policy cannot enjoin it? it will be wor think thy 0 a gr nation to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exulted justice and ben ner ben nerve lens. who can doubt the plan would repay advantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to it. can it be that providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue. the experiment is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human nature. alas, is it rendered impossible by its vices? in the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential that permanent an thit theses against nations and passionate attachment for others should be excluded and that in place of

them justice an amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. the nation which indulges towards another, hab habitual i slave to animosity or affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interests. an thit think against one another disposes more readily to insult and injury, lay hold of slight causes of um bridge and be haughty when trifling occasions of dispute occur, hence, frequent collisions, obstinate and venom and bloody contests, the nation prompted by ill will and resentment sometimes impells toward the government contrary to the best calculations of policy. government sometimes participates in the national

propensity and adopts through passion what reason would reject. at other times, it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility instigated by pride, sinister pernicious mote ivs. the peace often sometimes liberty of nations has been the victim. likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases and where no common interest exists and infusing the inmaties of other perform participation and quarrels without adequate inducements or

justifications. it also leaves to concessions to the favorite nation, of privileges denied to others which is apt doubly to injure the nation making concessions by unnecessarily parting which ought to be have been retained and exiting jealousty, ill will and b disposition to retaliate equal positions with held. it gives to cop rurrupted citiz which devote themselves to the favorite nation, sacrifice the you own country, guilding with appearances of a vir tuous sense of obligation a commendable deference for public opinion or a laudable zeal for public good the base or foolish economiances of ambitious, corruption, or infatuation. as avenues to foreign influence,

such attachments are particularly alarming to enlightened and independent patriot. how many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions? to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils? such an attachment of a small or weak towards a great and powerful nation dooms the former to be a satellite of the latter. against the insidious wiles of foreign influence i conjure you to believe me the jealousy of a free people ought to be const t constantly awake since history proves foreign influence is one of the most bainful foes of foreign government. it must impartial.

excessive partial alty for one foreign nation and excessive dislike for another cause those whom they act tu wait to see dang danger one side. real patriots who may resist then treegs of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious while its tools and dupes usurp applause and confidence of the people to surrender their interests. the great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is extending commercial relations to have with them as little political connection as possible. so far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. here let us stop. europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none or remote relation. hence, she must be engaged in

frequent controversies the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. hence, therefore, it must be unwise on us to implicate ourselves by artificial ties and the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities. our detached situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. if we remain one people under an efficient government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injuries from external annoyance, when we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupulously respected when belligerent nations under the possibility of making acquisitions upon united states will not likely hazard the giving us provocation. when we may choose peace or war as our interests guided by

justice shall counsel. why forgo the advantages of so peculiar a situation? why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? why by interweaving our destiny with that any part of europe entangle our peace and prosperity? it's our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliance with any portion of the foreign world. so far i mean as we're now at liberty to do it. let me not be understood as capable of patronizing existing engagements. i hold the maxim no less applicable to public than private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. i repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense, but in my opinion it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them.

taking carry always to keep ourselves by suitable establishments on a respectable defensive posture we may safety trust temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies. harmony and a liberal intercourse with all nations are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. but even our commercial policy should told an equal and impartial hand, either seeking or granting exclusive favors or preferences, consulting the natural course of things, diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of commerce but forcing nothing. establishing with powers so disposed in order to give trade a stable course to define the rights of our merchants and enable the government to support them, conventional rules of intercourse the best that present circumstances and mutual

opinion will permit. but temporary. liable to be from time to time abandoned or varied as experience and circumstances shall dictate, constantly keeping in view it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favors from another. that it must be pay with a portion of its independence, for whatever it may accept under that character, that by such acceptance it may place itself in the condition of having given equivalence for nominal favors and yet of being reproached for not giving more. there can be no greater error than expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. it is inillusion which experience must cure which a just pride ought to discard. in offering to you my countrymen, these councils of an old and affectionate friend i dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression

that i could wish, that they will control the usual current of the passions or prevent our nation from running the course which is hitterto mark the destiny of nations. but if i may even flatter myself they may be product inive of so partial benefit, they may now and then reoccur to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism, this hope will be full recommend come pence for the solicitude for your welfare which they have been dictated. how far in the discharge of my official duties i have been guided by the principles which have been delineated the public records and other evidences of my conduct must witness to you and to the world. to myself, the assurance of my own conscience is that i have at least believed myself to be guided by them.

