Congress, Politics, Books
and American History

American History TV visited the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History to learn about a 19th century U.S. Government expedition to circumnavigate the globe, map and chart Pacific islands, and prove that Antarctica was a continent. The 40 tons of specimens collected by the expedition’s six naval vessels became the foundation for the Smithsonian Institution, and are still used for scientific research today.

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Each week American Artifacts takes viewers into archives, museums and historic sites around the country. At the outbreak of the Civil War in the spring of 1861, Washington, DC, was lightly defended and vulnerable to attack, with only one fort located 12 miles south of the city and the Confederate state of Virginia just across the Potomac River. By 1865, the nation’s capital arguably had become the most fortified city in the world, with about 70 armed forts and batteries encircling the city. We visited three of the surviving forts with Dale Floyd, author of a study on the Civil War Defenses of Washington for the National Park Service.

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Princeton University history professor Sean Wilentz talks about his writings and books. He is the author of the Rolling Stone article, "The Worst President in History? One of America's Leading Historians Assesses George W. Bush."

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Northeastern University history professor William Fowler looks at Early Atlantic Exploration, Christopher Columbus and the Discovery of the Caribbean and the Americas.

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Yale history professor Joanne Freeman and University of Chicago political science professor William Howell are interviewed about acts of violence in the U.S. Congress leading up to the Civil War, and congressional checks on war powers in the modern era. Professor Freeman is working on a book titled "Field of Blood: Congressional Violence in Antebellum America." Professor Howell has written about congressional checks on presidential war powers. The interview was recorded at the Organization of American Historians meeting in Milwaukee.

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Hari Jones, curator and assistant director of the African American Civil War Memorial and Museum, talks about the contributions of African American Women during the War.

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On May 14, 1607, 104 English settlers landed at Jamestown Island, Virginia to establish a colony for the Virginia Company.  Thought to be lost to history, the original fort was unearthed in 1994. We visited Jamestown to learn how the story of the 1607 settlers is being revealed everyday through the study of artifacts, and how artifacts are conserved for future scholars.

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William Kelso, Director of the Jamestown Rediscovery Archaeological Project and Bly Straube, Senior Curator for the project took viewer calls from Jamestown Island, Virginia.

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On May 14, 1607, 104 English settlers landed on Jamestown island, Virginia to establish a colony for the Virginia Company.  Thought to be lost to history forever under the James River, the original fort was rediscovered in 1994 by archaeologist William Kelso.  In this program, we join Mr. Kelso for an “In the Trenches” tour as he explains how he unearthed the original fort. And we visit Bly Straube in the archaeology lab where more than 1.5 million artifacts are studied to help reveal what life was like inside Jamestown fort over 400 years ago.

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Kathryn Jacob talks about her book "King of the Lobby: The Life and Times of Sam Ward : Man-About-Washington in the Gilded Age."  It recalls the political life of Sam Ward, who during the mid-19th century was one of the most powerful lobbyists in Washington, DC.

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