak and dagger meeting and how it altered the course of the War of Independence.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Joseph Knight. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long

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While the President of the United States is often seen as the most powerful person in the world, the vastness of the Federal government is too much for just one person to oversee. The president needs someone to control events, run the White House, respond to challenges and handle emergencies. That person is the Chief of Staff. Chris Whipple, author of The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency, tells Don how the Chiefs of Staff have impacted the 8 most recent presidents.

Warning: There is explicit language in this episode.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Joseph Knight. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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You are what you eat - and so is America. Various foods have played their part in the country’s history. Anna Zeide, author of US History in 15 Foods, takes us through 5 of them - Corn, Peanuts, Graham Bread, Spam and The Big Mac.

Produced by Freddie Chick. Mixed by Stuart Beckwith. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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At its height the Iroquois Confederacy (or Haudenosaunee) - a union of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca nations - controlled lands from Quebec to Ohio.

Its origin story goes back to the legend of the warrior Hiawatha and the Peacemaker. In the end its system of governance may have been an inspiration for the founding fathers.

Joining Don to explore the history of the Haudenosaunee is Jen Birch, archaeologist at the University of Georgia.

Produced by Freddy Chick, Senior Producer is Charlotte Long

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When it was completed in 1931, the Empire State Building became the tallest building in the world. While it has long been surpassed, it is still one of the most recognised skyscrapers on the planet, synonymous with the city in which it stands. Its imposing but elegant art deco design, a tribute to the roaring ’20s from which it came. Carol Willis, author of Form Follows Finance: The Empire State Building, tells Don how it became a monument to the golden age of the skyscraper.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Joseph Knight. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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Completed in 1825, the Erie Canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. Alice Shay tells Don how ‘the Nation’s First Superhighway’ accelerated the westward expansion of the United States, carrying goods, people, wealth and prosperity along it. Until the railroad came along, able to carry a lot more, a lot faster, rendering the canal obsolete. Though it remains used and loved by many still today.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Joseph Knight. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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Don talks to former White House reporter Kate Andersen Brower about how the role of First Lady has changed - and stayed the same - since the 1960s. Supporting their husband's presidency, while pursuing their own agenda. Each putting their stamp on their time in office - while often forming stronger bonds than their male counterparts.

Produced and mixed by Benjie Guy. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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Before New York was New York, it was New Amsterdam. Dutch colonists arrived on the East Coast in the early 17th century, creating the New Netherlands. At its heart was a settlement on the tip of the island of Manhattan, centred on the fur trade. Russell Shorto tells Don how New Amsterdam became integral to all trade between Europe and the New World, becoming a version of the multicultural melting pot that is the (renamed) city today.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Joseph Knight. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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George III is forever known as the king who lost the 13 American colonies. In the US he is thought of by many as a tyrant king, taxing and subduing from across the Atlantic. Professor Jeremy Black tells Don that there is much more to his character, and his relationship with America.

Produced and mixed by Benjie Guy. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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On a cold winter morning in February 1908, six cars lined up in Times Square, attempting to be the first to drive from New York to Paris, the long way round. Lindsey Lauren Visser tells Don how teams from the US, France, Italy and Germany attempted to complete the race, faced with adverse weather, a distinct lack of roads, and sabotage.

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The revolution in Haiti freed the country from French control and created the first Black republic after years of fighting, in 1804. Leslie Alexander tells Don how the revolution became possible and why it had such an impact on the United States - which doubled in size following the Louisiana Purchase from France when the revolution was almost won; and whose white population feared a similar uprising by its own enslaved black community.

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One of the Founding Fathers of the United States, Samuel Adams was a political force of nature. Stacy Schiff tells Don how Adams, fuelled by discontent under British rule, instilled a revolutionary spirit in his peers. The result was the Declaration of Independence - and the fight to earn it.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Joseph Knight. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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Harriet Tubman is perhaps the most famous African American woman in the world, but she’s usually remembered in two-dimensions - the hero of the underground railroad rescuing slaves from the misery of the plantation system.

