IDs
For those who didn't suffer the thrills of an AP US class, an ID is the who, what, where, when, and SO WHAT?! of the significant figures, decisions, and events comprising United States history – and they're the basis of each episode of Manifest Destiny (plus, astrological insight from Blair).
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Below you'll find brief descriptions of all the IDs we've covered so far. Click each title to listen!
Bleeding Kansas was a series of violent, pre-Civil War confrontations concerning the legality of slavery in Kansas. Some in favor of slavery went so far as to intimidate abolitionists attempting to enter Kansas, earning the nickname Border Ruffians. Those against slavery called themselves the Free Soilers.

Inez Burns, aka the Abortion Queen of San Francisco, was a controversial but essential figure in California during the 1920s-40s. Her luxury office catered to her wealthy, well-connected clientele, but also serviced poorer women at a subsidized rate. Fond of fine things and not paying taxes, Inez was ultimately jailed and bankrupt by back taxes.

Roger Williams was a Puritan minister – but also a scholar (shout out to John Milton) and a big fan of religious freedom, separation of church and state, and treating the Native Americans like human beings. After being banished from the colonies for these radical beliefs, Williams founded Rhode Island with the help of the Narrangsett Indians, including sachem Canonicus.

The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of June 18, 1934 – aka the Wheeler–Howard Act or the Indian New Deal – was legislation petitioned by John Collier, FDR's Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Indian New Deal intended to reverse harmful assimilation of Native Americans into American society and to preserve the Native American cultures in the United States.

Operation Paperclip was a secret U.S. intelligence program that smuggled over 1,600 German scientists and engineers from Nazi Germany into America after the end of WWII – then gave them government jobs working on U.S. missile and space technology projects! A couple of them even had lunar craters named after them! Literal Nazis!

Built on stolen land to improve South Dakota tourism, Mountain Rushmore isn't the presidential edifice you think it is. From broken promises to the Lakota Sioux to an unhinged (see also: white supremacist) architect, Mount Rushmore is a mountain filled with drama – and a hidden Hall of Records Nic Cage is dying to get his hands on.

Sacagawea was a Lemhi Shoshone woman who helped the Lewis and Clark Expedition at the tender age of 16, and with a baby strapped to her back. Though estranged from her people and held against her will, Sacagawea not only persevered, she was instrumental in the mission to explore the Louisiana Territory.

A watershed moment in the Texas Revolution, a thirteen-day siege by Mexican troops ends in the Alamo being reclaimed and most of the Texians killed. The bravery of Texians lost at the Alamo inspires the Texian army to win the war and establish the Republic of Texas. Texas has never emotionally recovered from this.

Cannabis was taxed (and ultimately criminalized) because Henry DuPont was threatened by hemp's potential to make better newspaper than paper milled from the timber he owned. 4/20 was established by a group of stoners who got out of school at 4:20 and met by a statue of Louis Pasteur to toke; they called themselves The Waldos after...a nearby wall.
They are not the same.
