best-known history writers. the presidency, looking at the policies of our commanders in chief. and lectures -- top scholars delving into america's past will stop and our new series features educational films from knowing the 30's through the 70's. c-span3 -- created by the cable tv industry and funded by your local cable and satellite provider. >> now, on american artifacts, the second part of our visit to the nra's national firearms museum in fairfax, virginia. we join the museum director in the civil war gallery. >> we are entering the civil war galleries of the national firearms museum. on my left represents the union and on my left, the confederacy. we see numerous examples of the carbines the union was using. this was a time of rapid advance in firearms design.

this is one of the carbines used in the raid on harpers ferry by john brown. one of the events that initiated the civil war. this exhibit illustrates the manufacturing might of the north. they could turn out hundreds of thousands of well fitted, well manufactured firearms. though are ready to go to work. in the back, you see a barrel rifling, used by smith and wesson from the civil war clear up to the time of world war ii. the manufacturing capability was one of the north's strengths in the civil war. the south on the other hand did

not have the industrial might that the north had. as we talked earlier, the new england and the connecticut river valley was the home of dozens of gun manufacturers. the springfield, so many were needed by the union army that 33 different manufacturers were turning out the identical rifle for purchase by the union army. the confederates were left up to their own. they had a few places, harpers ferry, virginia, when they actually had possession of it. richmond had a factory along the james river. there were a few down in north carolina, georgia, and texas. they could hardly supply the needs of the confederacy. they got most of the guns either capture during battle from the yankees or imported from overseas. the finest infantry rifle in the

world in 1861 was from britain. the confederates bought a quarter of a million of them. they were the most favored long arm of the civil war. at the end of the day, when the war came to a conclusion in 1865, general lee said after four years of arduous service, unsurpassed by courage and fortitude, the army of northern virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources. the war could have gone on for years had he asked his men to take to the mountains and conduct a guerrilla campaign. it came to a conclusion after he wrote those orders and after victory parades, a number of union officers got together and tried to evaluate what had happened during the four years.

once the numbers were being crunched, which took a long time to actually evaluate, there were over 650,000 casualties in the war. when you look at outright dead at the battlefield, there were 75,000 dead confederates in 150,000 dead union soldiers. that is gunshot, artillery, and bayonet wounds. on the battlefield, dead. two to one, yankees over confederates. by 1871, a lot of officers were beginning to realize it was a near run thing, winning that war. the confederates had been out resourced on every single level, except for accuracy and marksmanship. and they are they held a two to one advantage over the north. they felt that if the national emergency ever came about, there

was a need to increase the marksmanship skills of the standing army. not only would that pay dividends on the battlefield, it also cuts down on the amount of training and time needed to indoctrinate soldiers into marksmanship during basic. if we had a nation of riflemen, we would stand a better chance to survive the next national emergency. many years before samuel clemens issued his wonderful novel "tom sawyer," where tom encourages his friends to find the fun in whitewashing his fence, the gentleman that formed the national rifle association felt we could increase marksmanship by making a competition out of it. they organize the association to promote marksmenship in the armed forces and also throughout

the country in civilian shooting clubs. if we make it a competition, it will be something people want to participate in. by 1876, should income petitions -- shooting competitions were the largest spectator sport in the history of the country at that time. and that was the birth of the national rifle association and today remains one of our primary aims and objectives. to promote marksmanship among the armed forces and civilian populace as well. >> moving to the gallery showing the arms of the american west. on the far side of this, we have the guns that are traditionally thought of as the guns that won the west. the winchester rifles. the colt army revolvers along with other colts. colts and winchester's not the only guns in the american west. the side of the case, we see the other manufacturers that played a significant role. the whitney kennedy and marlin rifles. the remington handguns. certainly the remington single shot rifle.

it played a major role with the buffalo hunters. also the smith and wesson revolvers. it is not often recognized that any time from 1870 until the turn of the century, smith & wesson was actually turning out more revolvers than colt was. both were very popular. there are numerous other examples of guns used in the west. the merwin gilbert and other manufacturers are well presented. our newest exhibit is a set of artifacts from theodore roosevelt's home. it is currently undergoing a complete restoration. while they are working on the renovation, they have lent us the firearms and other artifacts from roosevelt's home.

