Exploring Historical Events Through Audio Discussions

Nov 12, 2024

Audio Cases - Case Method Project

Overview

This collection of audio cases from the Harvard Business School Case Method Project explores significant historical events through detailed chaptered audio discussions. Each case examines pivotal moments and debates that have shaped American history, governance, and society.

Case Summaries

1. James Madison, The 'Federal Negative,' and The Making of The U.S. Constitution (1787)

  • Intro
  • Toward a New Nation: Discussion on "Taxation without Representation."
  • Managing the War Effort
  • Forging a Confederation: "A Firm League of Friendship."
  • A Critical Period: Covers "Congress's Limited Power" and "Recession and Rebellion."
  • Madison's Diagnosis: Includes "History as a Guide" and "Vices of the Political System of the United States."
  • The Constitutional Convention of 1787: "The Structure of the New Government under the Virginia Plan."
  • National Supremacy?
  • The Federal Negative

2. Battle Over a Bank: Defining the Limits of Federal Power Under a New Constitution (1791)

  • Intro
  • Toward a New Constitution: Debate over federal power
  • The Fight over Ratification: Focus on Virginia
  • Madison and the Bill of Rights
  • Madison and Hamilton: "The Report on Public Credit."
  • Debating a National Bank: "Constitutional Objections" and "Hamilton's Defense of the Bank."

3. Democracy, Sovereignty, and Struggle over Cherokee Removal (1836)

  • Intro
  • The Meeting of Different Worlds: "Relations with the British."
  • Cherokee Policy of the Early United States: "Disagreement within the Cherokee Tribe."
  • Cherokee Culture and Government
  • General Jackson: "Jackson and the Cherokee."
  • Georgia Demands Cherokee Lands: "The Question of Sovereignty."
  • The Indian Removal Act
  • The Cherokee Go to Court: "Cherokee Nation v. Georgia" and "Worcester v. Georgia."
  • Contemplating Removal: "A Growing Divide."
  • The Treaty of New Echota: "The Senate Votes."

4. The Struggle Over Public Education in Early America (1851)

  • Intro
  • Schooling in Colonial America
  • The Massachusetts Experiment: Covers "Educational Reform" and Horace Mann's vision.
  • The Battle Over Education in New York State: Key topics include charity and common schools, and the free school debates.
  • Decision

5. A Nation Divided: The United States and the Challenge of Secession (1861)

  • Intro
  • The Struggle for Political Dominance: "The Missouri Crisis."
  • Southern Opposition to the Tariff
  • The Subterranean Fire of Slavery and Abolition
  • The Territory Debate Revisited: Political divisions and the Compromise of 1850.
  • Two Cultures and Two Economies: "Diverging Regional Economies."
  • Bleeding Kansas: "The Kansas-Nebraska Act" and "The Rise of the Republicans."
  • Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party: Focus on Southern Democrats and Northern Republicans.
  • The Secession Crisis: "South Carolina Secedes" and "The Birth of the Confederacy."
  • Lincoln Confronts Secession: "Focus on Fort Sumter."

6. Reconstruction A: The Crisis of 1877

  • Intro
  • Plans for Reconstruction: Includes Lincoln's Ten Percent Plan.
  • Radical Reconstruction
  • The Republican South: Focus on the Ku Klux Klan.
  • Retreat from Reconstruction: "Redemption."
  • The 1876 Election

7. Reconstruction B: Jury Rights in Virginia, 1877-1880

  • Intro
  • Reconstructing Virginia
  • The Killing of Aaron Shelton
  • The Trials of Burwell and Lee Reynolds
  • Rives Crusade
  • At the Supreme Court

8. An Australian Ballot for California? (1891)

  • Intro
  • Party Politics and Political Machines: Covers "The Party Ticket" and "Political Machines and Corruption."
  • The Australian Ballot
  • The Ballot Debate in California

9. Labor, Capital, and Government: The Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902

  • Intro
  • The American Labor Movement: Discusses union activity and employer opposition.
  • An Anthracite Union
  • The Tumultuous 1870s: Includes the collapse of the WBA and the Great Railroad Strike.
  • Labor Resurgent: Focus on the Knights of Labor, AFL, and historic strikes.
  • The United Mine Workers of America: "The Strike of 1900."
  • The Anthracite Strike of 1902
  • President Roosevelt Intervenes: "The Washington Conference" and reaching a compromise.
  • The Anthracite Commission

10. The Jungle and the Debate over Federal Meat Inspection in 1906

  • Intro
  • The Rise of American Meatpacking
  • Dressed Beef and the Railroads
  • Regulating the Railroads
  • Collaboration by the Big Four: "The Larger Antitrust Movement."
  • American Food and Drug Regulation
  • The Muckrakers
  • Upton Sinclair and The Jungle
  • Meatpacking in the Early 1900s
  • Sinclair Shakes up Washington

11. The Battle over the Initiative and Referendum in Massachusetts (1918)

  • Intro
  • Progressive-Era Reforms
  • Pure Democracy
  • Fighting the Devil with Fire
  • The Oregon System
  • Recall and Reorganization
  • A City for the People
  • The Representative Principle
  • Beyond Oregon
  • The Massachusetts Plan

12. Regulating Radio in the Age of Broadcasting (1927)

  • Intro
  • Marconi's Invention
  • The Navy Takes Notice
  • Early Radio Regulation
  • The Rise of Radio Broadcasting
  • Congress Considers New Radio Regulation
  • Radio Goes to Court
  • Congress Resumes Radio Regulation Efforts

13. The Pecora Hearings (1932-34)

  • Intro
  • The Securities Market in the 1920s
  • The Senate Banking Inquiry
  • The Hearings under Pecora
  • Financial Reforms of 1933
  • The Pecora Hearings Resume
  • The Proposed Securities Exchange Act

14. Martin Luther King and the Struggle for Black Voting Rights (1965)

  • Intro
  • The Rise and Fall of Black Voting in the South
  • Jim Crow
  • The Changing Environment for Civil Rights
  • The Rise of the Civil Rights Movement
  • Civil Disobedience and Publicity
  • The Campaign for Voting Rights

15. Manufacturing Constituencies: Race and Redistricting in North Carolina, 1993

  • Intro
  • The Rise of the District System
  • Racial Politics in Postbellum North Carolina
  • The Supreme Court Enters the Political Thicket
  • The Voting Rights Act of 1965
  • North Carolina's Twelfth Congressional District
  • The Shaw Cases

16. Democracy and Women's Rights in America: The Fight over the ERA (1982)

  • Intro
  • Women's Rights in the American Revolution and Early Republic
  • The Petition Issue
  • Women's Rights in the 19th Century
  • Votes for (White) Women
  • Feminism and the Equal Rights Amendment
  • The Second Wave
  • The Era of the ERA
  • Debate over the ERA, 1972-1982
  • The ERA Fight in Florida

Key Themes

  • The evolution of American governance and political systems
  • The role of debates and reforms in shaping policies
  • The struggle for rights and equality across different groups
  • The impact of pivotal historical events and movements

Usage

These audio cases serve as educational tools, providing in-depth insights into historical events and facilitating discussions on governance, rights, and reforms.