The Ku Klux Klan was arguably America’s first organized terrorist movement. It was a paramilitary unit that arose in the South during the early years of Reconstruction. At its peak in the early 1870s, the Klan boasted many tens of thousands of...
Yesterday
Cicero—Rome’s Greatest Orator—Saved the Capital From Insurrection, But Couldn’t Save the Republic From Collapse
On December 7, 43 BCE, a sixty-three-year-old man was carried in a litter down a woodland path near the Italian coast, fleeing soldiers who had been sent to kill him. When they caught up, he ordered his attendants to set down the litter, put his head out, and offered them his nec ... Show More
52m 29s
Sep 10
Do Napoleons or Hitlers Really Matter? Whether Leaders Make History or Their Societies Make Them
On March 13, 1930, Adolf Hitler was sitting in the passenger seat of his chauffeur-driven car when a trailer truck sped through an intersection and struck the vehicle, pushing it across the road and stopping just short of crushing it. Everyone survived. Three years later, Hitler ... Show More
44m 16s
Sep 8
Washington’s Most Revolutionary Moment Was Surrendering Absolute Power
Washington’s most extraordinary achievement was not winning the Revolutionary War or helping found a new nation. It was something far rarer: He gave up power, twice. First, when he resigned his command after victory. Then again, when he stepped down as president, establishing a p ... Show More
54m 12s
May 2023
White Squares Off Against the KKK
In its fight for a dry, anti-alcohol nation, the Anti-Saloon League recruited the Ku Klux Klan to join its mission to make Prohibition the law of the land. Klan members themselves weren’t specifically pro-Temperance, but they were happy to use dry laws as a way to target and perp ... Show More
31m 2s
Nov 2019
The Black Congressmen of Reconstruction: Death of Representation
During the 1870s, more than a dozen African American men, many of whom had been born into slavery, were elected to the U.S. Congress. These political pioneers symbolized the sky high hopes of millions of former slaves during the years right after the Civil War. It was a period th ... Show More
44m 31s
Apr 2024
President Ulysses S. Grant: The Myth of the Butcher
<p>How does a heroic general of the Civil War become one of the lowest rated Presidents (at least until recently)?</p><br><p>To discuss Grant's commitment to reconstruction, civil rights, and the crushing of the Ku Klux Klan, Don is joined by Professor Anne Marshall. Anne is a hi ... Show More
50m 10s
May 2024
451. Custer's Last Stand: The Charge of the 7th Cavalry (Part 6)
The U.S. was cast into a spiralling panic following the economic depression of 1873, and waves of paramilitary violence swept through the south as the debates surrounding Reconstruction swirled on. Amidst this uncertainty, the government, under the leadership of Ulysses S. Grant ... Show More
1 h
May 2019
President Ulysses S Grant
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the impact of Grant's presidency on Americans in the years after the Civil War in which he, with Lincoln, had led the Union Army to victory. His predecessor, Andrew Johnson, was prepared to let the Southern States decide for themselves which rights ... Show More
55m 12s
<p><strong> </strong></p><br><p>It has been called America's most famous hate group and has been terrorising the country for 150 years.</p> <br>
<p>In this episode, we look at the history of the Ku Klux Klan, examining its three distinct phases and murderous ideology.</p> <br>
< ... Show More
