This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans. It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years. And now it takes form in a new way.
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You ever wonder how far an EV can take you on one charge?
Well, most people drive about 40 miles a day, which means you can do all daily stuff no problem. Go to work, grab the kids at school, get the groceries, and still have enough charge to visit your in-laws in the next county. But they don't need to know that. And the best part, you won't have to buy gas at all. The way forward is electric.
Explore EVs that fit your life at electricforall.org. This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star. and the American people. Up next, another installment of our series about us. The Story of America series with Professor Bill McClay.
author of the terrific book Land of Hope. He's also a professor at Hillsdale College. And by the way, you can go to our website and find all of the stories of the story of us. We cover and will cover the entire history of the United States. With the best in the business right now.
Again, that's Professor Bill McClay. You can go to ouramericanstories.com. To find the Story of Us series. America was changing by the time Thomas Jefferson left office in 1812. It was becoming a more modern nation, but many of the problems that had plagued Jefferson were refused to go away.
Let's get into the story. Take it away, Bill. Jefferson's two terms as president ended in eighteen oh nine. But America's problems with the British did not end. as James Madison took office.
He found himself no match for the forces gathering on all sides. To overwhelm him. He couldn't marshal a policy resolution with forces outside the country. But it was also struggling with growing divisions inside the country.
So it may have been an era of good feelings, as historians sometimes say, but it was mixed feelings at best. Frontier settlers were ambitious and restless. They wanted to expand. They wanted to move westward into new territory. And when they did so, when that push came.
increasing resistance and resentment. came from the Indian tribes. occupying those areas. And this prompted Tecumseh, the great Shawnee leader, to attempt a unification Of his own, a unification of all the tribes east of the Mississippi into one large Indian. confederation of power, one unified army of tribes.
Much of the Indian hostility was blamed by Americans on the British. At the very same time, a gaggle of Republican congressmen who were known as the War Hawks. were hell-bent on invading Canada. Poor James Madison. He was in the middle of all this irreconcilable and fervent.
Mess. By 1812, war was declared, despite the fact the British had decided. Unbeknownst to the Americans, to end its efforts to thwart American shipping and commerce. Luckily for America, the British were still preoccupied with the French. and with Napoleon and his ambitions in Europe.
or the War of 1812, as it became known, would have had a much different and much worse outcome. for America. And things changed after Napoleon was finally defeated in 1814. The British compiled a series of wins against the new nation, one of which included the sacking and burning of Washington, D.C., a humiliating catastrophic loss. It must be noted also that Ed Madison face real pressure from the Federalists.
In the northern states, who had a different name for the War of eighteen twelve. They called it mister Madison's War. and they were so disgruntled these opponents of the war, that they contemplated A gathering of the New England states to secede from the Union. Nearly 50 years before the southern states did just that. The nation continued to be frail.
divided with a future in peril. There was only one unforeseen glimmer of light. That was the American victory in New Orleans. The British plan was simple: take New Orleans and cut the West off from the rest of America. General Andrew Jackson assembled a ragtag army.
Filled with a combination of militiamen, free blacks, French Creoles, and others, the British viewed it as a. obviously inferior to theirs. That would prove to be an error on their part. Jackson's army and Jackson himself were more than equal to the task. They won a resounding victory through superior firepower, both the legendary hunters of Kentucky.
Who would become the central people in a campaign song of Jackson's that when he ran for president?
So it was a great victory. The ironic thing is that this important victory Had no direct military and political consequence. The war was over. The treaty again. had been signed across the ocean.
Peace had been restored. It's just that the people in New Orleans didn't know about it. Transatlantic communication being what it was, there was no transatlantic telegraph or Cable been laid, nothing like that existed.
So there was a lengthy delay. Of information going back and forth. Really the victory in New Orleans made no difference. in the terms of by which the war of eighteen twelve was set. But it made a huge difference in the outlook of the American people.
They saw it as a great victory. They saw Jackson. As arguably the first great national military hero, the first perhaps since Washington himself. And you've been listening to Professor Bill McClay tell the story. Of James Madison's presidency, and he's caught.
