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PODCAST

How the Hell Did We Get Here?

Want to understand U.S. history better? This show will help anyone better comprehend the present condition of the United States" government, society, culture, economy and more by going back to the origins of the U.S., before it was even an independent country and exploring the fundamental aspects of U.S. history up to the present moment. The episodes chronologically examine different periods--Colonial, Revolutionary, Antebellum, Civil War/Reconstruction, the Gilded Age, Progressive Era, Roaring 20s,

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All Episodes

01:05:44

Why the Hell am I Team Hamilton Rather Than Team...

How the Hell Did We Get Here? ·

2025/06/17

In this episode, John stacks up the lives and careers of two of the most important Founding Fathers of the United States: Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. John goes into a lot of detail about the endeavors and accomplishments that make both men the legendary historical heavyweights that they are. He talks about their impact on American governance, American economics, American culture, American religion and the trajectory of American society from independence onward. But John also deals with

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32:53

What the Hell was The Second Great Awakening?

How the Hell Did We Get Here? ·

2025/06/10

In this episode, John explores the mass religious movement in the United States referred to as The Second Great Awakening. John discusses the origin of this explosion of religious growth and diversification and why it was that it occurred in the aftermath of the American Revolution. John talks about how the movement defied expectations of the Founding Fathers, who anticipated a more secular society after the Revolution, and how it demonstrated another dichotomy between the elites and the “middling

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40:18

Why the Hell Did Slavery Expand in the U.S. After 1800?

How the Hell Did We Get Here? ·

2025/06/03

In this episode, John focuses on slavery in the United States in the years after the American Revolution. John investigates why it is that slavery did not die out, as most of the Founding Fathers expected it would in the 1780s and 1790s. John talks about the reasons why so many Americans believed that slavery was on its way out in America, not the least of which was the fact that slavery absolutely did not comport with the ideals on which the United States was founded as an independent country.John

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40:00

How the Hell Did Jefferson's Trade War Cause a...

How the Hell Did We Get Here? ·

2025/05/27

In this episode, John discusses the important events and decisions of Thomas Jefferson’s second term as the third U.S. President. John begins by talking about the Sally Hemings affair, which was actually brought to public attention in a very direct way for the first time about halfway through Jefferson’s first term. John explains how and why it was that Jefferson’s decades-long relationship with one of his slaves became a national story, why it matters when considering Jefferson’s legacy and how it

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47:15

What the Hell Have I Learned

How the Hell Did We Get Here? ·

2025/05/21

In this episode, John reviews through what he has learned so far doing the show. John covers a variety of topics that he has gone into detail on in previous episodes, stretching all the way back to the very first How the Hell Did We Get Here. John starts out by talking about the Pre-Columbian period and the years between Columbus and the settlement of Jamestown, before discussing all the things he learned about the colonial period that he did not know before he started researching for the show,

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55:55

What the Hell Does the Judicial Branch Do?

How the Hell Did We Get Here? ·

2025/03/29

In this episode, John does a deep dive into the early years of the Judicial Branch of the federal government. John begins by explaining how courts, judges and lawyers were perceived by the colonists in the decades before the American Revolution and what role it was in society and in the colonial governments that these elements played. John then discusses the changes that Americans wanted to see in the judicial system upon achieving independence from Great Britain and how the rapid evolution of

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38:30

How the Hell Did Jefferson Buy Louisiana and Fight...

How the Hell Did We Get Here? ·

2025/03/14

In this episode, John discusses the circumstances that allowed the Jefferson administration to complete the Louisiana Purchase from France. John explains how it was that France came to acquire Louisiana again and what it was that drove Napoleon to sell the territory to the U.S. less than five years after acquiring it. John also talks about the Lewis and Clark expedition and its importance to the foundation of an American presence in the middle of North America.John also goes through the Jefferson

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33:40

What the Hell Was Jeffersonian Democracy?

How the Hell Did We Get Here? ·

2025/03/07

In this episode, John dives into the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, focusing specifically on his most important ideas and priorities as he took over from the Federalists as America’s third president. John discusses why Jefferson was such a monumental figure in American history, how he and his ideas came to dominate the first quarter century of the 1800s and how he saw his role in America’s “Empire of Liberty”. John talks about the Jeffersonians’ goals to shrink the size of the federal government,

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41:07

How the Hell Did the Election of 1800 Create a...

How the Hell Did We Get Here? ·

2025/02/27

In this episode, John discusses the conditions leading up to the presidential election of 1800. He breaks down who the main candidates were, how both the Federalist and Democratic Republican parties campaigned in this very early era of party politics and what the strengths and weaknesses of both sides were as the election approached. John also explains the division within the Federalist Party between Alexander Hamilton and John Adams and how this internal rift made winning the election very

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58:12

What the Hell Was the Quasi-War?

