Missing Pages

This episode covers the important, though overlooked, Dutch colony in the New World: New Amsterdam. This colony was squished between Massachusetts and Virginia and was instrumental in forwarding many of the ideals that would be used to justify the American Revolution.

The initial ragtag group of settlers would slowly expand gaining more recognition from the Dutch government and the rest of the colonial powers, despite its small size. This led to a power vacuum which led to many an authoritarian trying to control the colony. This led to a growing need for representative government and liberty in religion and person. This debate was held for over a decade before the English colonies cut the process short.

There are many missing pages that help flesh out this unique colony. Let’s fill those in…

Music

Intro: Fractured Timeline - Sémø

Outro: The Beach House - Space Doves

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This episode covers the story of the two most famous rebels in the early American colonies: Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson. But they weren’t the only ones. Several, far less known, people were continuously challenging the existing power structure. There is a thread that is beginning to materialize that will only grow as we move forward through history.

Along with that, this episode covers the growing call for religious tolerance in a world of increasing persecution. Carrying forward the ideas from previous episodes, the desire for liberty and democracy is bubbling under the surface in the English colonies. So grab your treatises and let’s fill in those missing pages…

Music

Intro: Fractured Timeline - Sémø

Outro: Be Bold, Be Brave - To The Valley

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This episode continues to travel over well-trodden ground as we explore the founding and settling of the Massachusetts Bay colony. We cover the colonies before the Massachusetts, the impetus for the massive migration, the regional characteristics of the new arrivals, and the tumultuous first couple decades. There is plenty of intrigue in the courts, religious jockeying, and a bloody and disastrous war to discuss.

The expansion of the Puritan colonies in New England is what many generations of Americans have learned as the beginning of American history. This is not so in my AP notes, as we have seen already. However, the Puritans are covered very heavily, more so than their southern counterparts in Virginia. Nevertheless, there are lots of details that are missed in the rapidly paced, and often broad, AP notes.

We’ll have to dig deep in this episode to fill in those missing pages.

Music

Intro: Fractured Timeline - Sémø

Outro: We Won’t Survive - Assaf Ayalon

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This episode details the origins of the Pilgrims, their voyage, and their interactions with the Natives in the first successful New England colony. Along the way I describe the importance of a document signed onboard the ship and how it was a defining moment in American history. Those onboard were not aware of that, though. I also discuss the interactions with the natives, both the ugly and the inspiring, and how it would shape the colonial experience going forward.

Again, the AP notes get the broad strokes, but are lacking on the details. So this may be how you remember the story told, but I hope you glean some new information regardless.

So, let’s expand on what we think we know already, keep and open mind, and fill in those missing pages.

Music

Intro: Fractured Timeline - Sémø

Outro: This Life of Time - Beò

Sources:

Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War - Nathaniel Philbrick

This is the usual starting point in American history education. It is logical given that Jamestown is the first successful English colony in the New World. This episode will cover the first few decades of this colony from the inception of the Virginia Company to the end of the Second Anglo-Powhatan War.

Because this is more heavily covered in the AP US History notes than previous topics, this episode will fill in the details that may be lost when teaching to high school students. I go into more depth about the relationships between the Natives and the English and how they viewed each other. I dig into some of the more personal stories and changes of opinion with regard to those relationships. I go into the multiple conflicts, continuous death, and the rise of a class struggle. Along with much, much more.

So come with me on this journey to go beneath the surface of what was taught in high school and let’s fill in those missing pages.

Music

Intro: Fractured Timeline - Sémø

Outro: Why I Am so Mad - Roni Bar Hadas

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This episode tackles the colliding of the two hemispheres that had been separated for millennia. I start around 1492 when Columbus sailed the ocean blue and end around the turn of the 17th century. There are a lot of people and a lot of dates covered, but I only scratch the surface of the amount of exploring and conquering that occurred in this time period. I discuss the various reasons for these missions and the success and failures for each of the countries present in the continent. Finally, I address whether the Europeans are to blame for the vast amounts of death that occurred during this century.

Like last episode, I branch outside of North America before reaching the traditional starting point in American history education. All of this is vital preliminary information, though, so I would be remiss to skip over any of it.

The history notes leave a lot to be desired, but that just gives me more to talk about as I fill in the missing pages.

Music

Intro: Fractured Timeline - Sémø

Outro: Blood on My Hands - Michael McQuaid

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This episode will cover, by far, the longest span of time that will be covered in the entire Missing Pages podcast. Starting tens of thousands of years ago, I discuss the first people to arrive in the Americas. I explore how the first civilizations grew, how they adapted to their environment, and their major advancements. I continue through history exploring many of the descendants of these first civilizations up until 1492.

I explore the foundations of American societies, the growth of civilizations, and the rise and fall of empires. I discuss how they were similar and different from Europe. I lay out how they succeeded, where they failed, and what makes them just as human as the rest of us.

I do my best in this episode to bring some stories of individuals to the forefront, though, given the small amount of evidence (from both age and destruction) these are sparse.

The high school notes are lacking in this episode, so there’s a lot to cover in order to fill in all those missing pages.

Music

Intro: Fractured Timeline - Sémø

Outro: The Land That Time Forgot - Clair Kelly

Sources:

In the inaugural episode of Missing Pages, I explain some of the reasoning behind this podcast, my research philosophy, and the nuts and bolts of the podcast and the Substack, generally.