New York, Quebec, and The Water Route to the Center of the World
If you’re a history enthusiast seeking a podcast that masterfully intertwines compelling storytelling with meticulous scholarship, look no further than New York, Quebec, and The Water Route to the Center of the World. This narrative history series, hosted by William Matthews, delves into the pivotal conflicts over the waterways connecting New York and Quebec from 1754 to 1815, encompassing the French & Indian War, the American Revolution, and the War of 1812.
Fri, April 18, 2025
Two Lights for Paul Revere
Enjoy my special Bonus Episode to mark the 250th Anniversary of Paul Revere's epic ride and learn about some fleeting connections to the New York area. I finish with a rendition of the famous Longfellow poem!
Fri, April 11, 2025
Episode Five "La guerre de la Conquête: The Fall of Nouvelle France"
In the final episode of Season One, relive the climatic struggle and the fall of Nouvelle France in reverse, where Sainte-Foy is a great example of the saying "History doesn't repeat, but it certainly rhymes." Recommend Readings: Stephen Brumwell "Paths of Glory" Christian Crouch "Nobility Lost” Peter Macleod “Backs to The Wall” Francis Parkman "Montcalm and Wolfe"
Mon, April 07, 2025
Russell Shorto’s Island Merger: A Book Review of “Taking Manhattan.”
On behalf of the Friends of Philipse Manor Hall, please enjoy this book review of "Taking Manhattan," while being sure to check out our great membership options listed in the link below. https://friendsofphilipsemanorhall.org/membership-levels/
Mon, April 07, 2025
Episode 2: "A Model Capitulation,” The Massarce at Fort William Henry, 1757.
The French attempt to seize Fort William Henry and drive toward Albany in 1757. Relive the major moments of classic film "Last of the Mohicans." Book Recommendations: “The French and Indian War” by Walter R. Borneman & “Empires at War” by William M. Fowler.
S1 E1 · Wed, April 02, 2025
Episode 1: Lanes, Streets, and Alleyways: The Battle of Lake George 1755
British and French forces clash on the major water junction between New York and Quebec on Lac du Saint Sacrement (Lake George) in 1755. Book recommendations: “The Battle of Lake George” by William Griffith IV." Become a Member of The Friends of Philipse Manor Hall Today: https://friendsofphilipsemanorhall.org/membership-levels/
Bonus · Tue, February 25, 2025
Russell Shorto's Island: How a single book "Recentered" the Dutch foundations of American
Join the Friends of Philipse Manor Hall on March 8th, 2025, to celebrate the unveiling of the next great chapter of Pulitzer Prize winning Author Russell Shorto's narrative on the transition from Dutch to English rule. I’ve included the ticketing link below and be sure to sign up as a member to get your discount today! https://friendsofphilipsemanorhall.org/event/taking-manhattan-book-talk-and-signing-with-russell-shorto/
Bonus · Mon, January 06, 2025
Bonus Episode 20: The Pirate Patroons of the Hudson Valley
Discover the incredible links between the Hudson Valley and Madagascar, as the new English overlords team up with the established Dutch Merchant class, in order to subvert the Navigation Acts.
Mon, January 06, 2025
Bonus Episode 3 Colonial New York: Land of the Patroon and the Longhouse, Part een”
Part 1: Geographical overview of NYS and background of Dutch Colonial Settlement until 1673. We'll cover the transistion from Patroonships to the Manorial system in the Hudson valley after the English takeover. Book Recommendations: “Island at the Center of the World” by Russell Shorto, “The Colony of New Netherland” by Jaap Jacobs, “New Netherland Connections” by Susanah Shaw Romney, “Food, Drink, and Celebrations of the Hudson Valley Dutch” by Peter Rose and “The Worlds of the seventeenth century Hudson Valley” by Jaap Jacobs & L. H. Roper.
Bonus · Fri, January 03, 2025
Bonus Episode 25 “Webs of Commerce: How Slavery bound the Atlantic Basin”
An examination of slavery’s ties between North America, Africa, Barbados, Jamaica, St. Domingue and Curaçao in the 17th and 18th centuries. Book recommendations: “Intimate Bonds” By Jennifer Palmer, “Empire at the Periphery” by Christian Koot, “Everyday life in the Early English Caribbean” by Jenny Shaw and “Creolization and Contraband: Curaçao in the early modern Atlantic World” by Linda Rupert
Bonus · Thu, May 23, 2024
Bonus Episode 31: “The 1625 Dutch Siege of San Juan.”
Learn more about the early military history of Puerto Rico and the Dutch war expeditions against the Spanish empire.
Thu, May 23, 2024
Depictions of Saratoga Battlefield and Fort Edward.
Enjoy a compilation from my recent tour of Saratoga Battlefield and Fort Edward!
