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 democracy in the various states led to a push for a more uniform legal system in the country and a less hostile view of lawyers, judges and the judiciary more broadly by the time of the Constitutional Convention.

Finally, John covers the impact of the Marshall Court in general and the Marbury v. Madison case decided by that court in particular. John gives some background about who John Marshall was, how he ended up as the Chief Justice and his approach toward that position before explaining the details of the Marbury case. John concludes by breaking down the concept of Judicial Review and how the Judicial Branch was transformed by the other branches’ acceptance of the notion that judges and justices should exercise this authority in the U.S. government.

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 administration’s decision to go to war with the Barbary Pirates in 1801. John covers the background of the conflict and why it was that Jefferson, despite his general opposition to warfare, decided that pursuing aggressive action against the Barbary states was warranted. John discusses how the conflict was ultimately resolved and why it was an important event in early American history.

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, pay off the national debt, demilitarize the U.S. from the brink of war with France and encourage the growth of democracy and the influence of Americans who did not come from the wealthy or educated elite classes.

John also devotes a significant amount of time to explaining the shortcomings of Jeffersonian Democracy. He talks about how Jefferson seemed to have some really significant blind spots when it came to who his style of governance and his foreign and domestic policies would benefit. John also points out the ways in which Jefferson moderated from his stalwart opposition to the Federalists when he became president, in part because Jefferson recognized that he would be setting the example for what future presidents would do when they took power from departing presidents who belonged to an opposition party.

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 difficult for the party in general and John Adams in particular.

John also examines how the structure of the Electoral College, as it operated at this time, created a serious crisis for the country. John runs through what the crisis was, how different actors in the political system approached it and how it was ultimately resolved, ending with Jefferson’s election to the presidency.

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 participatory democracy from Americans all over the country.

John goes on to discuss the very serious conflict that emerged between France and the United States just as the Washington administration was ending and John Adams was taking office. John breaks down the reasons that the French and the U.S. became embroiled in the "Qasi-War", what that looked like compared to a more traditional sort of war and how it affected various parts of American society. John closes out the episode with an explanation of the Alien and Sedition Acts, the response to that legislation as represented in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions and how the fighting between the U.S. and France came to an end in 1800.

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 approached.

John then goes on to discuss what actually happened in the presidential election of 1796 and how it was that John Adams ended up as the winner. John reviews the mechanism of the electoral college and how it functioned quite differently from today; he closes with a brief discussion of the rift between John Adams and Alexander Hamilton within the Federalist Party.

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 interpretation of the constitution, Alexander Hamilton’s financial program and whether the United States should more closely align itself with Britain or with France in the early years of the new Republic.

John also covers the fundamentals of the Whiskey Rebellion and how it contributed to the political divisions that resulted in the two party system of late 18th century America. John explains what drove the rebels to take the actions they did and how the Washington Administration’s response to the Whiskey Rebellion instilled hope or fear about the new federal government depending on the perspective of those who observed events as they unfolded. Finally, John talks about the French Revolution and how it served to solidify the already-existing political divisions and make it easy for opposing forces to organize into Federalist and Democratic Republican camps.

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 for those on either side of the divide and how the existence of an independent United States, various state governments and white Americans eager for cheap land on the frontier created existential challenges for Native Americans east of the Mississippi River.

John then discusses the new approach of the George Washington Administration and the new Federal government under the U.S. Constitution, beginning in 1789. He explains what Washington and Henry Knox, his closest collaborator in Native American policy early on, were thinking and trying to achieve as they took power. Finally, John discusses why Washington’s policies failed to work out as he’d hoped and how the administration and Congress then chose to approach westward expansion and Native Americans in the 1790s.