The real Tubman did far more than this in her remarkable life, not least by being the first woman to lead a military raid in US history.

Helping Don understand the truth behind the legend is Janell Hobson, who edited a wonderful collection of work for Ms Magazine celebrating the bicentenary of Harriet Tubman’s birth: https://msmagazine.com/tubman200/

Edited and produced by Freddy Chick, Senior Producer is Charlotte Long

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The Waldorf-Astoria, the Plaza and the Algonquin all tell their own stories of New York City. Don talks to Anthony Melchiorri, host of Travel Channel's Hotel Impossible, about the histories of these hotels. How they reflect the city they were built in and how that has changed around them.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Stuart Beckwith. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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The first naval engagement of the American War of Independence took place on Lake Champlain, which straddles modern-day New York state and Vermont and extends into Canada. Marine archaeologist Art Cohn tells Don how the British and American forces raced to build their fleets in the summer of 1776 and ultimately clashed in October. Both sides knowing that control of the lake meant access to the heart of the colonies and would be key to the outcome of the entire war.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Anisha Deva. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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In late April 1607, three ships carrying a hundred men and boys arrived in Chesapeake Bay, having set sail from London four months earlier. They travelled up a river and created what became the first English settlement in North America. Benjamin Woolley tells Don about the many struggles that the people of Jamestown would face in the years to come.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Joseph Knight. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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In Spring 1961, the Space Race between the US and Soviet Union was well underway. Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person in Space in April and the Americans knew his achievement had to be matched. Alan Shepard was chosen as the man for the job. Jay Gallentine tells Don how we went from satellites, to dogs, then humans in space; as the competition outside Earth's atmosphere intensified between the US and the USSR.

Produced and mixed by Benjie Guy. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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For thousands of years, nomadic Native American peoples crossed the Yellowstone River basin, in awe of its stunning landscape and geothermal wonders. Very few colonial Americans had set sight on its mountains, geysers and hot springs before geologist Ferdinand Hayden and his party arrived in the summer of 1871.

Hayden's survey, the first of the region, contributed to Yellowstone becoming the first National Park in America. But while the Yellowstone Act of 1872 protected the area from development by private business, it dispossessed the Native Americans of their ancestral land.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Anisha Deva. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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From 1956 to 1971, J. Edgar Hoover ran COINTELPRO (Counterintelligence Program). A series of covert and illegal FBI operations aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting political organisations in America. The leaders of pro-civil rights, anti-Vietnam war and pro-choice groups were among those targeted. When the programme was uncovered, it revealed the paranoia that consumed Hoover in his last decades in power and would change his legacy forever.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Thomas Ntinas. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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J. Edgar Hoover was the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for 48 years. He grew the FBI from a small, obscure operation to one that employed thousands of agents, investigating everything from kidnapping and bank robberies to political subversion and international espionage. Beverley Gage tells Don how Hoover guided every aspect of the FBI's operation for his decades in charge. And how, if he had decided to step down at the end of the 1950s, we might remember him very differently.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Joseph Knight. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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From the 1880s to the 1920s the United States experienced a huge wave of immigration. People fleeing poverty and political instability in Europe, plus a huge demand for labour in the US, meant record numbers of people came to America. Most arrived by ship and were processed on Ellis Island, in New York harbour - an immigration station opened in 1892 when the facility on Manhattan couldn't deal with the numbers coming in. Vincent Cannato tells Don what happened on Ellis Island and the story of the people who, in passing through it, became Americans. From which 40 percent of the US population today are descendants.

Produced and mixed by Benjie Guy. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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Dr Martin Luther King Jr was one of the figureheads of the civil rights movement in America. On 28th August 1963, he made one of the greatest English language speeches of all time, I Have A Dream. A quarter of million people, who had gathered in the National Mall after the Great March on Washington, in support of African American civil and economic rights, heard his dream of racial equality. Tragically gunned down at only 39 years old, the fight for equality that he began, continues today. On today's episode, Charles Woods III tells Dan Snow about Martin Luther King Jr.

