make up about 30% of the population. 16 years later, a short window 2/3 of there than is made up ofion african slaves. many of them have come from the west indies. others will later come directly from africa. that is the end of the powerpoint i have. any questions before we leave for the day about these things we have been talking about? yes. populationindian intermingle with the african slave population? >> yes. that is a very good question. scholars have written about these connections. as one of you said, many of

these captives coming from native communities are women and children. a large number of slaves coming from the west indies and africa are male in the early years. you have this intermixing and intermarriage. these unions and the cultural influences africans and native peoples had in the shaping of low country culture. that is a really good question. anything else? all right. very good. don't forget we have our reading for wednesday. we will talk more about this rice economy. join us each saturday evening for classroom lectures from across the country on different topics and eras of american history. lectures are also available as

podcasts. visit our website or download from itunes. >> this is american history tv on c-span3. our 2014 to her has taken us on the road to cities across america. working with our cable partners, we have toward historic sites and interviewed local historians. coming up, highlights from our travels. see the schedule and watch video from all of our stops. >> ♪ highthe moon is

heardere it can be it is a grand night ♪ to welcome you to the tabernacle on temple square in salt lake city. this is the home of the mormon tabernacle choir. some might call it america's choir. >> ♪ the mormon tabernacle choir was organized in 1847 when the first pioneers came into this valley. it was a small group of people who met in a bowery type building, very rustic, and they asked for a choir to perform, but it was in 1849 that welsh

pioneers came to the valley and sang in four-part harmony. they sang in welsh, and that is when brigham young decided you needed to be the nucleus of the great choir, so it really started in 1847 and 1849. they used to sing in a building over on the square that was is a -- just a temporary building but , they called it the tabernacle, and that is how the name came, the mormon tabernacle choir. when that was too small, they started building this particular building, which was in the late 1860's, it was completed at the end of the civil war, and the choir moved into this building at that time, and the tabernacle here has been the home of the choir ever since. as we have visitors come to temple square, we invite them into the tabernacle, one of the things they first notice is that imposing instrument that is behind me, the organ.

built by early pioneer stock, and it becomes the centerpiece for people to begin to look at and think -- wow, this is really an amazing experience. and they see the choir in front of them, and it is a great picture. >> ♪ >> whenever you see a photograph of the choir, this organ is right there in the center of the foreground and it has been accompanying be choir ever since the organ was put it in 1867 because the choir has been around that long and even longer. this is the oldest building on temple square. it is even older than the temple itself. and the oldest thing inside of the tabernacle is this organ case, so these gold pipes next to me here have looked down on decades and decades of history

and have seen all kinds of things, lots of american presidents have spoken from the pulpit and have seen the choir perform here, so there is a lot of history in this organ case and in the building. the sound of the tabernacle organ is really unique. this instrument -- most of the pipes were built by the olian-skinner organ company in 1948, and it was considered their magnum opus. the president of that company considered this one of their finest if not the finest that they built, and part of that was that the pipes are so beautifully voice for the room, but part of it is the room itself. it is a domed ceiling that of a remarkable job projecting even the softest sound of the organ with great clarity to the back of the room, so the sound and envelops you. it is like a warm bath when you hear this played. as you can imagine, when you are accompanying a choir this large and this well-trained and is

passionate about what they're doing, it is a hair-raising experience every time. whenever i sit said on this bench and i hear those voices, this huge wall of sound going over me and then going out into the room -- >> ♪ >> and it is still electrifying. i have been accompanying be choir for i think 23 years now, and i am still thrilled as much as i was the first time i heard them. one great story has to do with helen keller, who was here back in the early 1900's and spoke at the pulpit just behind where i am seated here, and if you can call it speaking. we know that her situation -- she was deprived of her eyesight and learned to speak in a very guttural voice, but she came

here and gave a presentation to a packed house, and when she had finished, they asked if there was anything she would like, and she said i would like to hear your famous organ play, and so the organist came over and he played "come, come, ye saints," a hymn strongly identified with the church. and the president of the church walked her up to the organ case and placed her hand on the wood of the case, and a person who was there at the time said that helen keller just wept as she felt the throbbing of the great instrument and the sounds of the pipes playing the song of the pioneers sang as they came across the plains. there is something unique about this choir that comes across to audiences, and i think it is a combination of things. it is not just the size of the choir, it is not just how well trained they are, how versed and how professional they are. i think it is their sincerity about their methods, and when

-- about their message, and when they turn to the audience at the end of any performance or broadcast to sing "god be with you till we meet again," i see tears in the eyes of the people out there, and i know the stories of the choir members, i know what they're going through with their families, and i know they are really singing from the heart, and that comes across when the audience hears them sing. >> ♪ >> this weekend, we take you on a trip across the country for the history and literary life of various locales rediscovered during our cities to her -- tour.