Bonus · Fri, April 19, 2024
Bonus Episode 30: “The Midnight ride of Sybil Ludington.”
Discover the tale of New York’s own female teenage “Paul Revere.”
Bonus · Wed, April 03, 2024
Bonus Episode 29 “The Civil War in Revolutionary Westchester County.“
Discover the heartbreaking conflict that torn asunder families here in Westchester County during the American Revolution.
Bonus · Wed, April 03, 2024
Bonus Episode 28 “American Revolutionary Battles in the Caribbean”
Discover little known American naval and land actions in the Caribbean during the American Revolution.
Bonus · Wed, January 31, 2024
Bonus Episode 27 “Going Dutch: Expansionism in the Atlantic Littoral”
I wanted to explore some wider connections to our Podcast narrative and zoom out a bit to cover three distinct historical episodes over the course of the 17th century, that highlight Dutch struggles with the Spanish Habsburg, English and French for control of the Atlantic basin.
Bonus · Wed, January 31, 2024
Bonus Episode 26 “The Other Emerald Isle: Montserrat’s Rich Irish-Afro Culture”
Discover the unique story of the 1768 Slave revolt on Monserrat and the development of an incredible syncretic Afro-Irish culture.
Bonus · Tue, January 23, 2024
Bonus Episode 25 “Webs of Commerce: How Slavery bound the Atlantic Basin”
An examination of slavery’s ties between North America, Africa, Barbados, Jamaica, and St. Domingue in the 17th and 18th centuries. Book recommendations: “Intimate Bonds” By Jennifer Palmer, “Empire at the Periphery” by Christian Koot & “Everyday life in the Early English Caribbean” by Jenny Shaw.
Bonus · Mon, January 22, 2024
Bonus Episode 10 “Where two Rivers Meet: Folklore and History of the Hudson Valley”
Let’s weave a tale that will tie together the Battle of White Plains, Diedrich Knickerbocker, The Philispe’s Patroonship, and Algonquin Hudson River sacred legend. Book Recommendations: “Legends and lore of Sleepy Hollow and the Hudson Valley” by Johnathan Kruk.
Bonus · Thu, December 28, 2023
Bonus Episode 24: The Dutch Schout system of New Netherland
Discover the first system of public order and law enforcement here in New York.
Bonus · Thu, December 28, 2023
Bonus Episode 23: The historical development of Paul Bunyan
Discover the unique characteristics and real historical figures and events that helped form the famous syncretic tale of New York and Quebec.
Bonus · Thu, December 28, 2023
Bonus Episode 22: The Life of Saint Kateri
Join me on a journey to discover the unique syncretic religious developments on the frontier of New York and Quebec during the late 17th century. Book Recommendations “A Lily Among Thorns” by Darren Bonaparte.
Bonus · Thu, December 28, 2023
Bonus Episode 21: The Famous Coureurs des bois of Nouvelle-France
Discover the unique mode of warfare developed on the syncretic frontier of New York and Quebec from the point of view of Nouvelle-France.
Bonus · Thu, December 28, 2023
Bonus Episode 19: The 18th Century Rent Wars of New York and northern New Jersey.
Learn more about the Horseneck riots and the Prendergast and revolt.
Bonus · Mon, December 11, 2023
Bonus Episode 18: Martinique’s Morne Garnier
Follow the pivotal history of Martinique in the struggle between Britain and France. Discover with how the British conquests turned the power dynamics with North American English colonists upside down.
Bonus · Tue, November 28, 2023
Bonus episode 1: "Le Grand Derangement: The Acadian Expulsion and the fall of Louisbourg, 1755-1758"
Discover the history of French settlement of Acadia and British attempts to cleanse Acadia of it’s French inhabitants during the French and Indian War. We’ll also discuss the fall of the Fortress of Louisbourg in 1758 and examine the historiography of Le Grand Derangement. Book Recommendations: “A Great and Noble Scheme” by John Mack Faragher & “The Capture of Louisbourg” by Hugh Boscawen.
Bonus · Mon, November 27, 2023
Bonus Episode 6 "In the Shadow of Wobomagonda: Robert Rogers Ranger's and the "Snowshoe Campaigns"
Robert Rodgers Rangers were the first true “Special forces” developed institutionally in North America. Created to counter the French “Coureur de Bois”and their “Le Guerre Sauvage,” The Rangers fought in all the major campaigns on the borders of New York and Québec during the French and Indian War. Book Recommendations: “White Devil” by Stephen Brumwell & “War on the Run” by John F. Ross.
Bonus · Mon, November 27, 2023
Bonus Episode 3 Colonial New York: Land of the Patroon and the Longhouse, Part een”
Part 1: Geographical overview of NYS and background of Dutch Colonial Settlement until 1673. We'll cover the transistion from Patroonships to the Manorial system in the Hudson valley after the English takeover. Book Recommendations: “Island at the Center of the World” by Russell Shorto, “The Colony of New Netherland” by Jaap Jacobs & “New Netherland and The Dutch Origins of American Religious Liberties” by Evan Haefeli.