Mixed by Thomas Ntinas, Dougal Patmore and Benjie Guy. Produced by Charlotte Long.

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One of the most famous writers ever to have lived, Charles Dickens travelled twice to the US, in 1842 and 1867. This made him one of the first transatlantic celebrities. Don goes to Dickens' house in London to see some items he took with him. He also speaks to Dickens' great great great granddaughter, Lucinda Hawksley, to hear what Dickens got up to in America and what he made of the place.

Produced and mixed by Benjie Guy. Assistant Producer: Sophie Gee. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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Join Don as he visits Benjamin Franklin's home of nearly 16 years: 36 Craven Street, London. Now a museum, its director Marcia Balisciano explains what brought the famous polymath to London, how he lived and the various things the famed scientist, diplomat, philosopher, inventor and Founding Father of the United States got up to while he was there - including his role in the beginnings of the American Revolution.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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Gone with the Wind, released in 1939, is the highest-grossing film of all time. Based on Margaret Mitchell's novel published a few years earlier, it is a story of romance set against the backdrop of the civil war and reconstruction era. But, as Sarah Churchwell tells Don, it whitewashes the horrors of slavery, while condemning those who abolished it. And it is not alone. This is something that has happened in popular culture and the media since the civil war and continues today.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Assistant producer Sophie Gee. Mixed by Joseph Knight. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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It’s December 1912 and we’re joining in with the festivities at Highclere Castle, in London England. The prime minister is Herbert H. Asquith and King George V is on the throne. Across the Atlantic, America has left the Gilded Age behind and elected Woodrow Wilson as president.

Downton Abbey, the hugely popular television series, was filmed at Highclere Castle. The show is of course fiction, but it’s set in a home where the history is real, and no doubt the food was delicious…that is, if you like meat pies and blood pudding. Today, for a special festive episode, we’re looking at history through the lens of food served at Downton Abbey - and what it can tell us about how people lived at that time.

How did British early 20th century eating influence dining in America? And did it go both ways, how were the Brits influenced by what we were cooking here in the US? Don is joined by food historian Annie Gray to tell us more.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Anisha Deva. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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Modern humans thrived in the Americas for thousands of years before the first European colonists arrived, but how and when did they get there?

What's more, did their arrival spell disaster for indigenous megafauna such as giant ground sloths and wooly mammoths, or was there another culprit behind the mass extinctions across North, Central & South America?

This is an episode is from our sister podcast, The Ancients. Host Tristan is joined by Professor David Meltzer, an archeologist from Southern Methodist University, to explore the nature of human migration into the Americas and how scientific developments now allow us to discover more about those very first Americans.

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As the British and French colonies in North America expanded in the middle of the 18th century, they inevitably clashed. Fighting between the two sides and their respective Native American allies began in Ohio Country (now western Pennsylvania) in 1754. Dan Snow tells Don how fighting began in 1754 in Ohio country (now western Pennsylvania) and spread, over almost a decade, across disputed territory in the Great Lakes region and into New France (modern-day Canada). As a result of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the war, France's presence in North America was all but ended. They were left only with the small islands of St Pierre and Miquelon, off Newfoundland.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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In the early 19th century, amidst the Napoleonic wars, the British began restricting the United States’ trade with Europe. On top of this, the British Navy began recruiting American sailors by force. As a result, on 18th June, 1812, the US declared war. The conflict, between the United States and the British and their Native American allies, lasted until February 1815. With America still a very young nation, trying to assert itself on the world stage, it is often called the second American war of independence.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Thomas Ntinas. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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On 5th September, 1901, President William McKinley attended a public reception at the Pan American Exposition, a 6-month-long World’s Fair, in Buffalo, New York. He was at the height of his power, having been re-elected at the beginning of the year. But one of the people who stood in line to meet him was an anarchist, determined to carry out the first US presidential assassination of the 20th century. 

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Joseph Knight. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long. 

