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.

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 well as determining some of the ways in which the legislature would work with the new President.

Also in this episode, John explains the ideas and role of Alexander Hamilton in the Washington administration. John goes through the basics of the Hamiltonian economic program and why it was that, as Secretary of the Treasury Department, Hamilton chose to pursue the policies that he did. Finally, John explains the constitutional implications of Hamilton's policies and how those policies, like creating the Bank of the United States, portended the creation of the first political parties in U.S. History.