A discussion on race and the role it played leading up to and during the Civil War - and how the war’s outcome and immediate aftermath have impacted racial issues ever since. Speakers include Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Yale University professor David Blight, University of Richmond President Edward Ayers, and Frank Smith, who heads the African American Civil War Memorial & Museum.  This two-hour event took place at the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC.

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Richard Newman, a history professor at Rochester Institute of Technology, teaches a course on American slavery and freedom. His class details the struggle of African Americans against a history of oppression. In today’s class, Professor Newman focuses on the topic of “black founders” and abolitionism.

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Jonathan Hansen presents a history of America's presence at Guantanamo Bay.  The author reports on the United States' early interest in the area, which was central to U.S. plans to control the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.  Mr. Hansen examines the creation of the U.S. naval base and prison at Guantanamo and its continued use despite calls for its closure.

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell talks about the political career of fellow Kentuckian John J. Crittenden, a member of the U.S. Senate in the 1880s.  A friend and ally of Henry Clay's, Crittenden also served as Kentucky's governor and twice as U.S. attorney general. Senator McConnell emphasizes Crittenden’s commitment to the Union before and during the Civil War and reflects on what current lawmakers can learn from former legislators. This event was hosted by Eastern Kentucky University.

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How is slavery interpreted at historic sites – and how has that interpretation evolved over the last quarter century? Those were among the questions addressed at a conference convened at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello to consider the history of slavery scholarship and how it makes its way to the American public.

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These are unedited excerpts from a 1995 conversation with President Eisenhower’s son, John. A retired U.S. Army Brigadier General, he talks about his father’s role as Supreme Allied Commander Europe. He also discusses Ike’s relationships with American and British generals and how he compromised with Allied nations to bring World War II in Europe to an end. Independent producer George Colburn conducted this interview as part of a documentary series on Dwight D. Eisenhower’s military and political career – a period covering from 1941 to 1961.  His latest project –  “Eisenhower’s Secret War” – debuts on public television stations nation-wide in May. Hosted by Evan Thomas, author of “Ike’s Bluff," Mr. Colburn’s two-part program focuses on Ike’s campaign to wage peace in the aftermath of World War II.

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In this program from our 1999 "American Presidents: Life Portraits" series we focused on James Garfield's life and career. Historians discussed Garfield's military service, his election as president and assassination shortly after his inauguration. Suzanne Miller, the site manager at Garfield's home in Mentor, Ohio, talked about several of the artifacts and documents that Garfield left behind. 

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C-SPAN’s Local Content Vehicles take American History TV on the road. Throughout the weekend of May 18-20 we feature the history of Columbia, South Carolina.

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Thousands of colonists rejected the War for American Independence and many fled to the British stronghold of New York City. San Jose State University History Professor Ruma Chopra discusses the situation in the city and the perspective of those who looked upon the British as natural allies in religion, language and blood and thought the violence of rebellion was unnecessary and unlawful.

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This is a look at President Eisenhower’s views and actions in the area of civil rights, including the desegregation of the armed forces, his appointments of pro-civil rights Supreme Court justices and the dispatching of the 101st Airborne division to assist in the integration of Little Rock High School in Arkansas.  This discussion was part of a conference titled, “Ike Reconsidered: Lessons from the Eisenhower Legacy for the 21st Century,” co-hosted by Hunter College, City University of New York, the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute & the Eisenhower Foundation.

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