when the civilian population decides they're not going to fight the war anymore. it doesn't necessarily reflect what's actually going on in the war. what it reflec is what t people have decided.a that's when the civil war would end, when one or other of the civilian population decided that's it. that's it. after lee surrendered the vast majority of confederates decided, that's it. in the summer of 1864 there was a very good chance the majority of people in united states were going to say that's it. which is why that was the most fraught moment of the war for the united states. forget gettysburg as the great turning point. of course it wasn't. the summer of '64 is as close as the confederates came. a long time after the supposed great turning point in the summer of 1863. there are tremendous links between politics and military affairs. i'll give you one example -- no, i'm going to give you two. we have a digital clock here.

i know exactly how many minutes, seconds an seconds i have left. nothing left to chance in this conference. there's a trap door right underneath me, too. so you'll be out of here by 5:00, maybe even a little bit before. i want to give you two examples of these linkages. the first is the bloody stalemate -- the apparent stalemate in virginia and georgia during the summer of 1864, the incredibly bloody summer of 1864. grant and sherman seemingly bogged down, threatened republican prospects in the elections of 1864. prompting lincoln's pessimistic blind memorandum in august that predicted defeat. jeff wert mentioned that earlier. happily for lincoln and his party and all who hoped to make emancipation a sin quinn nothing

of any peace settlement, sherman and sheridan delivered victories atlanta and in the shenandoah valley that completely reversed the tide of public opinion about prospects for union vic -- i mean, completely reversed them. those two events did. similarly r.e. lee's triumph in july 1862 reversed a downward spiral of confederate morale that gained momentum following a series of terrible defeats in the western theater and mcclellan's near approach to richmond between march and late may with the most important army of the united states. lee's ascension to command of the army in northern virginia during that campaign must be reckoned one of the great turning points of the war, one of the great moments of decision of the war, not only for the revolution that lee would bring in confederate expectations of victory but also because his skill and his skill alone probably lengthened the conflict by more than two years which in turn made possible the addition ofmancipation to union as a

condition for eventual peace my second example concerns the process of emancipation. this topic has provoked considerable debate among historians who assessed the roles of abraham lincoln, the united states congress and african-americans who sees seized freedom by running away from farms and plantations to areas under union control. the concept of self emancipation has been at the center of much of this debate. its advocates saying that lincoln, the great emancipator has been given far too much credit in the past, that most of the credit should go to the slaves themselves for having the key role of killing the institution, by their action of going to union armies, argue those who take this position, they forced a reluctant president and congress to take up the issue. lincoln supporters concede for too many decades black people hadn't been part of the story. but they insist that lincoln's actions stilldemn central to any understanding of how the emancipation agenda was ed. what gets lost in most of these

discussions is the absolutely decisive role of military events in the process of emancipation. only when united states armies drew near did slaves have the option of making a dash for freedom. self emancipation without the military component would have been unthinkable. similarly lincoln's emancipation proclamation would have remained bsence of hreat to confederate operations that brought ever greater swaths of the confederacy under united states military control. ent for freedom.nctioned as a even ironically even conservative officers such as william tecumseh sherman who people or emancipation aut eager yet made posble tion of scores of thousands oav du his campaignsorgia

and throlinas. robert gould shaw who would command the 54th massachusetts infantry, but was then a captain in the second massachusetts got to the heart of the matter in a letter to his mother in 1862. the proclamation of emancipation has come at last. or rather, its forerunner, he observed, three days after lincoln issued his preliminary proclamation. i suppose you're all very much excited about it. for my part i can't see what practical good it can do now, he underlined practical. wherever our army has been, there remain no slaves, and the proclamation will not set them free where we don't go. he is absolutely right in that statement, absolutely right. the geography of emancipation confirms the correctness of shaw's observations.

union armies arrive soonest and stayed longest in parts of northern virginia and the virginia peninsula. the lower mississippi river valley, parts of tennessee and areas along the south atlantic coast. those are the regions of the confederacy where slavery was most disrupted, where the largest number of contrabands, as slaves who made it to union lines were called, made it to freedom. and where united states colored troops were most heavily recruited. where the union army didn't go, texas, the interior of alabama, parts of south carolina to name three places, slavery remained largely intact, even though the slaves who lived there certainly wanted to be free as much as those who lived anywhere else. we need to remember, only about one in seven slaves were freed t crse of the war probably 3 million still in bondage at the end of e r, maybe half a million -- wherever those half a million, they were where the united states army had been most evident.

