Liberty Chronicles
120 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 5 years ago - ★★★★★ - 51 ratingsJoin host Dr. Anthony Comegna on a series of libertarian explorations into the past. Liberty Chronicles combines innovative libertarian thinking about history with specialist interviews, primary and secondary sources, and answers to listener questions.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Ep. 105: The Last Liberty Chronicles
May 07, 2019 04:15 - 28 minutes - 39 MBToday Anthony Comegna (@DrLocoFoco) leaves us with one final message as we end chronicling liberty: “I certainly will continue my own end of the deal we have struck here—you couldn’t drag me away from my Locofocos, my Spiritualists, my Free Love anarchists, or my radical English Dissenters, to name just a few—but I’ll close with one final plea to each of you: History is not an instruction manual; it is a cautionary tale. No intellectual tradition, no set of good or just ideas, no heroes nor ...
Ep. 104: The United States as a Young Foreign Power, Part Two, with Christopher A. Preble
April 30, 2019 04:15 - 1 hour - 104 MBLast week we left off with selections from William Graham Sumner and we pick up right there today with Christopher Preble. Preble’s new book was released today on our site and it not only explores America imperialist tendency in the past, but also recognizes our foreign policy blunders of today. Does the U.S. think they are in a perfect position to solve the problems of other countries? How did the war against Spain turn out? Does the American imperial empire exist today? When did the U.S. ...
Ep. 103: The United States as a Young Foreign Power, with Christopher A. Preble
April 23, 2019 04:15 - 50 minutes - 69.4 MBChristopher A. Preble joins us for the first episode of a 2-part discussion about early America’s role in the world. Comegna and Preble focus their conversation around two historical documents that are cited in Preble’s new book Peace, War, and Liberty. The first document is John Quincy Adam’s “Address Delivered at the Request of the Committee for Arrangements for Celebrating the Anniversary of Independence”. The second document is, “The Conquest of the United States by Spain”. Be sure to tu...
Ep. 102: What it Takes to be a Bankster
April 16, 2019 04:15 - 23 minutes - 32.4 MBCan you imagine people getting themselves all worked up over banks and money today? Having that intensely boring issue so thoroughly dominate political life that presidents and parties rise and fall on this one subject alone? No one today knows anything about the Fed and no one wants to know about the Fed. People back in the 1830s and ‘40s, were in a constant state of agitation about it. It seemed to Jacksonian Americans that the individual pursuit of self interest was natural and inevita...
Ep. 101: Edgar Allan Poe on Mushrooms and Men
April 09, 2019 04:15 - 24 minutes - 33.2 MBEdgar Allen Poe was far from being defined as a Locofoco. He was no lover of democracy. He idolized the “devoted loyalty” of old Virginia gentry. As a dark romanticist poet, he believed the America’s Old World aristocracy was fighting the noble cause of attempted to preserve the elevated cultures of the past. What did Edgar Allen Poe think of the class struggle? Did Edgar Allen Poe think that Americans were spoiled? How did Poe think America erected an aristocracy? Was Edgar Allen Poe a con...
Ep. 100: Quakertarianism, with Caleb Brown
April 02, 2019 04:15 - 29 minutes - 39.9 MBFor our 100th episode we interviewed Caleb Brown to gain a better understanding of how Quakerism aligns with libertarianism. He discusses his own experience as a Quaker, but he also makes larger claims about how Quakerism can foster a sense of community to the life of an average libertarian. What is attractive about Quakerism? What is a ‘true-believer’ Christian? How does Quakerism mesh with libertarianism? Are there a lot of communitarian elements to Quakerism? How do Quaker meetings take ...
Ep. 99: Mushrooms & Men
March 26, 2019 04:16 - 27 minutes - 37.9 MBFor classical liberals and libertarians, class is a social phenomenon marked by largely artificial distinctions between people based mainly on their access (or lack of access) to raw physical force and a willingness to use force against other people. Classes do not form in society simply because some people have more material wealth racked up than others, nor because some people are better at drawing or sewing or rollerblading than others. Even ideological content of the mind is not really t...
Ep. 99: Mushrooms & Men
March 26, 2019 04:16 - 27 minutes - 37.9 MBFor classical liberals and libertarians, class is a social phenomenon marked by largely artificial distinctions between people based mainly on their access (or lack of access) to raw physical force and a willingness to use force against other people. Classes do not form in society simply because some people have more material wealth racked up than others, nor because some people are better at drawing or sewing or rollerblading than others. Even ideological content of the mind is not really ...