As you're finding out here, almost every president stepped into a mess with competing interests, conflicting interests that seemed irreconcilable. Does that sound familiar? And what we learn in the end is that war breaks out once again with the British. And it's Andrew Jackson, the first national military hero to arise in our ranks. Since George Washington comes to the rescue, a huge victory for America, but it didn't make that big a difference in Madison's presidency.
When we come back, More of the remarkable story of the story of America here. On our American story. This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories. And all of our history stories are brought to us by our generous sponsors, including Hillsdale College, where students go to learn all the things that are beautiful in life. and all the things that matter in life.
If you can't get to Hillsdale, Hillsdale will come to you with their free and terrific online courses. Go to hillsdale.edu. That's hillsdale.edu. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans. It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years.
And now it takes form in a new way. The 2026 Semi-Quincentennial Coin and Metal Program from the United States Mint. It celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage. Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues. Shop new official coins at usmint.gov forward slash semi-q.
That's usmint.gov/slash S-E-M-I-Q. Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi-asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto, and now generated assets, which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high-free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work.
It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one-of-a-kind index, and lets you backtest it against the SP 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com/slash podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com/slash podcast.
Paid for by Public Investing. Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. member FINRA and SIPC. Advisory Services by Public Advisors LLC, SEC Registered Advisor. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool.
Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com/slash disclosures. You ever wonder how far an EV can take you on one charge?
Well, most people drive about 40 miles a day, which means you can do all daily stuff no problem. Go to work, grab the kids at school, get the groceries, and still have enough charge to visit your in-laws in the next county. But they don't need to know that. And the best part, you won't have to buy gas at all. The way forward is Electric.
Explore EVs that fit your life at electricforall.org. Now, I'd like to introduce you to Meaningful Beauty, the famed skincare brand created by iconic supermodel Cindy Crawford. It's her secret to absolutely gorgeous skin. Meaningful Beauty makes powerful and effective skincare simple, and it's loved by millions of women. It's formulated for all ages and all skin tones and types, and it's designed to work as a complete skincare system, leaving your skin feeling soft, smooth, and nourished.
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Buy both of them at Amazon or wherever you get your books. When we last left off, the War of 1812 had rocked America. And although our nation's capital would be burned to the ground, We still had a rapidly changing nation. Let's return to the story here again. is Bill McClay.
With the War of 1812 behind America, the new nation was for the first time free of any entanglements with the European nations, and it could finally focus on its own ambitions, its own issues, its own internal troubles. Yeah. being distracted by foreign foes or meddlers. or disturbances.
So the moment had come that had been awaited since America's birth, and the nation was now. nearly fifty years old. But it was finally able to control its own destiny. This would reach fruition of sorts in a U.S. policy, a doctrine that would come to be known as the Monroe Doctrine, associated with the presidency of James Monroe.
It was a simple dock. It went like this. Going forward into the future, the America would consider any effort by Europe to colonize any part of the Western Hemisphere. An attack on the United States, an affront to the United States, off limits.
Now along with that came a complimentary promise to Europe. In short, we wouldn't keep our nose out of Europe's business. and Europe would keep its nose out of ours. There's an underlying message in the Monroe Doctrine that was consequential as it was profound. The new nation was declaring to the world, and particularly to Europe, That we were very It was a bit bold.
After all, America had no legal standing to assert these claims. And no real Military power to back them up. We didn't have a navy to speak of. Thus the principles embodied in the Munro Doctrine We're shaky. But they prevailed.
They prevailed, and the longer they prevailed, the stronger they became. They eventually became the bedrock. Of our nation's foreign policy well into the 20th century, which is a remarkable thing in and of itself.
Now, the most important and urgent underlying claim of the One Road Doctrine was this idea that the nation could now pursue its own destiny, its own identity. Unfettered, undisturbed by outside influences. This was a great. encouragement to national self-consciousness. it gave a great deepening.
To the growing sense of national pride, of nationalism, national identity. And an American identity. An economy. It had become clear that it was going to be a national economy. And given that, given that the national economy of a geographically rather large nation.