Bonus · Wed, November 22, 2023
Bonus Episode 15 Ticonderoga: A Place between the Waters of New York and Quebec, Part One
Discover the unique role that Ticonderoga plays in the historical development of New York and Quebec, from Samuel Champlain to General Burgoyne, Part One will cover 1609-1759. Book Recommendations: “Colonial Forts of the Champlain and Hudson Valleys” by Michael Laramie.
Bonus · Thu, October 26, 2023
Bonus Episode 17: Folklore and Legends of French Antilles
Discover the Podcast narrative’s wider cultural connections of the French Atlantic basin, through the exploration of some scary folkloric tales of Louisiana, Haiti, and St. Lucia! Book Recommendations: “The Things that Fly in the Night” by Giselle Lizza Anatol.
Bonus · Fri, September 29, 2023
Bonus Episode 16 “Rebellion on the wild North Coast: The Berbice Slave Revolt of 1763”
Join me in the second episode of my Caribbean Connections series, where we examine the greater connections to the Atlantic Basin. Discover the Dutch colony of Berbice and the story of one of the largest slave revolts to rock the Caribbean prior to the Haitian Revolution. Book Recommendations: “Blood on the River” by Marjoleine Kars.
Bonus · Mon, September 18, 2023
Bonus Episode 12: The Hudson Valley in Transition, from 1664-1766
We’ll follow the Dutch Merchant class transformation to landed gentry supportive of British rule and the societal impact of the Manorial system in Pre-Revolutionary New York. Book Recommendations: “The Women of the House” by Jean Zimmerman & “Bound by Bondage” by Nicole Maskiell.
Bonus · Tue, September 05, 2023
Bonus episode 14: Je me souviens, cultural continuity after the fall of New France.
My thoughts on the developing French-Canadien identity after British Conquest. Book Recommendations: “Nobility Lost” by Christian Ayne Crouch & “French Connections: Cultural Mobility in North America and The Atlantic World” by Robert Englebert & Andrew N. Wegmann.
Bonus · Tue, September 05, 2023
Bonus Episode 13: I left my leg in Sint Maarten, a tale of Peter Stuyvesant and the Dutch Caribbean
Enjoy a short tale of how New Netherland’s famous “peg-legged” last Governor-General lost his limb and how this episode gives us a peek into the Trans-Atlantic wide empire of the Dutch. Book recommendations: “The Dutch Moment” by Wim Klooster & “Heaven’s Wrath” by D. L. Noorlander.
Bonus · Mon, September 04, 2023
Bonus Episode 11: Despair, Stalemate, and Hope in Revolutionary War Hudson Valley
I wanted to introduce some local battles of the Revolutionary War fought here in the Hudson valley and integrate them into the larger flow of the general wartime narrative.
Bonus · Tue, August 22, 2023
Bonus Episode 2: "The Habitants of New France & The legacy of the War of Conquest"
Join me as we explore the society and culture of New France. Our journey will also examine the impact of the "War of Conquest" on the Habitants of New France. Book recommendations “The People of New France” by Alan Greer & “Champlain’s Dream” by David Hackett Fischer.
Bonus · Tue, August 08, 2023
A photographic review of the Dutch Hudson Valley.
Delve deep into the Dutch History of the Hudson Valley through it’s Patroonships, Manors, and Tenant Farms.
Bonus · Tue, June 13, 2023
Bonus Episode 3 Colonial New York: “Land of the Patroon and the Longhouse, Part Trois”
Come discover the rise of European power dynamics and the deftly balanced Iroquois response, as the League navigated the rapidly developing geopolitical situation found throughout New York. This episode will cover the years of 1666-1754, as both dates bookend important transitional moments in the history of the Haudenosaunee peoples. Book Recommendations: “The Ordeal of The People of the Longhouse” by Daniel K. Richter & “Textures of Contact” by David L. Preston.
Bonus · Sun, April 16, 2023
A view of the environs of La Rochelle
Take a glance at the ancestral departure point for most leaving for Nouvelle France. On tour in St. Martin, we encountered an historical group that maintained ties between La Rochelle and New Rochelle, which happens to be five minutes from me here on the Long Island Sound! Incredible syncretic connections are still being made to this day!
Bonus · Sat, April 15, 2023
Depictions of Fort Johnson and the Mohawk Valley
Enjoy some pictures from my recent visit to Sir William Johnson’s fortified syncretic salon on the frontier of New York and Quebec.
Bonus · Sat, April 15, 2023
Depictions from Fort William Henry
Get a feel for the layout and landscape of the award winning movie and central focus of my podcast!