most white united states soldiers and loyal civilians eventually embraced emancipation, not as a grand moral crusade but as a necessary military tool to defeat the confederacy, to restore the union, to punish slave holders they blamed for bringing on the war and to remove a possible source of future internal threat to the solvency of the republic. abraham lincoln recognized this and always sought to emphasize union as the great goal of the war. and emancipation as one of the tools, the military tools that would help achieve union. through this line of argument he could keep the largest segment of the white population on board with the stupendous national effort that exacted a terrible human and material toll. we always need to remember 45% of the people living in the united states are democrats. democrats don't care about emancipation. they could not care less. they will not rally to a war that they believe is primarily

about emancipation. they will rally only to a war they believe is about union. lincoln's statements make that clear. in his last annual message to congress dated december 6th, 1864, lincoln put it very bluntly. in a great national crisis like ours, unanimity of action among ose seeking a common end is very desirable, almost indispensable. in this case the common end is the maintenae of t union. the emancipaon of slaves, he added,taam means to secure that end. this is after he's been re-elected in 1864, that he's still highlighting union rather than emancipation. the military story also s the confederate armies could take away what the union arms had ough slaves who had been freed by the presence of united states armies could lose that freedom of confederate areas came into the area, during the 1862 campaign wenostonall jackson capturedper'rry, where hundreds of contrabands gathered

after escaping their owners. many noted jackson's force recovered escaped slaves as well as capturing more united states soldiers, then surrendered again until the fall of the philippines in world w ii. a diarist quoted qui a vic at harper's ferry, several thousand taken prisoner and several hundred contrabands. another woman in fairfax county which had been occupied by union soldiers for much of the war derived special comfort from jackson's seizure of large numbers of slaves. we just heard of the recapture of the confederates of harper's ferry, she wrote on september r. we just heard of the recapture of the confederates of harper's ferry, she wrote on septembeusl. we just heard of the recapture of the confederates of harper's ferry, she wrote on septembensl. we just heard of the recapture of the confederates of harper's ferry, she wrote on septembeasl. we just heard of the recapture

of the confederates of harper's ferry, she wrote on septembewsl. we jusheard ofhe rapture of the confederates of harper's ferry,he wrote on septembeaslav. just heard of the recapture of the confederates of harper's ferry, she wrote on septembeysl. we just heard of the recapture of the confederates of harper's ferry, she wrote on septembe sl. we just heard of the recapture of the confederates of harper's ferry, she wrote on september 17, 162, with 12,000 yankees and immense quantities of ordnance, some sayer stores and a large 8 wrote short speeches, speeches it doesn't hurt your brain to listen to. which hasn't been my expernce in listening to presidents over the last ion't tell you how many years. many years. on november 19th, 1863, lincoln stood on a hill that still bore the marks ofaging combat. looked out over a fresh burying ground and prophecies that the war would never forget whatnited states soldiers had accomplished at gettysburg. that prediction proved true as we all know. those soldiers should not be remembered only because they fought in the bloodiest and most famous battle of the war. they should be remembered as representative of all the citizen soldiers who functioned at the absolute center point of the conflict. men whose actions and example

take us a long way toward grasping the origins, the various episodes and the meaning of the war. all else did depend on the progress of union and confederate arms. we should use military history in a way that enables us, for example, to comprehend not only why mcclellan retreated from richmond during the first week of july, 1862, but also how that retreat shaped the political and social dimensions of life in two nations at war. any study of the civil war that slights the importance of military affairs can yield only the most flawed understanding of our greatest national trauma. thank you. the civil war airs here every saturday at 6:00 and 10:00

p.m. and sundays at 11:00 a.m. eastern. you're watching "american history tv" all weekend every weekend on c-span3. this year, c-span's local content vehicles are traveling the country exploring american history. next, a look at our recent visit to wichita, kansas. you're watching "american history tv" all weekend every weekend on c-span3. from the middle of 1930 to 1945, i did occupy that position. that was the rise of the great labor movement that influence has always been exerted towards actively organizing and solidifying the labor movement and united labor with all progressives.

