Yes. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise. In our final battle episode, we dispel a few historical myths, muse on alternate history scenarios, and explore not just what the American victory prevented but created . (And also discuss the TREATY OF GHENT.) LEARN MORE: The Greatest Fury: The Battle of New Orleans and the Rebirth of America by William C. Davis The British at the Gates: The New Orleans Campaign in the War of 1812 by Robin Reilly The Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson and America...
Jul 07, 2025•34 min•Season 1Ep. 31
We say farewell to the folks we've gotten to know during the Battle of New Orleans. The pirates Lafitte meet their end. We assess Andrew Jackson. LEARN MORE: The Greatest Fury: The Battle of New Orleans and the Rebirth of America by William C. Davis The British at the Gates: The New Orleans Campaign in the War of 1812 by Robin Reilly The Pirates Laffite: The Treacherous World of the Corsairs of the Gulf by William C. Davis The Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson and America's First Military Vi...
Jun 04, 2025•23 min•Season 1Ep. 30
The victorious Andrew Jackson reimposes strict martial law on New Orleans. He arrests a senator and a federal judge—but soon faces justice himself. Meanwhile, diseases like typhoid and measles fell hundreds of victorious soldiers. LEARN MORE: "The Battle of New Orleans Reconsidered: Andrew Jackson and Martial Law" by Matthew Warshauer The Greatest Fury: The Battle of New Orleans and the Rebirth of America by William C. Davis The British at the Gates: The New Orleans Campaign in the War of 1812 b...
May 05, 2025•21 min•Season 1Ep. 29
After victory, New Orleans exhales... then throws its biggest party yet. We meet some fun characters as the British evacuate the field. Andrew Jackson is (symbolically) crowned Roman emperor. LEARN MORE: The Greatest Fury: The Battle of New Orleans and the Rebirth of America by William C. Davis The British at the Gates: The New Orleans Campaign in the War of 1812 by Robin Reilly The Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson and America's First Military Victory by Robert V. Remini The Accidental City...
Apr 12, 2025•23 min•Season 1Ep. 28
An invading British army is obliterated by an unlikely coalition: American frontiersmen, French speakers, free men of color, pirates and a hundred kinds more. New Orleans is saved. LEARN MORE: The Greatest Fury: The Battle of New Orleans and the Rebirth of America by William C. Davis The British at the Gates: The New Orleans Campaign in the War of 1812 by Robin Reilly The Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson and America's First Military Victory by Robert V. Remini The Accidental City: Improvisi...
Mar 05, 2025•1 hr 18 min•Season 1Ep. 27
The Americans build a wall to defend New Orleans. The British army pays for it. Donate to help the victims and families of the New Year's tragedy on Bourbon Street. https://www.gnof.org/new-orleans-new-years-day-tragedy-fund-2/ https://www.unitedwaysela.org/UnitedforNOLA LEARN MORE: The Greatest Fury: The Battle of New Orleans and the Rebirth of America by William C. Davis The British at the Gates: The New Orleans Campaign in the War of 1812 by Robin Reilly The Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jack...
Jan 18, 2025•28 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Gabriel Villeré escapes the British invaders. Jackson attacks them immediately. As a thick fog rolls in below New Orleans, both sides manage feats of strength. READ MORE: The Greatest Fury: The Battle of New Orleans and the Rebirth of America by William C. Davis The British at the Gates: The New Orleans Campaign in the War of 1812 by Robin Reilly The Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson and America's First Military Victory by Robert V. Remini The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawr...
Dec 28, 2024•23 min•Season 1Ep. 25
The British take the bad route to New Orleans. It is very cold. READ MORE: The Greatest Fury: The Battle of New Orleans and the Rebirth of America by William C. Davis The British at the Gates: The New Orleans Campaign in the War of 1812 by Robin Reilly The Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson and America's First Military Victory by Robert V. Remini The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell The Pirates Laffite: The Treacherous World of the Corsairs of the Gulf by William...
Dec 22, 2024•14 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Andrew Jackson races to prepare New Orleans before the British invasion. The Lafittes cut a deal. An urgent message arrives from downriver. READ MORE: The Greatest Fury: The Battle of New Orleans and the Rebirth of America by William C. Davis The British at the Gates: The New Orleans Campaign in the War of 1812 by Robin Reilly The Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson and America's First Military Victory by Robert V. Remini The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell The P...