Bonus · Thu, April 13, 2023
Henry Hudson at Croton Point
Experience a glimpse of the majestic Hudson River as the famous explorer would have viewed it!
Bonus · Thu, February 09, 2023
Bonus Episode 9 “The Faces and Spaces of Bondage: Chattel Slavery in New France and New Netherland
Discover the geographic spaces of slavery and encounter the true faces of perseverance, as I discuss enslavement in both New France and New Netherland. Book Recommendations: “Bonds of Alliance” by Brett Rushforth, “Spaces of Enslavement” by Andrea Mosterman, “The New York City Slave Revolt of 1712” by Ben Hughes and “New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery and Conspiracy in Eighteenth Century Manhattan” by Jill Lepore.
Bonus · Mon, January 23, 2023
Bonus Episode 8: Figures and Factors of the Syncretic Frontier
Join international best selling author and Historian Dr. Stephen Brumwell, as we discuss the blended nature of life on the frontiers of New York and Quebec. Using Dr. Brumwell's wonderful body of works, join us on a journey navigating both the French and Indian War and The American Revolution.
S1 E4 · Thu, November 10, 2022
Epsiode 4” Part III: The Fall of Fort Niagara and the closing of the West.”
The British finish off French forces in the west by seizing Fort Niagara and take control over the Great Lakes (1759) Book Recommendations: “Siege 1759” by Brian Leigh Dunnigan
S1 E4 · Sun, October 16, 2022
Episode 4 “Part 2: The Opening of a Backdoor and the Seizure of the West (1758-1759)”
The British capture of Fort Frontenac in 1758 and open the way to Montreal. We will also dive deep into the background of William Johnson and learn of his rise to prominence on the frontier. Book Recommendations: “Mohawk Baronet” by James Thomas Flexner & “Bateaux and Whaleboats” by Ian Macpherson McCullogh
Bonus · Tue, October 11, 2022
Bonus Episode 7: Demonic Possession in the French Atlantic World
While most Americans are familiar with the Salem Witch Trials, the possession of Barbe Hallay of New France is little known in the English speaking world. Join me as we examine a dark story of evil and redemption, thirty years before the events of Salem took place. Book Recommendations: “The Possession of Barbe Halley” by Mari Cowan
Bonus · Mon, January 10, 2022
Bonus Episode 5 “My personal Ghost Stories from Fort William Henry.”
Enjoy my three different and very strange experiences at Fort William Henry in Lake George.
Bonus · Sun, January 09, 2022
Bonus Episode 4: Le Loup-Garou du Quebec "Halloween Special"
Join me for a tale of Canadien Were-wolves, as we examine the Loup-garou attacks of Quebec in 1757.
S1 E3 · Sat, January 08, 2022
Bonus Episode 3 "Colonial New York: Land of the Patroon and the Longhouse, Part tekeni”
We will explore the origins of the Iroquois peoples, the founding of the League and their geopolitical development until 1666. Book Recommendations: “The Edge of The Woods” by Jon Parmenter & “Creation and Confederation” by Darren Bonaparte
Bonus · Wed, January 05, 2022
Bonus Episode 2: "The Habitants of New France & The legacy of the War of Conquest"
Join me as I explore the society and culture of New France including the impact of the "War of Conquest" on the Habitants of New France.
S1 E4 · Mon, January 03, 2022
Episode 4 "Knocking on the Backdoor: The Ontario Campaign (1755-1756), Wood Creek & Fort Oswego.”
The French press British supply lines in the Mohawk Valley and move to seize Fort Oswego. Book Recommendations: “Montcalm’s Crushing Blow” by Rene Chartrand
S1 E3 · Sun, January 02, 2022
Episode 3: "The Arm of God: Fort Carillon and The Red Cross, 1758."
The British mass the largest army ever assembled in North America to attack an ill-equipped French Garrison at Fort Carillon on July 8th, 1758. In a major blunder, the British forces suffer the worst single day loss of men in North America, until the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Book Recommendations: “Montcalm and Wolfe” by Francis Parkman
S1 E2 · Sun, January 02, 2022
Episode 2: "A Model Capitulation" and The Massarce at Fort William Henry, 1757.
The French attempt to seize Fort William Henry and drive toward Albany in 1757. Relive the major moments of classic film "Last of the Mohicans."
Trailer · Thu, December 31, 2020
New York, Quebec, and the water route to the center of the world
A narrative history podcast covering the history of the epic conflict for control over the important wateways between New York and Quebec from 1754-1815. The Podcast will cover three major conflicts including the French & Indian War, The American Revolution, and the War of 1812. The podcast focuses on the geographic triangle stretching from the St.Lawrence to Lake Onatario and down to New York Harbor.
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