Ep. 98: The Civil War as Corporatist Conquest
March 19, 2019 04:15 - 22 minutes - 30.9 MBIt is a mistake to think of the Civil War a just a conflict between slavery and freedom. Planters and industrialists were interrelated groups that were dependent on the output of one another. The Civil War was not a clear contest between two groups as many academics make it out to be. What was at stake during the Civil War? What impact did the Civil War have on America in the years following? Did the Civil War make the Federal Government to powerful? How did the Union use the Constitution t...
Ep. 97: Resisting Leviathan, with Nicholas Mosvick
March 12, 2019 04:15 - 32 minutes - 44.8 MBAnthony interviews Nicholas Mosvick to discuss the issue of conscription during the Civil War and its’ lasting impact. During the time of the Civil War, conscription was certainly a strain on constitutional authority. Originally a state power to force citizens into fighting, but by the summer of 1862 the Union was growing desperate for manpower & volunteerism was on the decline. What is conscription? Did it change the outcome of the Civil War? Is conscription an abuse of federal power? What...
Ep. 96: Seward's "Little Bell”
March 05, 2019 05:15 - 24 minutes - 33.2 MBOn the one hand, Seward’s “little bell” was a wonderful encapsulation of Republican excess and the wartime erosion of liberties which Democrats prided themselves on vigilantly protecting. On the other hand, it was a fabrication, an example of the Democrats’ own penchant for excess and the dramatization of their sufferings during Lincoln’s war—but even if Seward never actually said it, he well could have. What was Seward’s “little bell”? How was Seward a poor Secretary of State? Why was Stew...
Ep. 96: Seward's "Little Bell”
March 05, 2019 05:15 - 24 minutes - 33.2 MBOn the one hand, Seward’s “little bell” was a wonderful encapsulation of Republican excess and the wartime erosion of liberties which Democrats prided themselves on vigilantly protecting. On the other hand, it was a fabrication, an example of the Democrats’ own penchant for excess and the dramatization of their sufferings during Lincoln’s war—but even if Seward never actually said it, he well could have. What was Seward’s “little bell”? How was Seward a poor Secretary of State? Why was Stewa...
Ep. 95: The Politics of the Confederacy
February 26, 2019 05:15 - 28 minutes - 38.9 MBThe Confederacy, being far less developed industrial-wise than the Union, had to revolutionize their approach to the war before they could ever hope to win it. Therefore, they had to create the conditions that allowed for the expedition of war-effort necessities. For example, some southern railroads companies existed almost entirely to service the government’s military efforts. During the Civil War, what was the difference between a ‘conservative’ and a ‘revolutionary’? Were the confederate...
Ep. 94: Was the Civil War a Libertarian Moment?
February 19, 2019 05:15 - 29 minutes - 39.9 MBWe have a tendency to treat the past as some sort of ideal world where historical actors played out their ideal scenarios under ideal conditions. We grant Lincoln the superhuman powers of creating the war all by himself and being responsible for everything done in the Union’s name. We go to some wild efforts to place historical agency in the hands of particular people or groups to avoid blaming the historical actors with whom we identify personally. There was a time when historians found it ...
Ep. 93: Freeborn John, with Michael Braddick
February 12, 2019 05:15 - 38 minutes - 52.4 MBMichael Braddick joins us to discuss John Lilburne’s legacy of political activism. Lilburne did not want to be considered a martyr. He fought for what we now understand as the English legal tradition, which is really the backbone of American democracy. He defended political freedom when very few mechanisms existed to mobilize support. Who is John Lilburne? What influence did Lilburne have on the English legal tradition? What is Christian Egalitarianism? How did mobilization work during the ...
Ep. 92: Profiles in Locodom: William Cullen Bryant
February 05, 2019 05:15 - 28 minutes - 39.1 MBIn today’s episode, we shift to the radical end of the spectrum to investigate the life of another Locofoco archetype: William Cullen Bryant, who played the role of venerable, wise, old sage, whose ancient knowledge and cool demeanor kindled radical flames for generations. We explore his early life that led him to write for the Evening Post. Also, we explain how he formed a mentor relationship with William Leggett, which inspired the Evening Post to turn to radical views of politics. Who wa...
