The Old World with Will Tanner

01:03:25

The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy, and...

The Old World with Will Tanner ·

2026/10/04

In the late 19th century, the British landed elite still seemed secure. A small group of aristocratic and gentry families owned the supermajority of the land, much of the best urban property, and many mineral rights, while also holding political office and shaping society through cultural dominance, business investments, and social prestige. Their wealth supported a life of leisure used to fulfill the duty to govern, not for private indulgence in indolence. That system began to break down with the

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50:00

The Decline and Fall of America's W.A.S.P....

The Old World with Will Tanner ·

2026/09/30

This episode examines the rise, dominance, and disappearance of the WASPs, the old American families from the Northeast who dominated business, society, and politics for much of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It distinguishes them from the Southern gentry, and defines them as an upper class formed by intermarriage, inherited wealth, and shared institutions rather than just a group of rich individuals. It then describes how the WASPs were economically and culturally powerful at their height

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29:44

John Smith: The Mercenary Who Built America

The Old World with Will Tanner ·

2026/09/26

This is the retold story of the life of Captain John Smith, the military hero who saved Virginia, with a focus on how he represents the model American in many ways. I tell the tales of his upbringing, his Crusade against the Ottomans, his escape from slavery, his feuds with the Virginia Company, his mapping of the Chesapeake, and his grand adventures in the New World, altogether showing how he's a man who created a model for the New World based on the best of the old. Read my article on this here:

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01:17:22

From "Granny Lee" to Savior of Richmond: How Robert E...

The Old World with Will Tanner ·

2026/09/20

This is the story of how Robert E. Lee came to command the Army of Northern Virginia, and then used it to save Richmond while almost crushing McClellan in the Seven Days Battles. It is a story of early war debacles and embarrassments, prudent decision-making behind the scenes that led to Confederate successes, and then immense risk-taking and courage in the face of seemingly certain defeat. It is a tale of Stuart's dashing ride around McClellan, the near-total victory in the Seven Days Battles. The

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53:38

How the Virginia Gentry Became a Ruling Class

The Old World with Will Tanner ·

2026/09/16

This is the in-depth story of how the Virginia gentry built itself into a true ruling class. Focusing in particular on "American Revolutionaries in the Making," this explores how the planter class of Old Virginia used a system of obligation, duty, and cultivated excellence to go from being Virginia gentlemen to Founding Fathers. Particularly, it explores the role of the tobacco plantation, parish vestry, county court, and House of Burgesses in this process, describing their progression as a cursus

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38:07

The Habit of Command: How the Virginia Gentry Raised...

The Old World with Will Tanner ·

2026/09/13

This episode explains what Henry Adams called the "habit of command" in the Virginia gentry, showing how Virginia planter families developed a quiet assumption of leadership, public duty, and authority that helped define them from the colonial period through the 19th century. In it, I show how this attitude developed out of plantation life: on large estates, young Virginians learned to manage people, make decisions, and handle practical affairs, all of which was also shaped by a sense of noblesse

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01:03:35

Virginia Warrior: Robert E. Lee's Agonizing Road to War

The Old World with Will Tanner ·

2026/09/09

After his Mexican-American War triumph and success at Fort Carroll, Robert E Lee faced a decade of frustration that culminated in his being the man who stopped John Brown at Harper's Ferry, and soon faced the impossible choice between leading the armies of his nation or his native state when tensions spiralled to war in the wake of the Brown raid. In this episode, we discuss Robert E Lee's time as superintendent of the US Military Academy at West Point, his commandership of the Comanche-hunting

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01:09:37

"The Best Soldier": Robert E. Lee's Mexican War Heroics

The Old World with Will Tanner ·

2026/09/06

After watching him perform so valiantly as an officer in the Mexican-American War, General Winfield Scott would publicly declare Robert E. Lee to be "the very best soldier that I ever saw in the field." This is the story of what Lee accomplished as a middle-aged scout and engineer in the Mexican campaign. From his role in securing victory during Winfield Scott's Veracruz campaign by perfectly siting and building batteries to helping scout and lead assaults at Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco, and

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01:00:58

Creating Christian Nobility with Evan Amato

The Old World with Will Tanner ·

2026/08/30

In this episode, Will and Evan Amato discuss the idea of Christian nobility and what it means to be truly noble within the European and Christian tradition. The conversation begins with Pope Pius XII's speeches to the Roman aristocracy, especially his question of what nobility means at a time when noble titles were losing their public force. From there, the discussion turns to the duties attached to privilege. Evan Amato emphasizes Pius XII's call for irreproachable moral conduct, especially in

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49:25

Young Robert E Lee

The Old World with Will Tanner ·

2026/08/26

This is the story of how Robert E Lee was forged into the Marble Man of legend while still a young man, showing how his early life in Alexandria after his mother and father lost Stratford trained him in excellence and taught him to use his good qualities to great effect. From there, he then got an appointment to West Point through exercising personal connections, and became the sterling model of the perfect cadet while remaining beloved by his fellows. Ultimately, his graduation triumph was marred

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43:31

How Robert E. Lee's Mother Forged the Marble Man |...