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On the morning of 7th December 1941, hundreds of Japanese planes took off from aircraft carriers and attacked Pearl Harbor, on Oahu island, Hawaii. They took out ships, bombed airfields and killed thousands of Americans. Japan intended to neutralise the US navy, to prevent it from interfering in the Pacific, where Japan was expanding its empire. But the effect was the opposite. America declared war on Japan, as well as Germany and Italy and entered World War 2. Don recounts the damage done in 90 devastating minutes. Eri Hotta tells Don about the negotiations between the US and Japan, explains why Japan decided to carry out the attack and Japanese people's reaction to it.

Produced and mixed by Benjie Guy. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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Space historian Jay Gallentine tells Don how World War 2 weapons paved the way for space rockets, igniting a space race between the USA and the USSR that would see the first projectiles, satellites and people leave Earth’s atmosphere.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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On shooting President Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth fled Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC on horseback, eventually heading south. But Lincoln’s was not the only assassination planned that night. Michael Kauffman tells Don about the others - attempted and abandoned - on the evening of April 14th, 1865, and the ill-fated run from the law of Booth and his co-conspirators.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Thomas Ntinas. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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On the evening of 14th April, 1865, the Union was celebrating victory in the civil war, won 5 days earlier with General Lee's surrender at Appomattox. President Abraham Lincoln was watching a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington DC. But some Southern sympathisers still thought the Confederacy could be restored. Among them was the actor John Wilkes Booth. He entered the theatre, made his way to Lincoln's box and carried out the first assassination of a US president. Michael Kauffman takes Don through the conspiracy to murder Lincoln and the act itself, after which Booth fled on horseback, into the night.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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In the fall of 1621, a year after the pilgrim ship the Mayflower landed on the coast of New England, the settlers of the Plymouth Colony celebrated their first successful harvest. Joining them at the three day feast were the Wampanoag people, Native Americans who had to taught the settlers how to grow corn, ensuring the community would survive the coming winter. Richard Pickering tells Don about the difficulties faced by the pilgrims as they made their way from Europe and how the first Thanksgiving forged diplomatic relations with the Wampanoag people. Creating the foundations for the national holiday now celebrated every year in America.

Produced and mixed by Benjie Guy. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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When Ronald Reagan became President in 1981, he was initially written off by many as a reckless B movie cowboy who would lead the US to nuclear war.

However, as William Inboden tells Don, Reagan would go on to defy the odds on the international stage. Navigating complex foreign policy challenges, from Grenada to Lebanon and of course the Cold War. Taking the Soviets and the World to the brink of the unthinkable, while charting an unpredictable path to peace.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Edited & Mixed by Thomas Ntinas. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long. 

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While Thomas Edison is widely credited as the inventor of the electric lightbulb in 1879, it had existed in one form or another since the the beginning of the 19th century. But as Hugh Price tells Don, another American - Lewis Latimer - had his own light bulb moment: tweaking Edison’s invention a year later to create a longer-lasting and more affordable light bulb, able to light the buildings and streets of America, and the world. 

Produced and mixed by Benjie Guy. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long. 

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The Whiskey Tax, imposed in 1791, was the first federal tax on a domestic product by a United States government. It was introduced by Alexander Hamilton to pay the interest on war bonds that had been issued to wealthy backers of the the American Revolution. But many Whiskey distillers in Western Pennsylvania refused to pay a tax that would only benefit a few rich bond holders. Over the course of three years, there were attacks on federal and local tax collectors and the region became a law unto itself. A situation only suppressed, as William Hogeland tells Don, by President George Washington gathering together a militia of 12,000 men and marching to Western Pennsylvania .

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Thomas Ntinas. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long. 

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The experience of African Americans in World War 2 was, to say the least, a gross double standard. While fascism was confronted in the name of liberty and justice, those same ideals were denied to African Americans, who suffered racism and segregation, at home and on the front line. As Matthew Delmont tells Don, to African Americans, what was happening in Europe and elsewhere was an ugly reminder of the prejudice and bigotry they faced in their own nation.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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On April 6th 1909, deep inside the Artic Circle after months on the ice, Robert Peary, Matthew Henson and their four Inuit guides reached what they thought was the North Pole. But, as Edward J. Larson tells Don, Peary’s measurements and the speed of their journey were immediately called into question. Nonetheless, Congress voted to recognise Peary’s expedition as the first to reach the North Pole, dismissing a rival's claim to have done it a year earlier.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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In August 1921, when Franklin D. Roosevelt was 39 years old, he contracted Polio, paralysing him from the waist down. Jonathan Darman tells Don how, despite some telling FDR that any political aspirations he might have were over, he went on to become the 32nd President of the United States.