Ep. 91: Lincoln the Colonizationist Part 2, with Phil Magness
January 29, 2019 05:15 - 28 minutes - 38.9 MBLincoln was a proponent of gradual compensated emancipation. He hoped that between 1860 and 1900 that slavery would be eliminated. However, he wanted the the dissolving of slavery to be tied to colonization abroad. He believed that slaves who would willingly move to the Caribbean and Central America would not only give the former slaves a place to go, but would also strengthen America’s present abroad. Did Lincoln view slavery as the the irritant that culminated in the Civil War? Why did th...
Ep. 90: Lincoln the Colonizationist Part 1, with Phil Magness
January 22, 2019 05:15 - 21 minutes - 29.9 MBColonization was the process to actually remove the freed slaves and settle them elsewhere, other parts of the world that whites thought were more suited for the African-American race. Lincoln was a supporter of the Colonization Society and it is debated whether or not he helped start a chapter in Illinois. Lincoln was first and foremost a Whig who viewed Henry Clay as a hero. However, going into the 1860 election Lincoln was viewed as an underdog candidate. What was the “Whig formula”? Why...
Ep. 89: What did the Civil War Smell Like? with Mark Smith
January 15, 2019 05:15 - 44 minutes - 60.9 MBAll history is a string of sense perceptions linked together by individual minds in meaningful patterns we call moments, minutes, hours, days, months, years, wars, eras, periods, ages, and so on. History is sensation, and all sensation is done by the fundamental units of the human species; the individual. In this episode, we explore the Civil War through sensor history in order to fully understand what it was actually like on the battlefield and at home from the perspective of all 5 senses. ...
Ep. 88: The Secession Conventions
January 08, 2019 05:15 - 29 minutes - 40.3 MBWe dive into the secession winter of 1860-1861 when politicians sacrificed unity and stability for personal power. The story of secession cannot be defined as simply an abolitionist versus slaveholders story. There were many factions of people in between the two extremes who were anti-slavery, deportationists, and everywhere in between. It was not as cut and dry as many historians tend to argue. Who were the “fire-eaters”? What were the differences between the U.S. Constitution and the Cons...
Ep. 87: Profiles in Locodom: Fernando Wood
January 01, 2019 05:15 - 37 minutes - 50.8 MBNicholas Mosvick joins us to detail the life of Fernando Wood and how he was the mayor of New York who wished the state would have seceded during the Civil War. Wood was best known for being an ideologue rather than a political agitator. Was Fernando Wood a Van Buren man or a Calhoun man? Did Fernando Wood represent a glorious American future? Was Wood sympathetic to the South? Further Reading: Fernando Wood: A Political Biography, written by Jerome Mushkat Mayor Wood’s Recommendation of...
Ep. 86: Eggnog Riot!!!!
December 25, 2018 05:15 - 21 minutes - 29.6 MBEvery family has Christmas traditions, some are more conventional than others. On Christmas Eve in 1826, the cadets at the West Point Military Academy decided they would create a little tradition of their own with some holiday spirits, in both senses of the word. Unfortunately, what started out as some Christmas cheer with a young Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee, ended as a full on riot against the bureaucracy. What is the history of Christmas? Who was Jonathan Pintard and what research d...
Ep. 85: America Was Founded by Runaways and Renegades, Part 2
December 18, 2018 05:15 - 24 minutes - 33 MBPart two of our discussion with Joseph Kelly is about how the whole first three years of Jamestown was basically the struggle of common laborers who discovered what the reality on the ground was and who tried to escape. Many of them did, by melting into the Native American population, others got caught, tortured, and made examples of for their fellows who didn’t make it out. How did the Virginia Company interact with the Native Americans? Who was John Smith? Was he a pirate king? Was Jamest...
Ep. 84: America was Founded by Runaways & Renegades, with Joseph Kelly, Part 1
December 11, 2018 05:15 - 31 minutes - 43.8 MBProfessor Joseph Kelly joins us today to talk about his book Marooned and how much of our understanding about the beginning of the New World is simply names of people and approximately when they died. Stephen Hopkins, a passenger on the Sea Venture which shipwrecked in Bermuda in 1609, is an exception to that trend. Who is America’s real founding father? What did the Virginia Company do in 1608-1609? Was Jamestown a utopia or a dystopia? Did the Virginia Company have any leadership to guide ...