in relation to the still subsifting war in europe my proclamation of the 22nd of april 1793 is then dex index plan. sanctioned by both houses of congress the spirit of the mesh has continually governor earned me un-i flunanced by attempts to deter or divert me from it. after deliberate examination which the aide of the best i could obtain i was well satisfied that our country under all of the circumstances of the case had a right to take and was bound in duty and interest, to take a neutral position. having taken it, i determined as far as should depend upon me to maintain it with moderation, perseverance and firmness. the considerings which respect the right to hold this conduct is not necessary on this occasion to detail. i will only observe that

according to my understanding of the matter, that right so far from being denied by any of the belligerent powers has been virtually admitted by all. duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred without anything more from the obligation which justice and humanity impose on every nation in cases in which it is free to act, maintain violent relations peace towards other nations. the inducements for observing that conduct best be preferred to your own reflections and experience. with me, a predominant motive has been to endeavor to gain time to our country, to settle and mature its yet recent institutions and progress without interruption that degree of strength and consistency which is necessary to give it humanly speaking the command of its own fortunes. though in reviewing the

incidents of my administration, i'm unconscious of intentional error. i'm nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that i may have committed many errors. whatever they may be, i fer venly beseech the almighty to mitigate the evils to which they may tend. i shall carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence and that after 45 years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned oblivion as myself must soon to be to the mansions of rest. relying on its kindness, act tu waited by the fervent love towards it which is natural to a man which views it itself i an tis plate with pleasing expectation that retreat in

which i promise myself realize the sweet enjoyment of partaking in the midst of my fellow citizens the benign influence of good laws under a free government the favorite object of my heart and the happy reward as i trust of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers. george washington, united states 17th, september, 179 6. >> i am appearing here today as one spokesperson for the hundreds of thousands of marines, sailors, their families, and loyal civilian employees unknowingly exposed to horrendous levels of toxins through drinking water at camp lejeune, north carolina. >> the documentary "searcher "

joined by the producer tonight. >> one thing that they've done over the years is that they have obfuscated the facts so much they have told so many half-truths and total lies they've omitted information to the media, and now if they were to sit down with me face-to-face, i could show them with their own document and counter what they've been saying. and they don't want to do that. >> more with jerry ensminger tonight, 8:00 eastern, on c-span's q&a. hosted by our comcast of central arkansas cable partner, c-span's local content vehicle visited little rock. learn more all weekend long on american history tv.

>> historic arkansas museum is located in downtown little rock. the museum encompasses five antebellum era houses situated on their original foundations. the houses are used to interpret the lives of 19th century urban slaves and slave owners. >> this is the brownlee house built by robert brownlee for his brother james and james' wife isabel. they did have two slaves, one of them was named habi, we do not know the name of the other slave. but tabi is the slave that would have spent her time caring for . where we are now is the bedroom. this is typical of a middle class bedroom. this is dated approximately 1848 to 1852. we know mrs. brownlee did needlework so we have placed items in here that she might have used working with yarn. mrs. brownlee is isabel brownlee

who married james when she was about 14. she came here when she was about 16 years old. she was a young bride. she was away from home, far, far away from home, and was homesick and very unhappy, and she was a bit sickly, as well. so robert brownlee speaks of tabi, her slave, very briefly in his memoir, he says that isabel took her passions out on tabi. we don't know exactly what that means except that she was treated badly, and that robert brownlee noticed it. we are walking through what would be the breezeway. actually the summer this is the coolest part of the house. we open both doors and most of the family's time would be spent out here. they might take the dininging room table and bring it out here to have their meals. this is the parlor. this is where if mrs. brownlee had been inclined to do

entertaining this is where she would have done. isabel brownlee was taken from her home when she was so young, she came to arkansas when she was still a teenager and had not been married to james brownlee for very long. they arrived in 1848 and they left in 1852. the house was sold in 1852. isabel felt isolated here and she returned to scotland while her husband james went to california. so a few yards away from the brownlee house is one of the outbuilding. this is the brownlee kitchen. this is where tabi would have had her own bedroom and would have done most of her work for the brownlee family. she was responsible for the laundry. she would have been responsible for cooking all of the meals. she would have tended the garden and she likely was responsible

for any work done in the smoke house as well. she was the only slave of the brownlee family. so tabi would have been responsible for maintaining the household altogether. this is the work area of the kitchen. everything in here is actually reproduction although it is authentic, 1840s, 1850s furniture. a typical day for tabi might have been she gets up in the morning and she begins cooking a morning meal. her cooking of the big meal of the day typically would be done by noon or 1:00 and then in the afternoon she would work on perhaps repairing clothing, making clothing, cleaning, things like that. generally the cooking was done before the hot part of the day. ladies of the house typically worked alongside their slaves depending on what the work was

to be done, polishing of silver, often the cooking might be done right alongside the slaves. since the slaves. since tabby was the only slave, isabelle probably worked alongside her doing most of the tasks that needed to be done. the ashley family lived on another block near here and they made an effort to keep their slave families together, but that certainly was not typical here. the talk in the town was that if you were a slave, that you would want to be a slave of the ashley family. the ashley family gave their slaves a little more autonomy than some of the other slaves in town would have had. they were many more of them, so their duties were more specific. they were to come and go not as they pleased, but as needed to take care of the things done in the household, this was true for tabby, also.

so as you're cooking, your tasks might include going to the market to buy more food which would have been on an account by the family at the store. slaves in general in town had more autonomy than slaves on plantations did. so in that respect, the ashley family was not that unusual. but the ashley family was known to be kinder to their slaves than isabelle likely was to tabby. this is tabby's bedroom area. this would have been pretty much her own space. right here, what we have set up is somewhere for her to hang her laundry in case of rain. it looks like it might rain today, so her laundry she will hang to dry on these bamboo poles here. this is her bed and it's like a murphy bed. she has her own fireplace that she probably would have kept lit most of the time.