communists do not control any labor unions and do not want to control. especially during the war, the communists show an indispensable solution showing how it could be combined with the most complete support of the war effort. >> what were looking at is kellogg was the general secretary of the communist part from about 1920 through 1950. he ran for president twice under the communist party, in 1936 and 1940. in 1989, there was -- when kellogg was widened, there was talkut abo moving his house.

it was one of, at that time, one of the oldest occupied houses in wichita. it was built in 1874. .there was talk with the city preservationists because of earl browder's connections of moving it to saving it. but it's proved to be so delipidated, they were unable to save it. he was born in 1881. his family was very poor. so as an early boy, he had to start working and he was a messenger at several places in wichita, including the western union, the union nationalnk and a drugstore. and at age 16, he began reading carl marx. and it was here in wichita he went to the forum, which is the forerunner of r century today, and he heard eugene debbs talk

about socialism and he became so movethat he began selling "the appeal to reason." it was the nation's largest socialist newspaper in the time and it was published here in kansas. at that point, there was a huge, diverse economic dichotomy going on. you had the very, vy wealthy and you had the very, very poor. and the browder family was certainly among the very and the socialist movement at that time offered hope. what happened was one wore one broke out. and rather than serve in the military, he went to prison. and he -- when he got out of prison, he then helped organize the communist party in the nation. and went during the 1920s to china and helped organize the

chinese communist party. and then he came back and was the general secretary of the communist party here in the nation, ran for president in 1936 to 1940 against fdr, did not receive any votes from wichitans. this was before world war ii. and so it didn't have quite the negative overtones that it does today. in 1936, early browder said that the united states is economically ready for communism, but it's politically not ready. >> issues are beginning to stand out so that they can be seen with a map. you don't have to give long-winded explanations any more. people see that people understand what they need is a voice to express it for them. and an organization to rally them. the peopl=dçmk are going to mar

forward wi forward, with the people will belong the victory. >> he advocated for merging the united states and the soviet communist party. and, in fact, that's what caused st him out of the communist party. during the 1950s, he was brought before the senate foreign relations committee with joe mccarthy and had to answer questions and he refused to. he refused to name names and was once again put in prison. he died in 1973 at the age of 82. he wasn't afraid to show his beliefs. he was in and out of prison right and left. there weren't many like that at that time. >> union city for progress, against the reactionary forces and threatened the rise of power. unity that rises above the differences of race, religion

and ideology, unity to bring the century of the common man, this is the goalen rule for all of caidates. this rule says an emphatic no to the proposition that we should erect special discriminations against communist as some kind of menace. we welcome you to missouri governor's mansion. >> the first governor was c.gress brown, here we have a photograph of him, his wife and his child. what is interesting about him is the fact that his granddaughter, margaret weiss brown below the book "good night moon" which is a favorite among school children not only here, but all over the united states. >> explore the heritage and

literary cultur of missouri's state capital. jefferson city with c-span's local content vehicles and eric history tv iid the govern's imagination. >> there was a govern steward, a for governor he rode his horse into the mansion and into the dining room and proceeded to feed h horse oats from this sideboard. the comment was that he should probably not be feeding his horse in the governor's mansion. and his comment was, i have had to feed more people in this home with probably less manners than my horse has. >> watch for c-span2 and 3 on july 8th. >> this is c-span3 with politics and public affairs programming thro week and every weekend 48 hours of people and events telling the american ory american history tv. get our schedule and see past programs at ourebsiopinion.

and you can join in the conversation on social media sites. xt on american histor author andrew nagorski discusses his book "hitler land." this book highlights american life in germany during the emergence of the third right as seen through the eyes of diplomats, athletes, and military personnel. this event in new york city was co-hosted by the leo beck institute and the american council on germany. it's about an hour and ten minutes. sh thank you i'm going to be brief. i wanted to say a word about the topic and myself. i am a refugee myself.