Ep. 84: America was Founded by Runaways & Renegades, with Joseph Kelly, Part 1
December 11, 2018 05:15 - 31 minutes - 43.8 MBProfessor Joseph Kelly joins us today to talk about his book Marooned and how much of our understanding about the beginning of the New World is simply names of people and approximately when they died. Stephen Hopkins, a passenger on the Sea Venture which shipwrecked in Bermuda in 1609, is an exception to that trend. Who is America’s real founding father? What did the Virginia Company do in 1608-1609? Was Jamestown a utopia or a dystopia? Did the Virginia Company have any leadership to guide...
Ep. 83: Who Killed Jefferson(ianism)?
December 04, 2018 05:15 - 26 minutes - 36 MBSoutherners strived to protect slavery as thoroughly as possible. In order to do that, they embraced a pragmatic ideology tailored to fight their Northern opposition. To many Southerners, slavery represented comfort, but others embraced slavery as their Christian duty to save Africans from the drudgeries of freedom and supposedly meek lives of Northern industrial workers. What is methodological individualism? Was there a monolithic south? What is enlightenment liberalism? Who was Nathaniel ...
Ep. 82: The Constitution & Castle Walls
November 27, 2018 05:15 - 26 minutes - 11.9 MBSoutherners did not support Jeffersonianism as a matter of principle, but as a strategy that would ensure the survival of slavery and institutionalized racism. This support of Jeffersonian liberalism was ill-founded and tainted the philosophical tradition for many years after. What is the relationship between libertarians and the southerners who were proponents of limited government? How did slavery make the phrase “states’ rights” dirty? How did southerners use the Jeffersonian philosophy t...
Ep. 82: The Constitution & Castle Walls
November 27, 2018 05:15 - 26 minutes - 11.9 MBSoutherners did not support Jeffersonianism as a matter of principle, but as a strategy that would ensure the survival of slavery and institutionalized racism. This support of Jeffersonian liberalism was ill-founded and tainted the philosophical tradition for many years after. What is the relationship between libertarians and the southerners who were proponents of limited government? How did slavery make the phrase “states’ rights” dirty? How did southerners use the Jeffersonian philosophy ...
Ep. 81: Spooner & The Secret Six, with Phil Magness
November 20, 2018 05:15 - 46 minutes - 21.1 MBPhil Magness joins us this week to teach the radical nature of Lysander Spooner. Spooner’s legal career started in an apprenticeship under 2 lawyers and he was best known for his support for the Abolitionist movement. His philosophy of liberty heavily influenced his law practice as well as his activist lifestyle. Who was Lysander Spooner? Is there a connection between his post office activism and his abolition activism? What radical politics did Spooner practice? What is the secret six? How...
Ep. 81: Spooner & The Secret Six, with Phil Magness
November 20, 2018 05:15 - 46 minutes - 21.1 MBPhil Magness joins us this week to teach the radical nature of Lysander Spooner. Spooner’s legal career started in an apprenticeship under 2 lawyers and he was best known for his support for the Abolitionist movement. His philosophy of liberty heavily influenced his law practice as well as his activist lifestyle. Who was Lysander Spooner? Is there a connection between his post office activism and his abolition activism? What radical politics did Spooner practice? What is the secret six? How...
Ep. 80: Libertypublicans
November 13, 2018 05:15 - 26 minutes - 11.9 MBThe Democrats and Republicans in the House were doing everything they could think of to force the hands of their opponents into appointing the House Speaker. However, no one could secure the majority number of votes to take over the position. The crisis reached a breaking point when a congressman actually suggested that everyone from the House resign in order eliminate the issue entirely. With every passing day, party lines became clearer and our Loco-Focos were at the core of the anti-slave...
Ep. 79: Compromising Compromisers, with Stephen Maizlish
November 06, 2018 05:15 - 38 minutes - 17.6 MBStephen Maizlish sifted through 1700-1800 different documents and speeches from the 19th century in order to recreate an accurate depiction of the discourse that was occurring in Congress prior to the Civil War. His book, A Strife of Tongues: The Compromise of 1850 and the Ideological Foundations of the American Civil War (A Nation Divided: Studies in the Civil War Era), is the product of his outstanding work. He found that many speeches and documents of lesser-known congressman of the time ...
Ep. 78: Hinton Help Us!
October 30, 2018 04:15 - 29 minutes - 13.3 MBPrior to 1857, no one had ever heard of Hinton Helper. To be clear, Helper was not a libertarian, he was a vehement racist who made it quite clear that he did not believe that people of color belonged in North America at all. Helper had one great contribution to history and that was his book The Impending Crisis of the South. However, if you read his work closely, his racist remarks were class-oriented to appeal to poor whites. He urged them to revolutionize society. Helper detested the rich...