Dec 08, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 23
We explore Andrew Jackson's path to New Orleans: His origins. The Creek War. Pensacola. And we see how he set up the American victory at New Orleans—before he even arrived. READ MORE: The Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson and America's First Military Victory by Robert V. Remini The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette "'Remember Fort Mims:' Reinterpreting the Origins of the Creek Wa...
Nov 22, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 22
The War of 1812 begins! Seven weeks after Louisiana wins statehood, America declares war on Britain. It goes poorly. Britain puts New Orleans in its sights, and the militias—particularly, black militias—are, for now, its best defense. READ MORE: The Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson and America's First Military Victory by Robert V. Remini The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette "'T...
Nov 12, 2024•22 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Pirate leader Jean Lafitte has a critical decision to make. So does the U.S. Navy. Nothing less is at stake than the future of Barataria Bay—and New Orleans. READ MORE: The Pirates Laffite: The Treacherous World of the Corsairs of the Gulf by William C. Davis "Jean Lafitte and the British Offer of 1814" by John Sugden "The Patterson and Ross Raid on Barataria, September 1814" by Robert C. Vogel The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette The Accidental Ci...
Oct 24, 2024•19 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Jean and Pierre Lafitte fight the law in the bays and bayous of Louisiana. The Lafittes usually win (or at least escape). But the Navy and New Orleans gear up for a big showdown with the pirates of Barataria Bay. READ MORE: The Pirates Laffite: The Treacherous World of the Corsairs of the Gulf by William C. Davis "The Patterson and Ross Raid on Barataria, September 1814" by Robert C. Vogel The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette The Accidental City: I...
Oct 14, 2024•25 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Piracy explodes in the Gulf. Pierre and Jean Lafitte establish a pirate empire in Barataria Bay. Despite Jefferson's embargo, New Orleans residents enjoy tons of cheap, illegal goods. READ MORE: The Pirates Laffite: The Treacherous World of the Corsairs of the Gulf by William C. Davis "The Patterson and Ross Raid on Barataria, September 1814" by Robert C. Vogel The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Law...
Oct 06, 2024•19 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Hundreds of enslaved Louisianans rise up against the sugar plantations. Led by Charles Deslondes, this army marches on New Orleans while the U.S. military is away. READ MORE: American Uprising: The Untold Story of America's Largest Slave Revolt by Daniel Rasmussen The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette City of a Million Dreams: A History of New Orleans at Year 300 by Jason Berry "'A H...
Sep 19, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Adelaide, a Domingan refugee of color, arrives in New Orleans. She is free. And she has the proof. But people continually try to re-enslave her anyway. READ MORE: "Paper Thin: Freedom and Re-enslavement in the Diaspora of the Haitian Revolution" by Rebecca J. Scott "'She... Refuses to Deliver Up Herself as the Slave of Your Petitioner': Emigres, Enslavement and the 1808 Digest of the Civil Laws" by Rebecca J. Scott SOUNDS: French Quarter Bourbon walk.wav by volivieri -- https://freesound.org/s/1...
Sep 03, 2024•16 min•Season 1Ep. 16
10,000 refugees from San-Domingue/Haiti suddenly land in New Orleans. Thousands get homes and jobs. Thousands are re-enslaved at the docks. READ MORE: The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette City of a Million Dreams: A History of New Orleans at Year 300 by Jason Berry "The 1809 Immigration of Saint-Domingue Refugees to New Orleans: Reception, Integration and Impact" by Paul F. Lachance...
Aug 26, 2024•24 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Aaron Burr plots a conspiracy. To stop it, General Wilkinson places New Orleans under military dictatorship. French speakers prove their loyalty to the United States. READ MORE: The Burr Conspiracy: Uncovering the Story of an Early American Crisis by by James E. Lewis Jr. The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette City of a Million Dreams: A History of New Orleans at Year 300 by Jason Ber...
Aug 16, 2024•22 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Americans believe New Orleans is ignorant, hedonistic and overly Catholic. Governor Claiborne is given near-dictatorial powers to rule. New Orleans residents get a bit too passionate about their ballroom dancing. READ MORE: "'Too ignorant to elect suitable men': Characterizations of Louisianans in Congress: 1803–1805" by Julien Vernet A Wilderness So Immense: The Louisiana Purchase and the Destiny of America by Jon Kukla The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell The Worl...
Aug 02, 2024•22 min•Season 1Ep. 13
The French tricolor rises over New Orleans. Three weeks later, the American flag takes its place. The last French governor has a weird, impactful year in New Orleans. READ MORE: "The Passion of the Prefect: Pierre Clément De Laussat, 1803 New Orleans, and the Bonapartist Louisiana That Never Was" by Eberhard L. Faber A Wilderness So Immense: The Louisiana Purchase and the Destiny of America by Jon Kukla The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell The World That Made New Or...