How the Hell Did We Get Here? ·

2025/02/19

In this episode, John discusses the John Adams administration and the most significant events and developments of the period in which he presided as the second President of the United States. John begins by going over the factors that led to further political polarization, as the Federalists and the Democratic Republicans grew further and further apart on the issues. John explains the importance of the growing political press in the United States during the 1790s and the increasing demand for a more

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31:54

Who the Hell Could Possibly Replace George Washington?

How the Hell Did We Get Here? ·

2025/02/12

In this episode, John discusses the circumstances surrounding the presidential election of 1796. John explains how the Democratic Republican Party and the Federalist Party had become more or less fully formed partisan organizations by the time the election was to take place and what the issues were that divided the two of them. John goes into detail about how each party viewed itself, its place in American Politics and each party’s vision for the future of the United States as the election

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57:18

Where the Hell Did American Political Parties Come From?

How the Hell Did We Get Here? ·

2025/01/26

In this episode, John discusses the origins of the United States’ first political parties: the Federalist Party and the Democratic Republican Party. John goes over the various factors that created enough political division to account for political parties coming into existence, despite the fact that this was not anticipated at the Constitutional Convention or during the ratification process. John breaks down the issues that created opposing constituencies for two political parties, including the

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41:40

What the Hell Happened to Native Americans After the...

How the Hell Did We Get Here? ·

2025/01/17

In this episode, John dives into the details of westward expansion after the Revolutionary War and the ways that both the movement of the United States and white Americans west affected Native Americans. John begins with a brief recap of how Native Americans and European-descended white settlers had interacted prior to the Revolution and then explains how the Revolution affected the relationship between Native Americans and whites in some general and specific ways. John talks about the motivations

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43:14

How the Hell Did Hamilton Get America's Money Right?

How the Hell Did We Get Here? ·

2025/01/10

In this episode, John gets into the first ever United States Congress and the beginnings of the first Washington Administration as they begin to govern under the recently ratified Constitution. John discusses the realization of the founding fathers that they will not be able to govern as they had envisioned and, instead, will have to embrace a governing system of democratic advocacy. John talks about how the Congress set up the basic structures for both the Executive and the Judicial branches as

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35:35

How the Hell Did the Constitution Subvert Democracy?

How the Hell Did We Get Here? ·

2025/01/03

In this episode, John sets up the circumstances the Washington Administration and the first Congress inherited as it formed the new national government under the Constitution. John talks about the expanding democratic rights Americans during and after the Revolution and how this dynamic affected the evolution of American government at the local, state and national levels in the 1770s, 80s and 90s. John also discusses the demands that newly empowered citizens were making of the their governments and

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59:03

What the Hell Were the Religious Beliefs of the...

How the Hell Did We Get Here? ·

2024/12/24

In this episode, John discusses the religious beliefs of some of the most prominent and impactful of the founding fathers. John begins by briefly reviewing over the broad strokes of the religious history of the British North American colonies from the early 1600s to 1770, discussing the religious diversity of the colonies, the most common denominations and the Great Awakening. John then explains the fundamentals of one of the most important belief systems embraced by a number of the founding fathers

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57:55

Why the Hell do we Have the Electoral College?

How the Hell Did We Get Here? ·

2024/12/09

In this episode, John finishes his discussion of the Constitutional Convention and the ratification of the document that created the current United States government. John briefly recaps the major accomplishments of the first two months of the Constitutional Convention and then discusses the Committee on Postponed Parts and how it proposed to resolve some of the major debates still taking place among the delegates. John profiles the presidency, as envisioned by the delegates, and explains what it

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50:27

How the Hell did the Constitutional Convention...

How the Hell Did We Get Here? ·

2024/12/02

In this episode, John does a deep dive into the Constitutional Convention. He goes into detail about how the debate over the Virginia Resolves shaped the direction of the convention, how it was that the "nationalists" like James Madison and James Wilson seized control of the debate with the Virginia Resolves to achieve their goals of reform and the way these proposals were received by delegates to the convention who did not participate in the process of shaping the resolves. John explains how the

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30:01

How the Hell was the Constitution a Revolution?

How the Hell Did We Get Here? ·

2024/11/26

In this episode, John gets into the details of how the Constitutional Convention came together and what the agenda was for those most responsible for putting it together. John reviews through the weaknesses of the government under the Articles of Confederation that pushed the likes of James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and Robert Morris to call for a much stronger central government. He then explains how those men, thinking of themselves as "nationalists", recruited George Washington to their cause

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34:44

How the Hell was the Constitution Created and...

How the Hell Did We Get Here? ·

2024/11/21

In this episode, John gives a broad strokes rundown of both how the Constitution was created and the process by which it was ratified. John discusses the major controversies at the convention that needed to be resolved and explains very generally what the interests and motivations of the delegates at the convention were. John then breaks down the ratification process in the various states, briefly discussing how difficult or not it was from one state to the next.

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58 results

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