Ep. 77: Cannibals All!, with Phil Magness
October 23, 2018 04:15 - 48 minutes - 22.2 MBPhil Magness best describes George Fitzhugh as an “eccentric character” because that frames the intellectual direction of his life. Fitzhugh had an obsession with reading about the medieval world and throughout his life he had contempt for philosophers. He is famous for viewing free society as a failure and he also claimed that “all government is slavery”. Who is George Fitzhugh? Was he ever a southern planter? What influence did Thomas Carlyle have on Fitzhugh? What were Fitzhugh’s religio...
Ep. 76: Libertarian Anti-Capitalism, with Kevin Carson
October 16, 2018 04:15 - 32 minutes - 15 MBOne of the biggest drawbacks of thinking in “vulgar libertarian” fashion is that you forget that there were ever alternatives available to people, that the way that we live now or the way we’re used to living is the only way that was ever reasonable or good. The rise of the modern state marks a time in history when authorities began to and continue to control more about people’s lives. The modern state also intrudes on people’s lives in a fashion that is so much greater than before. With tha...
Ep. 75: The Cords of Union: Slavery vs The Telegraph
October 09, 2018 04:15 - 28 minutes - 13.1 MBHistorians usually mark off the years, about 1815 to 1845 as the Jacksonian era and for Americans, and many other people across the planet, these were years of singularity. This period of time is remembered for many inventions and innovations. Most notably was Samuel Morse’s magnetic telegraph. His magnetic telegraph “eliminated the greatest problem plagued by all republics since the ancient days of Rome” because it was able to connect the states through rapid communication. Originally, Cong...
Ep. 74: The Greatest of Nullifiers
October 02, 2018 04:15 - 27 minutes - 12.4 MBAbram Smith caught political fire as a radical Locofoco Democrat, a friend of working people and outsiders. Smith was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1852 after he spent some time as a notable defense attorney. Let’s not forget that in 1850 the Fugitive Slave Act was revamped in order to ensure that Northerners were not a hinderance in the capture of slaves who had escaped their southern masters. In fact, Northerners were now required to return any slaves whom they knew to be fugit...
Ep. 73: The First Republicans
September 25, 2018 04:15 - 25 minutes - 11.5 MBAll the way from the 1770s to the 1850s, Americans had plenty of political disagreements, but nothing ever seriously disrupted the machinery of state until abolitionists and planters began forcing the slavery issue. Prior to the election of 1856, some much-needed rearrangement occurred in politics. In 1856, the newly-minted Republican Party lost on the back of John C. Frémont, but they gained crucial insight out of the election. The Republicans realized that they could take over the White Ho...
Ep. 72: There's No Excuse for Slavery (Updated)
September 19, 2018 04:15 - 28 minutes - 13 MBThis is a updated version of “There’s No Excuse for Slavery” which was released on July 3rd, 2018. Enjoy! The planters of the South believed that slavery had grown up with American society and its’ institutions. John C. Calhoun argued that slavery was a “positive good” because he believed that no well-off society existed in which “one portion of the community did not in point of fact, live on the labor of the other”. How did beliefs like these and those of Calhoun’s followers further split ...
Ep. 72: There's No Excuse for Slavery (Updated)
September 19, 2018 04:15 - 28 minutes - 13 MBThis is a updated version of “There’s No Excuse for Slavery” which was released on July 3rd, 2018. Enjoy!The planters of the South believed that slavery had grown up with American society and its’ institutions. John C. Calhoun argued that slavery was a “positive good” because he believed that no well-off society existed in which “one portion of the community did not in point of fact, live on the labor of the other”. How did beliefs like these and those of Calhoun’s followers further split...
Ep. 71: Kansas Changes Everything
September 18, 2018 04:15 - 23 minutes - 10.7 MBIn the mid-20th century, it was fashionable for historians to speak of a “Blundering Generation” of pre-Civil War politicians, people who—well intended or not—made a long series of foolish and short-sighted mistakes. They made blunders that make for wonderfully detailed political histories “from below,” as it were, but what appear to be mistakes were often intentional, and what appear to be great men were often just the schemers whose plans succeeded in the end. Who is the worst politician ...