he was fortunately out of germany with his dying father in palestine when hitler came to power otherwise would have been quickly arrested and heaven knows what state would've befallen him. i'm fascinated with the german history. history, and the third richt, i was taught by these reguges. some not refugees the same as the others. so hitler land is something that interests me greatly. carl deutsch -- so giving an introduction to anew nagorski, i was fine to do that. but then i realized that i

needed to do his bio, so i wanted to make sure i had these things right. i knew him both in terms of his father, who played a major role in the council on foreign relations and in his association with newsweek, i don't think that i'll elaborate on all the things he did there because that's not why you came. he was a major figure in "newsweek" and did all kinds of substantially innovative things, especially in coordinating and developing the network of news week throughout the world, at least through parts of the world in poland, russia, and argentina. and was himself a very respected voice of wisdom and insight on international affairs, europe, and germany in particular.

he served in berlin for a number of years. i think bill brosniak told me they actually served an office at win point in berlin. his wife is polish and charming, his birthplace is scotland, he is very international. am i right? he is very international. maybe i should let him be here on the stage rather than talking about it. this is one of several books many books thahe's written. one of them quite fascinating about his experiences in russia and where because of his skill as a reporter, in the soviet union, he was expelled anothersall of theof substantial weight and insight would like to have you here.

this book just appeared. we thank the baeck institute, and we want to thank you for hosting and presenting it and welcome the council general of germany and ask andy to come -- come to speak to you. we will hear his remarks and and there's a reception after, thank you very much. [ applause ] >> thank you so much for that introduction and thank you carol for hosting this, it's wonderful to have two organizations like this, a leo baeck institute and council on germany which i have felt involved with and tied to through so many friends at both institutions.

it's a delight to be here. and just to say that bill who was the american council on germany just walked in here, as guido mentioned we were colleagues in two postings in germany and he reminded me recently that he would always -- he and other colleagues would make fun of me in berlin because they would come to my house and saw all these stacks of nazi literature and biographies, and when we were riding together and i was carrying kershaw's biography and it has a big picture of hitler on the cover and we were getting these strange looks. yes, i will plead guilty to the fact that i am somewhat obsessed with this period. and what happened in this period and the different perspectives on it. but i'll say in my defense, hitlerland, bill, is subtle

about introducing hitler. we do not see him from the front. and we look over his shoulder, but the serious side that i think this design, which is the credit to the credit of the designer at simon and shuster is showing that i'm trying to present a different perspective. and eventh name "hitlerland" is not a proct of my imagination. it's t fst timi discovered that erican correspondence ininn informally about this country as hitlerland. this w not -- this was long before disneyland. because there have been so many great books about this period. great historians and so many in

between, i would never have attempted to write a stray history of this period. over rode ground and e going it would be hard to match. but the reason i undertook this was two-fold, first of all, there started to be more and more books about americans and pairs and london, and of course, we all know movies like midnight in pairs and all that about the '20s which catch the popular imagination and i find them really fun too. but the more i thought about it, and the more my wife prompted me to think about it, i realize that nobody had really looked in any detail at the stories of t americans. there'd been lots of individual memoirs, biographies that touched on the lives of

americans, we touched on some of them, but not the whole experience. i began to think, is there a story to be told here about these americans and viewing events not with the benefit of then. which i think is always the most intriguing question, because when we look at historical events in hindsight, we tend to think everyts sobvus. you know, a led to b led to c and it must have been event to everyone. and particularly when you talk about the rise of the nazis, the rise of hitler, it must have been evident to everyone on the scene. and if they couldn't figure that one out, what can we figure out? as i began looking through and finding these diaries, memoirs published and unpublished. by the way, some of them in

various archives. some at the leo beck institute, the hoover institute, library of congress. some of in these unpublished diaries, correspondence in family collections. in a few cases from actu -- with actual interviews of people who were still alive. but, mostly from -- from what they left behind, i found such extraordinary documents. literally often in family attics that i felt i was reliving this period in a whole different way. and as much as possible in hitlerland, what i try to do is put you, the reader, and myself in the shoes of these people who were there, the american diplomats, journalists, travelers, writers and say, okay, here is what they observed. you be the judge. what did they get right? what did they get wrong?