{"href":"https://api.simplecast.com/oembed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthe-rest-of-history.simplecast.com%2Fepisodes%2Fthe-barber-who-toppled-an-empire-0BQk9z4J","width":444,"version":"1.0","type":"rich","title":"The Barber Who Toppled an Empire","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/96a10b54-3566-4ae1-87fd-fd8bff7bd182/0e4303a1-2092-491e-a49a-e18cf4c76606/the-20rest-20of-20history.jpg","thumbnail_height":300,"provider_url":"https://simplecast.com","provider_name":"Simplecast","html":"<iframe src=\"https://player.simplecast.com/b819d3b5-db54-4cb9-bab7-0e1087c4463c\" height=\"200\" width=\"100%\" title=\"The Barber Who Toppled an Empire\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"></iframe>","height":200,"description":"In 1804, a humble Haitian barber named Jean-Baptiste Mars was cutting hair in a Port-au-Prince shop when he overheard French officers discussing Napoleon's secret plan to restore slavery. What he did with those whispered words in the next 48 hours would doom France's American empire and double the size of the United States—all because Thomas Jefferson desperately needed cash and Napoleon suddenly needed it more."}