Ep. 70: Whiggery’s Last Gasp
September 11, 2018 04:15 - 25 minutes - 11.5 MBIn 1850, American politics was nearing its breaking point. The Senate as well as the Administration was doing much in order to keep the peace between the Southern and Northern politicians. For example, Henry Clay was pulling out all the stops to pass a combination of compromise measures that would finally resolve the territorial crisis. However, his bill kept failing on partisan lines. No Southerners wanted to vote for restricting slavery, even if it meant getting a souped-up fugitive slave ...
Ep. 69: Van Buren - Friend or Foe? with Jeff Hummel
September 04, 2018 04:15 - 42 minutes - 19.2 MBJeff Hummel joins our lengthy debate about who Van Buren really was as a person and as a President. Hummel argues that Van Buren took a small “r” republican position for most of his career, both in the law and in politics. Hummel also argues that Van Buren was more consistent as President than those who came before him. Why would Jeff Hummel categorize Van Buren as the “least bad” President? Why is Van Buren considered the first “ethnic President”? Was Van Buren consistently classically lib...
Ep. 68: Free Soil After Van Buren
August 28, 2018 04:23 - 23 minutes - 10.8 MBWhigs were happy to have the White House, but many of them, at least, could still see the trouble lying head at the inevitable contest of 1852. On the strength of surprisingly large margins, the Free Soilers actually had a serious seat at the table. The Loco-Focos were the ones out there leading the young America cultural movement, they were the ones integrating Whigish abolitionism, with Jacksonian anti-monopoly, even when Van Buren had left them behind. What happened to the Free Soil Move...
Ep. 67: More Creative Historical Thinking
August 21, 2018 04:15 - 36 minutes - 16.7 MBOur conversation about how all history is revisionist and open to creativity with Michael Douma continues this week. Douma believes that a history classroom should not be about memorizing facts that a professor believes matter. It is more important to train people to think critically and creatively. Douma believes that history is always written from the perspective of the historian, describing it as, “a discussion without end”, meaning history is never completely solid or solved. What is th...
Ep. 66: Creative Historical Thinking, with Michael Douma, Part One
August 14, 2018 04:15 - 27 minutes - 12.7 MBMichael Douma joins us for the first part of a two-part series to discuss how we see the past as as an interpretative history. He argues that history is a creative discipline because we choose to arrange facts in a certain way. Douma goes through his new book, Creative Historical Thinking, and how he typically asks his students to draw a timeline of their lives or a timeline of American history. Quite often, each students’ timeline forms differently. Relating that to the study of the past, ...
Ep. 65: Was Frederick Douglass a Libertarian?
August 07, 2018 04:15 - 42 minutes - 19.2 MBTimothy Sandefur joins us this week to discuss how Frederick Douglass and his beliefs do not align perfectly to today’s political factions. He is often mischaracterized due to his legendary status. Has Douglass been purposefully distorted over time? Does the omission of facts about what he did and how he acted play a large role in that distortion? Frederick Douglass is defined as an individualist, which is best exemplified by his speeches and attitudes toward serving in the military. In his...
Ep. 64: 1848 and Its Aftermath
July 31, 2018 04:00 - 23 minutes - 33.2 MB1848 was a wild ride. That year the Free Soil Party tried to force Whigs and Democrats to take a stand on the issue of slavery in the territories. Once and for all, politicians would have to openly declare themselves either in favor of Free Soil for free society or Slave Territory, for the planters’ personal dominion. Further Readings/References: Johnson, Reinhard. The Liberty Party, 1840-1848: Antislavery Third-Party Politics in the United States. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University. ...
Ep. 63: Van Buren’s Dirty Game
July 24, 2018 04:15 - 25 minutes - 35.5 MBThe average Free Soiler was a radical Loco-Foco, probably from New York, touched by more than a decade of early libertarianism. But always and everywhere there were also the opportunists, the schemers, the self-advancing office seekers, desperate to leverage free soil into greater personal power, and right there at the top of this magnificent new party was the schemer in chief, the little magician, the Red Fox of Kinderhook, the architect of the Second Party System itself, and now the perpet...
Ep. 62: Revolution in Utica and Buffalo
July 17, 2018 04:15 - 25 minutes - 36.6 MBThe Polk Administration was a strange time in the early history of American Libertarianism called Locofocoism. In many ways, it was the time of ultimate triumph. Polk was as committed to their economic program as anyone else on the national stage, including their champion, Martin Van Buren. He was a Republican nationalist and an expansionist, and so were many of the more hopeful and naive Locofocos. By 1844, Locofocoism was all over the country, from the shores of New England, through the mo...