Jul 23, 2024•22 min•Season 1Ep. 12
France secretly reacquires Louisiana, but only for a couple years. After military catastrophe in Haiti, Napoleon sells Louisiana to the United States. New Orleans's fate is changed forever. READ MORE: A Wilderness So Immense: The Louisiana Purchase and the Destiny of America by Jon Kukla The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette SOUNDS: French Quarter Bourbon walk.wav by volivieri -- htt...
Jul 11, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 11
American settlers demand access to the Mississippi and New Orleans. Pinckney's Treaty chips away at Spanish control. "Kaintucks" and other Americans float downriver to New Orleans. READ MORE: A Wilderness So Immense: The Louisiana Purchase and the Destiny of America by Jon Kukla The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette https://64parishes.org/entry/spanish-colonial-louisiana https://64pa...
Jul 02, 2024•24 min•Season 1Ep. 10
In 1791 and 1795, enslaved people plot to overthrow Louisiana's plantation system. READ MORE: The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette Africans in Colonial Louisiana: The Development of Afro-Creole Culture in the Eighteenth-Century by Gwendolyn Midlo Hall "The Pointe Coupee Conspiracy of 1791" by Ulysses S. Ricard, Jr. "The 1795 Slave Conspiracy in Pointe Coupee: Impact of the French Re...
Jun 22, 2024•33 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Revolutionary ideas make it to New Orleans. The new governor deports potential agitators. A conspiracy develops in Kentucky. READ MORE: The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette "Conflicting Loyalties: The French Revolution and Free People of Color" by Kimberly Hanger "The 1795 Slave Conspiracy in Pointe Coupee: Impact of the French Revolution" by Gwendolyn Midlo Hall SOUNDS: French Quar...
Jun 14, 2024•16 min•Season 1Ep. 8
The Louisiana economy collapses. Étienne de Boré figures how to make granulated sugar in Louisiana (just as the Haitian Revolution collapses San-Domingue sugar production). New Orleans area plantation owners profit. READ MORE: The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette https://64parishes.org/entry/spanish-colonial-louisiana https://neworleanshistorical.org/items/show/1655 SOUNDS: French Q...
Jun 04, 2024•17 min•Season 1Ep. 7
With the Spanish governor away on business, New Orleans area plantation owners induce a manhunt for the most famous maroon leader in Louisiana: Juan San Malo (also known as Jean Saint Malo). READ MORE: The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette Spaniards, Planters, and Slaves: The Spanish Regulation of Slavery in Louisiana, 1763–1803 by Gilbert C. Din Africans In Colonial Louisiana: The D...
May 25, 2024•25 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Spain angers New Orleans plantation owners by rewriting the slavery codes. Maroon settlements offer an alternative way of life for enslaved people who run away. This upsets the slavocracy. READ MORE: The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette Spaniards, Planters, and Slaves: The Spanish Regulation of Slavery in Louisiana, 1763–1803 by Gilbert C. Din https://64parishes.org/entry/slavery-in...
May 17, 2024•14 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Spain builds up New Orleans but can't contain smuggling. White and black militias fight against the British in the American Revolution. Three hurricanes hit New Orleans in three years. The Great New Orleans Fires of 1788 and 1794 destroy almost all that's left. READ MORE: The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette "Early American Hurricanes, 1492-1870" by David M. Ludlum https://64parishe...
May 09, 2024•16 min•Season 1Ep. 4
France gives New Orleans to Spain as an apology for dragging it into the Seven Years' War. New Orleans expels the first Spanish governor, Antonio de Ulloa. Spain sends the Irish-born Alejandro O'Reilly to lay down the law. (Sometimes known as the Revolt of 1768, the Creole Revolt or the Insurrection of 1768.) READ MORE: The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette https://64parishes.org/ent...
May 02, 2024•17 min•Season 1Ep. 3
New Orleans rebuilds after another hurricane, flirts with the Enlightenment, wars against Native Americans, embraces smuggling, and establishes a form of slavery unlike what you'd expect. READ MORE: The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette SOUNDS: French Quarter Bourbon walk.wav by volivieri -- https://freesound.org/s/110012/ -- License: Attribution 4.0...
Apr 25, 2024•23 min•Season 1Ep. 2