and we do have some things that she might have had, little boxes for anything that she wanted to keep things in. there were a lot of slaves in the area who aspired to learn to read, especially after learning that the ashley place, almost all of them were literate. so tabby probably was one of the slaves who would have attended one of williams wallace andrews' prayer meetings. william wallace andrews was one of the -- and he was a minister and he would conduct prayer meetings at home. and during the course of those prayer meetings, he taught the attendees to actually read the words in the bible. i think tabby probably was one of those slaves who would have gone to one of those prayer meetings. i was very surprised by the autonomy the slaves were given, how they were not just permitted, but required to come

and go without constant permission from the slave master. there were things that they were expected to take care of during the day and in the course of that, you were required to go to the market. you were required to go to the river. you were expected to do that and you didn't have to have a pass to do so. as the slaves on plantations did. slaves on plantations had to have a pass to move from one plantation to the other, even if they wanted to go visit their family. slaves in urban areas were expected to come and go and they were not required to have a pass to do so. i think people have a conception of slavery, but not so much of the individual people. what we tried to convey here is that the slave experience was as varied for the enslaved people as life would have been for free people. no two slaves had exactly the same experience.

>> all weekend long, american history tv is featuring little rock, arkansas. learn more about little rock and find out why c-span's local content vehicles are going next online at c-span.org/localcontent. you're watching american history tv all weekend, every weekend, on c-span3. ronald reagan was leaving this hotel after delivering a speech to the afl-cio. reagan comes out, he's 15 feet from the president. he shoots pep took six shots. the first one hits jim brady, the press secretary in the head and he falls down. the second one hits a d.c. police officer who had turned around on the president's progress. he turns around and yells, i'm clear. now the path to the president is clear. hinckley has a range of 20 to 30 feet. he's done target practice. he can his a stationary figure at 20 to 30 feet.

>> this weekend on american artifacts, dell clinton wilbur on the race to save a president. today on american history tv this weekend on c-span3. between 1861 and 1868, clara barton, known as the angel of the battlefield and founder of the american red cross, lived in will washington, d.c. building. she employed 12 clerks on the third floor in her missing soldiers office where they received over 60,000 letters from families searching for lost sons and husbands. in 1996, richard lyons, a carpenter for the general services administration was helping to prepare the building for demolition when he discovered this office sign in the attic. american history tv visited the building on seventh street to learn about the missing soldier's office and to hear the

story of richard lyons who worked alone for months to save the building from demolition. >> this is the original staircase that clara used that has never been renovated or changed much at all, just a few repairs done to it. so when you walk up the staircase and put your hand on the banister, you're walking in clara barton's footsteps. she did this for about eight years it during the civil war era and just after when she operated a missing soldier's office in this space and eventually she ended up leaving because her health became so poor and she was so exhausted from the work she had done during the war that she couldn't find these three sets of stairs anymore. so she ended up moving out late in december of 1868.cfind theses anymore. so she ended up moving out late in december of 186lfind these t stairs anymore. so she ended up moving out late in december of 1868.anymore. so she ended up moving out late in december of 1868. and that's pretty much when she closed down her operations here in washington. one of the neat things that we have, we found in this space that we had replicated is a roll of the missing men.

clara had five of these produced during the war. sent out almost 100,000 copies. and we only know of a handful in existence today. so one of the goals my museum is to find copies of each roll, one through five, so that we can show people exactly all the names and exactly what kind of work she was doing during that period of time. she started out in just one room and i've read an account from one of her family members who visited her here who said that she had one room, she divided that room in half because she started to collect supplies for soldiers and she needed so much space that she put this wall up you see in the background and that was her boarding room. half of it was used to store supplies, the other half was her living space which was really quite small for the time. the last time we know anyone

inhabited this space on the third floor was if 1911. that's when the original lessee, edward shaw, moved out. he had gotten rather elderly and he left this building and moved in some smaller space. i'm not sure where yet. one of the very intriguing personalities that we're researching right now to find out exactly his role was, his relationship with clara barton. >> i had to work with thurston as a carpenter. and in 1996, they sent us out to the building that was acquired from pennsylvania avenue development corporation to clean them up and make sure nobody was living in them. it was the day before

thanksgiving in 1996. i made my way up the steps. i got up here, nothing in here, no lights, no nothing. only a little light come in through the windows. i came over here and looked around and nothing was here. so i happened to witness -- you don't usually witness one, but i witnessed an accident out here. in the intersection. somebody ran a red light and bumped funders. and i'm standing here watching to see what happens. from out of nowhere, i don't know what it was, but it felt like somebody tapping me on the shoulder. i thought it was my coworker. i turned around and there wasn't nobody there. when i turned around to look out the window, i turned around like this and the corner of my eye seen an envelope hanging between the ceiling and the wall. these boards here were laid out like a floor up there, all leveled off and everything. i pulled myself up through the little hole and on my hands and