In 1831, it looked like enslavement in America would continue forever. 34 years later, it was permanently abolished under the 13th Amendment.

How did that happen? And who made it so?

We've been asking some of our favourite historians for their most important moment in these 250 years of the United States' History.

In this episode, Kellie Carter Jackson returns to talk Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and all the other amazing people and groups who refused to accept enslavement.

Kellie Carter Jackson is the Michael and Denise Kellen ’68 Associate Professor in the Department of Africana Studies at Wellesley College. She is author of several books, including ‘Force and Freedom: Black Abolitionists and the Politics of Violence' and 'We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance'.

Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Produced by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Freddy Chick.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lewis and Clark's expedition is a foundational story of America and Sacagawea was more central to it than is remembered. We hear this incredible tale through Sacagawea's eyes with our guest Dr Margaret Huettl, from the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh.

Edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Hannah Feodorov and Tomos Delargy. Senior Producer is Freddy Chick.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Was the Civil War a 'Second American Revolution', or was it a continued evolution of the nation set out by the Founding Fathers? How did Lincoln see it?

We've asked some of our favourite historians for their most important moment in these 250 years of the United States' History.

In this episode, Aaron Sheehan-Dean returns to discuss how winning the Civil War fits into the growth of American identity.

Aaron is the Fred C. Freyer Professor of Southern Studies at Louisiana State University. He is author of several books, including ‘Reckoning With Rebellion: War and Sovereignty in the Nineteenth Century’.

Edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Freddy Chick.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.