Produced and mixed by Benjie Guy. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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On Halloween, Elizabeth Bradley tells Don about Washington Irving's famous story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, its headless horseman and the influence of European folklore on this famous American gothic tale. 

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Thomas Ntinas. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long. 

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In 1963, a Gilded Age estate in Millbrook, New York, became a venue for academic research into therapeutic uses for LSD, led by psychologist Timothy Leary. Over the next few years evolved into the home of the psychedelic movement of 1960s America. 

Guests were invited to turn on, tune in, drop out. Bemused locals first saw their new neighbours as harmless. But, as Devin Lander tells Don, as their number and notoriety grew, so did a moral panic across America.

Produced and mixed by Benjie Guy. Senior producer: Charlotte Long.

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From the 1830s until the arrival of the transcontinental railroad, hundreds of thousands of people packed their possessions into wagons and headed west, seeking land and opportunity. Following in the footsteps of Native Americans and fur trading ‘mountain men’, many travelled for several months along what became known as the Oregon Trail. But as Don hears from YouTube history teacher Mr Beat (youtube.com/c/iammrbeat), not all would succeed. Miles from civilisation, people succumbed to disease, dangerous river crossings and attacks by Native Americans, whose land they were crossing and on which they intended to settle.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Thomas Ntinas. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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When the Central Intelligence Agency was created by President Truman in 1947, it was the latest incarnation of an American intelligence-gathering service. Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones tells Don about the evolution that led to the creation of the CIA and the often controversial covert operations it has undertaken in the name of US national security.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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When US Marines landed on the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific, in August 1942, they were taking part in the first US ground offensive of World War 2.

As Saul David tells Don, in taking on the Japanese in the Pacific, they would go on to engage in some of the bloodiest fighting of the whole war.

Produced and mixed by Benjie Guy. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long. 

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Edward Rulloff was described as “a monster imbued by the spirit of the devil”. In 1844, he murdered his wife, likely killing his daughter at the same time, though he never admitted it. He spent the next three decades either incarcerated or on the run, becoming a career criminal. After killing a man during a robbery in 1870, he was sentenced to death.

But Rulloff was thought of at the time as no ‘ordinary killer’. A trained doctor, a lawyer and philosopher, he spoke twelve languages. As Don hears from Kate Winkler Dawson, in America’s Gilded Age, academics and journalists speculated on his criminal mind, which some claimed was too intelligent to be killed.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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In October 1962, the United States confirmed that Soviet missiles were being deployed in Cuba. President John F. Kennedy had to contemplate the consequences of any US response, knowing an escalation of hostilities could end in all-out nuclear war.

What followed was the period of greatest tension during the Cold War. When journalist and historian Sir Max Hastings started writing Abyss, his new book on the confrontation, he thought he was writing about the threat of nuclear war as history. But, as he tells Don in today’s episode, with Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, it has returned to present day.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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Central Park is an oasis of nature in New York City, amidst the countless skyscrapers and gridded streets of Manhattan. Over 800 acres of sweeping fields, shaded pathways and picturesque vistas attract more than 42 million visitors a year. It was created to give free and equal access to recreational space for all. But, as Don hears from Leslie Alexander, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of History at Rutgers University, underneath Central Park are the remains of Seneca - a village of African-American, Irish and German communities, whose inhabitants were forced from their homes to make way for the park’s construction in 1857.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Thomas Ntinas. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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In 1763, Native American tribes in the Great Lakes region began fighting British expansion and rule in their territory, attacking forts and settlements. They were led by the Odawa war chief, Pontiac. The conflicts, which continued over the course of 3 years, forced the British to re-examine their policies towards Native Americans, banning settlements west of the Appalachians. Ned Blackhawk, professor of History and American Studies at Yale, explains how this fuelled the colonists’ desire for independence from Britain.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Thomas Ntinas. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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The Battle of Midway took place between the US and Japan in June 1942. The US victory, after 4 days of fighting in the air and sea around the Pacific island of Midway, is widely seen as a turning point in the Pacific War in World War 2. Craig L. Symonds tells Don about the key decisions made by both sides and the important role played by American code breakers in discovering what was meant to be Japan’s surprise attack.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Anisha Deva. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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After World War 2 ended, the Nazis defeated, America feared communist infiltration of its institutions, among them, Hollywood.

