130 Rethinking Jamestown and America’s Origin Story

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we take a close look at America’s early colonial origins. Most Americans tend to think of their nation as beginning in Massachusetts with the 1620 establishment of a colony at Plymouth by the Pilgrims. But this view overlooks Jamestown, Virginia which had been established 13 years earlier in 1607. Why? Because, apart from periodic wars with local Native Americans, Massachusetts thrived, while further south in Virginia the Jamestown colony suffered through several periods of starvation and near extinction. And then in 1619 – 400 years ago this year – Jamestown was the site of the arrival of the first shipload of enslaved Africans. Plymouth, MA came to be seen as the New World utopia in contrast to the Jamestown dystopia. But there’s a lot more to the Jamestown story that’s really important to know about when considering the origins of the United States and American democracy. To explain this overlooked chapter of US history, I speak with Joseph Kelly, the author of a new book,  Marooned: Jamestown, Shipwreck, and a New History of America’s Origin. Recommended reading:  Joseph Kelly, Marooned: Jamestown, Shipwreck, and a New History of America’s Origin (Bloomsbury, 2018) James Horn, 1619: Jamestown and the Forging of American Democracy  James Horn, A Land As God Made It: Jamestown and the Birth of America William M. Kelso, Jamestown, the Buried Truth Benjamin Woolley, Savage Kingdom: The True Story of Jamestown, 1607, and the Settlement of America More info about Joseph Kelly - his website  Follow In The Past Lane on Twitter  @InThePastLane Instagram  @InThePastLane Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast YouTube: InThePastLane   Music for This Episode Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com) Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive) Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive) Blue Dot Sessions, “Sage the Hunter” (Free Music Archive) Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive) The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive) Production Credits Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media Photographer: John Buckingham Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci Website by: ERI Design Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too Social Media management: The Pony Express Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight © In The Past Lane, 2019 Recommended History Podcasts Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod 99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries DIG history podcast @dig_history The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1 The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now Retropod with @mikerosenwald

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