Wanted For Treason: Plots and Rebellions in Early America

From the very founding of the United States to the Whisky Rebellion to John Brown’s raid at Harper’s Ferry, Americans have always had a voracious drive to fight for what they believe – even if that means treason. In the words of Benjamin Franklin, "We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." What galvanizes people to fight for their cause even if it means the hangman’s noose? Here we explore some of America’s earliest rebellions from Fries Rebellion over taxes to Aaron Burr’s insatiable quest for power to the treasonous plot to kidnap Abraham Lincoln.

 Episode Edits:

Colonel Robert E. Lee was commissioned by President James Buchanan to lead the forces against John Brown at Harper’s Ferry.

 Episode Resources:

Shays' Rebellion: The American Revolution’s Final Battle by Leonard L. Richards

The Whisky Rebellion by Thomas P. Slaughter

The Impending Crisis – America Before the Civil War 1848-1861 by David Potter

Burr: A Novel by Gore Vidal

 My Theodosia: A Novel by Anya Seton

To Purge This Land with Blood: A Biography of John Brown by Stephen Oates 

John Brown by Frederick Douglas

Ralph Waldo Emerson Praises John Brown

Frederick Douglas: Autobiographies by Frederick Douglas

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever by Bill O'Reilly

The Conspirator – 2011 film about the assassination trial of Abraham Lincoln.

The Good Lord Bird – 2020 series starring Ethan Hawke as John Brown