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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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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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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 After a year of conservation treatments, the National Archives is returning a 1297 copy of the Magna Carta to public display. One of only four originals from 1297, the document is owned by Carlyle Group founder David Rubenstein but is on permanent loan to the archives. Partnering with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the archives designed a custom case to protect the fragile document.  In this event, the new encasement is unveiled and details of the project are discussed.

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The Civil War Battle of Shiloh took place April 6th and 7th, 1862 in Hardin County, Tennessee, and resulted in a Union victory over Confederate forces. We visited Shiloh National Military Park, where Stacy Allen, the Park's Chief Ranger, talked about some of the artifacts on display in the Visitor Center, including battle flags, arms and munitions, and personal items from soliders who fought in the battle. He also took us behind the scenes to the Park’s storage facility, where he showed us two rare Civil War tents.

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Del Quentin Wilber, author of “Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan,” met American History TV at the Washington Hilton to recreate the afternoon of March 30, 1981. On that day, John Hinckley fired six bullets at President Reagan, who had just completed a speech to the AFL-CIO. Using archival photographs and video, and declassified audio from the U.S. Secret Service, we trace the route of the presidential motorcade to The George Washington University Hospital.

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American History TV travels to James Madison's Montpelier in Orange County, Virginia. In this program we learn about the Madison family cemetery, a nearby slave cemetery, and James Madison’s “temple,” a Greek and Roman inspired structure that James Madison had built in the early 1800's.  

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James Madison, the fourth President of the United States & often referred to as the "Father of the Constitution," owned about a hundred slaves at Montpelier, his 4600- acre estate in Orange County, Virginia.  American History TV traveled 90 miles south of the nation's capital to learn about an archaeological project investigating the enslaved communities of James Madison's Montpelier.

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In March of 1921 President Woodrow Wilson and his wife Edith left the White House at the conclusion of his second term and moved into a home on S Street near Embassy Row in Washington, D.C. Operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Woodrow Wilson House is now a museum. Frank Aucella gave a tour of the 28-room home and discussed the life and presidency of Woodrow Wilson. This is part one of a two-part program. In this portion the lower floors of the home were toured.

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American History TV visited the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History for a look at the newly opened First Ladies exhibit. See inaugural and evening gowns, including those worn by Dolley Madison, Mary Lincoln, Jacqueline Kennedy, Pat Nixon and Michelle Obama. Curator Lisa Kathleen Graddy explains what these gowns have to tell us about the unofficial yet influential role first ladies play in presidential administrations – and about the politics and culture of their times.

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