About this episode

The episode discusses the political questions of the Early Republic and the historical challenges faced by America, featuring guest Wilfred McClay.

On this episode of The Hillsdale College Online Courses Podcast, Jeremiah and Juan discuss the questions that dominated the politics of the Early Republic before introducing Wilfred McClay. Americans have overcome many challenges throughout our history, including the American Revolution, the Civil War, the Great Depression, two World Wars, and the Cold War. Studying the great stories from our past inspires us to preserve the blessings of liberty in our day. Now you can study these stories with Hillsdale College. Hillsdale’s free online course, “The Great American Story: A Land of Hope,” explores the history of America as a land of hope founded on high principles. In presenting the great triumphs and achievements of our nation’s past, as well as the shortcomings and failures, it offers a broad and unbiased study of the kind essential to the cultivation of intelligent patriotism. The brutal institution of slavery, which pre-dated the Founding of America, grew and became entrenched in the Southern states. Although it was antithetical to the principles of the Declaration of Independence, slavery survived the Constitutional Convention and became the great…

People in this episode

Hosts: Jeremiah, Juan

Guest: Wilfred McClay

Topics covered

• Early Republic politics
• American history
• liberty
• patriotism
• slavery
• national challenges

Keywords

• American history
• Early Republic
• liberty
• patriotism
• slavery
• Hillsdale College
• online course

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Hillsdale College

Books & works: The Great American Story: A Land of Hope

More episodes of The Hillsdale College Online Courses Podcast

• The Great American Story: The Culture of Democracy and Its Shadow · April 22, 2026 · 49 min
• The Great American Story: The New Nation · April 8, 2026 · 38 min
• The Great American Story: The Revolution of Self-Rule · April 1, 2026 · 41 min
• The Great American Story: Beginnings · March 25, 2026 · 34 min
• The Great American Story: Introduction · March 18, 2026 · 29 min
• Constitution 101: The Progressive Rejection of the Founding · March 4, 2026 · 43 min

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