The Old World with Will Tanner ·

2026/08/22

This episode is about Anne Hill Carter Lee, the mother of Robert E. Lee, and how her life shaped his character. While only a few letters of hers and one portrait of her survive, her son repeatedly said he owed everything to her. Robert E. Lee's life of duty, self-command, thrift, piety, and quiet resignation all came from Anne rather than from Light Horse Harry, and so we can thank her for forging the Marble Man, as explained in this show. Listen ad-free here:

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40:01

Black-Horse Harry Lee: The Scandal That Lost...

The Old World with Will Tanner ·

2026/08/19

This is the tragic story of Henry Lee IV, known to history as Black Horse Harry Lee. Most influential as a friend and ally of Andrew Jackson's, but most infamous for a scandal that shocked the Virginia gentry to its core, Henry went from being a promising young man to the disgrace of Virginia in the wake of a great tragedy that shook his family and Stratford Hall to its core. Listen Ad Free here: https://www.theamericantribune.news/p/black-horse-harry-lee-the-scandal The son of Light Horse Harry

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01:07:38

The Swamp Fox: Francis Marion's Partisan War...

The Old World with Will Tanner ·

2026/08/15

This is the story of Francis Marion, the "Swamp Fox" of Southern Campaign fame, whose partisans worked with Light Horse Harry Lee and Lee's Legion to cut off Lord Cornwallis from his bases of Loyalist support and supply, which provided a substantial contribution to Patriot victory in the broader Southern campaign of the American Revolution. This is a discussion between Will and Kaiser; they discuss the life of Francis Marion, his tactics for defeating the British, his leadership style, and the

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01:05:20

Disgraced Cavalier: How Light-Horse Harry Lee Lost...

The Old World with Will Tanner ·

2026/08/12

This is the tale of how debt, speculation, and imprudence turned Light Horse Harry Lee from a celebrated Revolutionary War hero praised for his cavalry raids, his tactical brilliance, and his closeness to George Washington into a disgraced scoundrel known throughout Virginia as a dishonorable debt dodger. In 1782, Harry Lee returned to Stratford Hall to marry his wealthy cousin Matilda Lee, known as "the Dividine Matilda", and step into plantation life, but the quiet work of farming and managing

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56:49

Cavalier of the American Revolution: Light Horse...

The Old World with Will Tanner ·

2026/08/08

This is the story of Light Horse Harry Lee, the dashing Cavalier of the American Revolution, and how he helped win the War for American Independence through his talented command of Lee's Legion. It is the tale of how he developed his skills as a horseman and leader in his Leesylvania estate, studied the Classics at Princeton and won renown as a scholar, built himself into a brilliant cavalier of a military leader, and won great morale-boosting victories at Spread Eagle Tavern and Paulus Hook before

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55:32

Light-Horse Harry & Robert E. Lee: The Lees of...

The Old World with Will Tanner ·

2026/08/05

This is the story of the family that produced Light Horse Harry and Robert E Lee: the Lees of Leesylvania, the Virginia branch of the Lee family that produced a long line of planters, soldiers, politicians, and lawyers. In it, I contrast the Leesylvania Lees with the Stratford Hall Lees and show how the Leesylvania line developed its own place in Virginia history as some of the greatest and most memorable members of the gentry through landholding, public service, and military command. Listen ad-free

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01:11:25

The Virginia Gentry's Cursus Honorum: How to Build a...

The Old World with Will Tanner ·

2026/08/01

Why were the Founders so excellent and our modern leaders so awful? Because they cultivated and developed themselves into great men rather than relying on credentialism and technocracy. This episode discusses the Virginia gentry as a ruling class that developed itself in virtue, duty, and the skill of governance through a structured sequence of responsibilities--the "cursus honorum" of the Virginia gentry. This development began with the plantation, where competence was judged publicly through the

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01:18:08

The Virginia Gentry: How America's Only Aristocracy...

The Old World with Will Tanner ·

2026/07/29

For centuries, the Virginia gentry has been drenched in myth, romance, and Cavalier legend. Here, we cut through the romanticism of Old Virginia to discuss the reality of America's only real landed aristocracy. We describe the origins and formation of the Virginia gentry, how tobacco culture and great estates turned it into a coherent landed gentry class, how it used religion in Colonial Virginia and the county court system to build and hold onto political power. Then we discuss the reality of the

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37:41

Forgotten Founding Father: Francis Lightfoot Lee, the...

The Old World with Will Tanner ·

2026/07/26

Signer of the Declaration of Independence. Savior of the Continental Army at Valley Forge. Drafter of the Articles of Confederation. Respected by Northerner and Southerner alike. Known as the "sweetest" of the Lee family, and probably the most politically effective. Francis Lightfoot Lee is one of the most important, but least remembered, Founding Fathers and Lee brothers of Stratford Hall. Listen ad-free here: https://www.theamericantribune.news/p/forgotten-founding-father-francis Born at

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33:42

The Merchant Diplomat: William Lee's Secret Dutch...

The Old World with Will Tanner ·

2026/07/19

A younger son of Thomas Lee, William Lee was the best businessman in the Lee Family of Virginia and used his skills as a merchant, trader, and radical London politician to help win the American Revolution through a clever bit of "militia diplomacy". Listen ad-free here: https://www.theamericantribune.news/p/the-merchant-diplomat-william-lees This episode follows William Lee of Stratford Hall, a younger son of the Lee family who was trained in the tobacco economy rather than given the advantages of

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