What would be the best way to foster growth? Representative Henry Clay had some great ideas about it, and though a member of the Jefferson's Republican Party at that time, His ideas had much more in common with Jefferson's rival. Alexander Hamilton. among them tariffs to protect American industry. and what we would today call a big infrastructure project.
It would include the building of roads. canals, railroads. All over the eye. to improving commerce Among and between the states and the world. There was support for these federal improvement projects in the West.
which stood to benefit from them. but the older Eastern states were less pleased. Madison himself vetoed a bill the establishment of a large transportation fund. citing its unconstitutionality. Only one road, the Old National Road.
resulted from the efforts to improve American infrastructure at this time. That's the road now known today as old U. S. Route 40. This left the states and the voters in those states, along with private business, to get done the work of business and commerce.
And those infrastructure projects, too. And there was an explosion of waterway construction projects. One such project worth discussing in detail. The construction of the three hundred sixty-three mile long Erie Canal. A work of engineering genius.
Until then, the longest canal ever built was 27 miles long. Just to give some context to the scope, of the project and the ambition. Behind it was a politician with real vision. Governor DeWitt Clinton of New York. He convinced the New York state legislature to commit $7 million, and that was a lot of money in those days, a lot of money.
to construct what many at the time thought was a very expensive ditch. And the eight-year project was popularly known at the time As Clinton's folly. But Clinton had a vision. He predicted that the building of the canal would turn New York City into, and I quote, The granary of the world, the emporium of commerce, the seat of manufactures, and the focus of great money operations. The whole of Manhattan, covered with habitations and replenished with dense population, will constitute one's best city.
Close quote.
Well, that's pretty prophetic. The Erie Canal started construction in 1817, and by 1825, it connected the American interior. with its coasts. which would lead to remarkable growths all over America. And the destination for most of the canal's traffic, New York City.
would soon become America's greatest center of commerce. just as Governor DeWitt Clinton. had predicted. But it was not just canals being built. The first railways were being built in the 1820s.
and they would compete with the canals as shipping lanes had platforms all their own. And they would turn western towns like Chicago. into commerce powerhouses. Along with canals and rail lines for other significant developments. There was Samuel Slater.
whose factory innovations and systems changed textile manufacturing. Eli Whitney's cotton gin, which made short staple cotton. into a commercially viable product. and would make cotton king. in the south.
John Fitch and Robert Fulton's in innovation since steam technology. And other inventions like that would usher in an era of economic growth. Unrivaled. in American history. There were also big innovations in law and finance, the biggest of them being state laws that created corporations.
Corporations, legal entities. that allowed for the pooling. by multiple individuals. of the vast sums of capital. required to build factories.
and commercial enterprises of a growing nation. All of this was transforming American lives. Changes at law. technology, transportation and commerce. Jefferson's ideal of a nation of small independent farmers, And the independence and self-reliance.
That such a way of life would engender. Ugh. This was changing. America was becoming a nation. of growing economic interconnectedness.
The combination of these things made the nation Unique And exceptional, and would help to create. a national Spirit. Natural ethos. But there were still important unresolved problems. One of them, a huge.
and resolve the issue. And you know what it is, slavery. And a terrific job on the production, editing, and storytelling by our own Monty Montgomery. And a special thanks to Professor Bill McLeay, who teaches at Hillsdale College. What a story Bill McClay was telling about the development of the American identity, American commerce.
but still that one lingering sin. Sitting there. waiting to be addressed, and that's slavery. The story of us with Bill McClay here on Our American Stories. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans.
It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years. And now it takes form in a new way. The 2026 Semi-Quincentennial Coin and Metal Program from the United States Mint. It celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage. Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues.
Shop new official coins at usmint.gov forward slash semi-q. That's usmint.gov/slash S-E-M-I-Q. At thief. It matters that we're not just in your community, but that we're part of it. It matters that we're here for you when you need us, day or night.
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Well, most people drive about 40 miles a day, which means you can do all daily stuff no problem. Go to work, grab the kids at school, get the groceries, and still have enough charge to visit your in-laws in the next county. But they don't need to know that. And the best part, you won't have to buy gas at all. The way forward is Electric.
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