Footnoting History

(Nathan) Most people think of Fredonia as the fictitious country of the Marx Brothers film, Duck Soup, but Fredonia was actually a country...sort of.  In 1826, a hot-tempered Virginian 'colonist' named Haden Edwards created an alliance with a local Cherokee tribe and led a short-lived rebellion against Mexican rule in East Texas that resulted in his proclamation of the Republic of Fredonia, which existed for just over a month. In this episode, we explore the circumstances surrounding Edwards' rebellion, the colony he created, and the aftermath of Fredonia's collapse.