RPTM Podcast Episode Seventy: Fires, Falls, and Fugitive Freedom

Episode #070: Fires, Falls, and Fugitive Freedom
10/28/2024
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Michigan’s history is a chaotic blend of scrappy disputes, gritty labor, and reluctant reinvention. It all began with the infamous “Toledo War,” a monumental fuss over a swampy border with Ohio. This war, which ended not with victory parades but with Michigan reluctantly accepting the Upper Peninsula, was a transformative event that shaped the state's future. This rugged region would later prove to be a jackpot of copper. The mid-1800s transformed this untamed wilderness into a booming mining hub as laborers braved harsh winters and unforgiving conditions to extract the precious metal. Michigan quietly became a critical link in the Underground Railroad. Here, ordinary citizens, abolitionists, and free African Americans risked everything to guide freedom seekers across the last stretch to Canada, proving that the state’s true riches were found not only underground but also in the resilience and courage of its people.

The fire of 1871 added another twist, leaving the Thumb region scorched and forcing the state to rebuild with a shift toward brick and steel. This catastrophic event not only reshaped the area's physical landscape but also influenced its architecture and urban planning. Then, in 1913, Henry Ford’s assembly line redefined Michigan’s identity, turning the state into the epicenter of American manufacturing. This brilliant yet dehumanizing innovation reshaped society, creating a new middle class while binding prosperity to the relentless rhythm of the factory floor. From disputed swampland and underground copper to the hum of assembly lines, Michigan’s story is one of perpetual transformation—stitching together moments of conflict, calamity, and ingenuity into a patchwork quilt of history, where resilience is always the thread that holds it together.

CHAPTERS:

• 0:00 Intro
• 2:18 Rules of History #1
• 4:58 Michigan Statehood
• 9:18 Copper Rush
• 15:00 Underground Railroad
• 18:36 Great Fire of 1871 
• 20:52 Henry Ford's Assembly Line 
• 24:35 Outro

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Hosts:
Ryan Lancaster
ARCHIE
HILDY

Producer: Ryan Lancaster
Executive Producer: Ryan Lancaster
Sound Engineer: Ryan Lancaster
Editor: Ryan Lancaster
Theme Music Composer: Craig Riley
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Recorded at: Ryan Lancaster Studios

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​Hey, welcome to the work cited section! Here's where you'll find all the heavy hitters that inspired the content you've just consumed. Some might think citations are as dull as unbuttered toast, but nothing gets my intellectual juices flowing like a good reference list. Don't get me wrong, just because we've cited a source; doesn't mean we're always going to see eye-to-eye. But that's the beauty of it - it's up to you to chew on the material and come to conclusions. Listen, we've gone to great lengths to ensure these citations are accurate, but let's face it, we're all human. So, give us a holler if you notice any mistakes or suggest more sources. We're always looking to up our game. Ultimately, it's all about pursuing knowledge and truth. ​
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• Berlin, Ira. Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1998.
• Bernstein, Carl, and Bob Woodward. All the President's Men. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1974.
• Billington, Ray Allen. Westward Expansion: A History of the American Frontier. 6th ed. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2001.
• Bordewich, Fergus M. Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America. New York: Amistad, 2005.
• Brinkley, Douglas. Wheels for the World: Henry Ford, His Company, and a Century of Progress. New York: Viking, 2003.
• Burton, Clarence Monroe. The City of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922. Detroit: S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1922.
• Cayton, Andrew R. L., and Peter Onuf. The Midwest and the Nation: Rethinking the History of an American Region. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990.
• Foner, Eric. The Story of American Freedom. New York: W.W. Norton, 1998.
• Hagedorn, Ann. Beyond the River: The Untold Story of the Heroes of the Underground Railroad. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004.
• Houghton, Douglass. Report on the Geological Survey of the State of Michigan. Lansing: Michigan Geological Survey, 1841.
• Hounshell, David A. From the American System to Mass Production, 1800-1932: The Development of Manufacturing Technology in the United States. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984.
• Krause, David J. The Making of a Mining District: Keweenaw Native Copper 1500-1870. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1992.
• Lankton, Larry D. Beyond the Boundaries: Life and Landscape at the Lake Superior Copper Mines, 1840-1875. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.
• Meyer, Stephen. The Five Dollar Day: Labor Management and Social Control in the Ford Motor Company, 1908-1921. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1981.
• Pyne, Stephen J. Fire in America: A Cultural History of Wildland and Rural Fire. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1982.
• Reilly, Tom. Cromwell: An Honourable Enemy - The Untold Story of the Cromwellian Invasion of Ireland. Dublin: Gill Books, 2012.
• Whitney, Gordon G. From Coastal Wilderness to Fruited Plain: A History of Environmental Change in Temperate North America from 1500 to the Present. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.

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