In November 1947, a number of high profile ‘friendly witnesses’ in the film industry, including Walt Disney and Jack Warner of Warner Brothers, appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee and named people and organisations they believed were associated with communists.

As Don hears from Dr. Kathleen Feeley - Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Redlands, this began a witch hunt for communists in the entertainment industry, which lasted more than a decade.

Hundreds of writers, producers and actors - many with no affiliation with communism - were left unable to work.

Senior Producer: Charlotte Long. Producer: Benjie Guy. Mixed by Benjie Guy.

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While the Revolutionary War was being fought in July 1776, the 13 British colonies in America came together to approve their Declaration of Independence, the founding document of the United States of America.

Shaped by the Enlightenment ideas of liberty, happiness and reason, the document has since influenced many causes in America and around the world.

In this episode, Don speaks to Reverend Byron Williams about how the Declaration of Independence came about, its meaning and endurance.

You can find out more about Byron's book here.

Produced and mixed by Benjie Guy. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.

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In 1939 Franklin D Roosevelt received a letter from Albert Einstein, warning him that the Nazis might be developing nuclear weapons. America has to act fast.

What follows is the creation of a secret city in the rural area of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Around 75,000 people moved to the secret city during the World War Two, and the first atomic bomb was developed in just 28 months.

Don Wildman is joined by historian, Ray Smith, to find out how it was possible, and to hear about the experiences of the people who worked at Oak Ridge, most of whom didn't know what they were creating.

You can find out more here.

The senior producer was Charlotte Long. The producer was Benjie Guy. Mixed by Thomas Ntinas. Special thanks to Fendall Fulton.

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We had plans today to release the first two episodes of American History Hit but due to the news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II last week, we’ve decided to take some time and do something a little different.

You’ll hear those episodes on Thursday September 22, until then here’s a special mini episode looking into the Queen’s historic meetings with US presidents who served during her 70 years on the throne. As she reminded George W Bush in 2003, "unlike in the United States, the British head of state is not limited to two terms of four years, and I have met no less that seven of your predecessors".

Elizabeth’s reign saw her meet thirteen of the last fourteen presidents, from dinner with Kennedy, to touring Buckingham Palace with Nixon. Dancing with Ford, to watching baseball with Bush Senior. Dining with Obama to banqueting with Trump - she’s likely to have met more American presidents than anyone else in history. 

American History Hit will officially launch on Thursday 22nd September.

Senior Producer: Charlotte Long. Producer: Benjie Guy. Mixed by Charlotte Long.

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This episode includes music from Epidemic Sound

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Join Don Wildman twice a week for your hit of American history, as he explores the past to help us understand the United States of today.

We’ll hear how codebreakers uncovered secret Japanese plans for the Battle of Midway, visit Chief Powhatan as he prepares for war with the British, see Walt Disney accuse his former colleagues of being communists, and uncover the hidden history that lies beneath Central Park.  

From pre-colonial America to independence, slavery to civil rights, the gold rush to the space race, join Don as he speaks to leading experts to delve into America’s past.

New episodes every Monday and Thursday, from September 22nd.

Brought to you by History Hit, the award-winning podcast network and world’s best history channel on demand, featuring shows like Dan Snow’s History Hit, Not Just The Tudors and Betwixt the Sheets.

This episode includes music from Epidemic Sound.

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