History: Beyond the Textbook
History: Beyond the Textbook examines American history through the experiences of those who lived it! Each 12-episode season, high school history teacher Alex Mattke covers a separate era of American history and features perspectives on well-known events and lesser-known experiences of famous historical figures. Season Three, covering "America's Crucial Years," returns on October 8 with new episodes every Tuesday up until the finale on December 24! Catch up on Seasons One (America's Colonial Era) and Two (America's Revolution) wherever you listen to podcasts.
Feel free to contact us with feedback and other questions at: hbttpodcast@gmail.com.
Episodes
26 episodes
3.2: The First Financier: Robert Morris and the Bank of North America
He was one of the wealthiest men in the colonies, so by extension, the United States of America. Foreign-born to unwed parents, he had the reputation of being a financial wizard who understood commerce, markets, and how to maximize profit...
•
Season 3
•
Episode 2
•
25:46
3.1: John Dickinson, Architect of the Articles of Confederation
It's 1783, and military mutinies are intermittently breaking out across the United States. This, and other, issues stem from problems with the first official “national” government of the United States: the Articles of Confederation,...
•
Season 3
•
Episode 1
•
26:15
2.12: King George III, Enlightened Monarch of the American Revolution
He’s the man responsible for the loss of Britain’s North American colonies, and a cruel, despotic monarch at that…these are both perceptions of King George III, and it’s realistically how many Americans learn about Britain’s king at the time of...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 12
•
28:15
2.11: The Officer and the Commoner: Lord Cornwallis and Joseph Plumb Martin at the Battle of Yorktown
It was the last significant battle of the American Revolution, although this couldn’t have been predicted at the time. The Americans, British, and the French felt that 1781 was a "now or never" year for the Revolution, and that s...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 11
•
31:09
2.10: Banastre Tarleton and England's "Southern Strategy"
Much of the history of the American Revolution focuses on actions in what was called the “Northern” theater, and to a degree, this makes sense: given the outsized role Massachusetts played in the pre-war years and the early years of combat.&nbs...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 10
•
30:33
2.9: Martha Washington, the Oneidas, and the Winter at Valley Forge
Those present at the winter at Valley Forge in 1777-1778 included a veritable “who’s who” of future American political leadership, such as George Washington, Henry Knox, and Alexander Hamilton. Prominent names are usually associated...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 9
•
29:37
2.8: Dueling Bens: Arnold, Franklin, and the Turning Point at Saratoga
One man was all-in for independence dating back to the years before the first shots at Lexington and Concord, while the other held out hope for a moderate solution and was even accused of holding sympathies to the British cause. One is Be...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 8
•
30:32
2.7: Joseph Brant: Mohawk Loyalist of New York's Frontier
He sided with the British in the American Revolution, and successfully convinced many of his countrymen to do so. The education he received at the hands of Eleazar Wheelock allowed him to understand colonial culture, while his upbringing ...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 7
•
29:34
2.6: A Most Radical Writer: Thomas Paine, and the stunning victory at Trenton
He arrived in North American in December 1774 with a fever so devastating that he needed to be carried ashore. This man also carried with him letters of introduction from none other than Dr. Benjamin Franklin, so there must have been
•
Season 2
•
Episode 6
•
29:57
2.5: Revolutionary Power Couple: John and Abigail Adams and the Declaration of Independence
He was a lawyer who would devote his life to public service; she was an independent woman who would devote her life to her family and supporting her husband's political efforts, both in spirit and in practice. Both of them would come to s...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 5
•
29:32
2.4: Patriot Physician: Dr. Joseph Warren and the Battle of Bunker Hill
He was a local man who became a well-respected physician, treating all members of Boston society, Patriot and Loyalist alike. However, his personal sympathies lay with the growing movement that would push towards full independence from Gr...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 4
•
28:45
2.3: Poet of the Revolution: Phillis Wheatly and American Freedom
She arrived in Boston in the 1760's, was purchased by the wealthy Wheatly family, and went on to become a published, not to mention, accomplished, poet. She enjoyed an up-close view of the key events leading up to the American Re...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 3
•
28:36
2.2: The Guiding Hand: Samuel Adams and the Boston Tea Party
A name most likely associated with a beer company, what role did Samuel Adams really play in fermenting opposition to British policies prior to the American Revolution? His role is usually relegated to the shadows, but he became such an i...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 2
•
28:57
2.1: The Prominent Pre-Revolution Loyalist: Thomas Hutchinson and the Stamp Act
Now known as the prototypical Loyalist, it wasn't always this way...Thomas Hutchinson was one of the most well-known men in Boston when the French and Indian War ended. He had a successful career as a merchant and a public servant, with a...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 1
•
34:38
1.12: Pontiac and the war against British Imperialism
He led his forces against the mighty British military, captured their forts, forced them to surrender...and ultimately lost the war that bears his name. Odawa Chief Pontiac, an Anishinaabeg of the western Great Lakes, fought a war against...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 12
•
34:45
1.11: George Washington, and the start of the French and Indian War
As a man given the nickname "First in the Hearts of his Countrymen," among many others, what could we possibly explore about the life of the famous George Washington that hasn't already been written? He led America's Continental ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 11
•
43:10
1.10: Alice, Ayuba, and Louis: Experiences of American Slavery
Slavery has existed for as long as humans have lived in settled society, but it was taken to another level in colonial America, and eventually, the United States. Humans were legally classified as property and treated with intense brutali...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 10
•
36:16
1.9: Po'Pay: Architect of the Great Southwest Rebellion
He lead a full-scale rebellion against Spanish rule in the American Southwest. This rebellion was so successful that it expelled the Spaniards from the region and allowed the Pueblo to return to their traditional ways...for a time.&...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 9
•
34:48
1.8: Mary Rowlandson, Chronicler of King Philip's War
Amidst the deadliest per capita conflict in the colonial era, Mary Rowlandson, wife of a prominent minister, was captured by enemy forces in what history has recorded as King Philip's War. She was moved constantly during her 12-weeks as a...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 8
•
35:57
1.7: Chief Canaqueese, Fighter and Orator of the Haudenosaunee
Their homelands stood at a crucial chokepoint between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, placing them in a unique position to either negotiate for what they wanted...or take it by force. These options of diplomacy or viole...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 7
•
32:34
1.6: Uncas, Mohegan of the Connecticut River Valley
Conflict between Indigenous tribes and European settlers is a consistent theme in America's colonial era. Such conflicts often centered around the land: who lived there, who used it, and how it was used. The Pequot War, c...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 6
•
35:03
1.5: Anne Hutchinson, Rhode Island Rebel
Free speech is a hallmark of American life enshrined in the Bill of Rights. However, speaking one's mind wasn't always a viable option in the early Puritan communities that dotted New England in the first half of the 1600's. This po...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 5
•
31:22
1.4: Stephen Hopkins, Peacemaker of Plymouth
The Mayflower left England in 1620 bound for North America with a passenger list that has been categorized as made up of "Saints" and "Strangers." Some were completing this crossing in an effort to separate themselves from what w...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 4
•
35:09
1.3: Jean Nicolet, the Negotiator of New France
Jean Nicolet is generally not the first name that comes to mind as a key player with regard to the topic of French colonization of North America; that honor generally belongs to Samuel de Champlain. However, Nicolet lived among numerous I...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 3
•
29:23
1.2: Opechancanough, Jamestown's "Pamunkey Prince"
John Smith, Chief Powhatan, Pocahontas...Opechancanough? The second episode of "History: Beyond the Textbook" shifts the focus to England's colonial efforts in North America, and Jamestown is certainly familiar ground. However, the ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 2
•
28:44