American History Hit
By History Hit
Join Don Wildman twice a week for your hit of American history, as he explores the past to help us understand the United States of today.
We’ll hear how codebreakers uncovered secret Japanese plans for the Battle of Midway, visit Chief Powhatan as he prepares for war with the British, see Walt Disney accuse his former colleagues of being communists, and uncover the dark history that lies beneath Central Park.
From pre-colonial America to independence, slavery to civil rights, the gold rush to the space race, join Don as he speaks to leading experts to delve into America’s past.
New episodes every Monday and Thursday.
Brought to you by History Hit, the award-winning podcast network and world’s best history channel on demand, featuring shows like Dan Snow’s History Hit, Not Just The Tudors and Betwixt the Sheets.
Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code AMERICANHISTORY - sign up at historyhit.com/subscribe.
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Latest episode
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President Andrew Johnson: Reconstruction & The First Impeachment
Three quarters of a million people dead in the Civil War. A country separated in to two. How do you join it back together? Do you punish the secessionists? How do you grapple with the question of enslavement? And who do you choose to be at t… -
The Salem Witch Trials
More than 200 accused, 20 executed and a village plagued with hysteria. Were the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and 1693 the work of superstition, a power struggle, fungus or actual witchcraft? What makes them stand out in the history of witch t… -
Did the Cold War Ever End?
Would the Cold War have happened if the nuclear bomb was never created? How did Gorbachev, Reagan and Thatcher reduce tensions between the East and West? And, according to one of the Russian authorities' most wanted journalists, how are echo… -
Irish in America: Poverty to Power
At least 23 of the Presidents of the United States can have their ancestry traced back to Ireland.So why did this diaspora come to America? What was their reception like? And how have they reached the top of the … -
Lincoln: Love, Loss & Legacy
President and Commander-in-Chief at a major turning point in American History? Victim of a violent and public assassination? How do you remember Abraham Lincoln? Most likely it isn't for his role as a son, husband, friend and father. -
The Rise & Fall of the Ku Klux Klan
A far-right hate group known the world over, the Ku Klux Klan emerged in the aftermath of the Civil War. So why did it emerge? Where did it get its name from? And how has its size, focus and influence changed in the years since?<… -
Lincoln & the Civil War
Inaugurated into the thick of secession and assassinated just weeks after Confederate surrender, there is no separating the story of Abraham Lincoln from the Civil War.So in this second part of our series on Linc… -
The Last Ship of the Atlantic Slave Trade
In July 1860, half a century after the importation of captive slaves was banned under federal law, a ship docked in Alabama carrying around 110 enslaved people.To find out who was still engaging in the Atlantic s… -
Lincoln the President
When it comes to US Presidents, it’s not easy to agree on much these days. But one thing that has remained consistent is the man widely considered to be the best president in history: Abraham Lincoln.In this firs… -
American History Tellers
The Cold War, Prohibition, the Gold Rush, the Space Race. Every part of your life - the words you speak, the ideas you share - can be traced to our history, but how well do you really know the stories that made America? We'll take y…