phil is going to show you a little bit more about what we got from the national park service at sagamore hill. >> back when the museum was being designed, we wanted to take a corner of the museum and focus on the life of theodore roosevelt, our 26th chief executive. he was a hunter and life member of the nra. we felt we ought to put a little tribute to him together here. so, we decided to replicate the library from sagamore hill. almost on a one to one scale. his daughter at the whole -- ethel said the library was the heartbeat of the house. it is where the family gathered to read to each other and tell each other stories of the day. whereas theodore had cases of books, we traded those in for gun cases. his real gun cases were up in the fourth floor study of the

house, but it was this room that was literally the oval office of the summer white house from from 1902-1908. i'd of the 10,000 artifacts from sagamore hill, we are fortunate to have 115 original priceless treasures from his home on display. this is the working desk of the president from 1902-1908. trappings of his african safari of 1909-1910 are seen with one of the seven liens he shot -- lions he shot. the rhinoceros horns. the safari was not just for trophies to decorate his house. it was done with the smithsonian institution museum of natural history. my favorite pieces are the gatling guns. this is one of four guns that accompanied roosevelt and the roughriders to cuba. one of the most important guns

in american military history is right behind it. lost for over 114 years. the very first machine gun used by the u.s. army in military combat. it is a 1895 browning automatic rifle, called the potato digger. it is a seven millimeter mauser. it was privately purchased, given to the regiment and taken to cuba. in this case, this specific gun was donated by the older sisters of one of roosevelt's roughriders. they just happened to be the granddaughters of john jacob astor. they gave one of the first machine guns ever used in military combat by the u.s.

army. in this, we are very fortunate to have on display theodore roosevelt's brooks brothers tunic, stetson hat, and cavalry saber. it is interesting to note that when a united states president leaves the white house, if he is referred to as mr. president for the rest of his life when he leaves the white house. there are two exceptions. general eisenhower preferred to be called general eisenhower. and when one of the porters was gathering the roosevelt's baggage in may of 1909 when he was leaving for sagamore hill, he said, we will miss you, mr. president to theodore roosevelt. he said, no, howard taft is your president. i am now just colonel roosevelt. and that is the way he stayed for the rest of his life,

preferring to be remembered as the colonel commending the regiment of volunteers. the roughriders. always colonel roosevelt to the end. a wonderful opportunity for the national firearms museum to be the temporary custodians of these national treasures literally from our nation's attic. in fact a number of firearms his six children enjoyed using -- his oldest son earned the medal of honor at utah beach. his second son kermit, major in the british expeditionary forces during world war i and the united states in world war i and world war ii, died at fort richardson, alaska in 1943. son number three, archie roosevelt, given 100% disability from wounds received twice, both in world war i and world war ii -- and the first to pass, a fighter pilot shot down by the

germans over france in 1918. the firearms used in the service for recreation around sagamore hill, as well as on safari in africa, are still wonderful examples and artifacts we can literally look at, reach back and touch the past. perhaps one of my favorite stories is of this winchester model 94. if you look closely at the muscle, there is an action silencer mounted on the end of that. archie roosevelt, the president's third son said father liked to take this gun out hunting early in the morning, dispatching varmints with it. if created little noise and tended not to wake the neighbors. who had names like tiffany, vanderbilt, and whitney. if you can imagine today someone strolling across their lawn in oyster bay, new york, with a silenced rifle dispatching rabbits and the like.

quite a difference a hundred years has made. >> it is hard to think of a better transitional figure from the 19th century to 20th century. we move into the galleries focusing on the 20th century with a focus on the bolt action rifle. beginning in the later part of the 19th century. four prototypes that the mauser brothers used to develop their bolt action rifle. we pay homage to other firearms designers such as browning. the greatest firearms designer who ever lived. and going up to a more modern designer, the founder of the ruger company. arguably the first firearms invention, a savage model 99 lever action rifle.

he converted it into a semiautomatic rifle. when he went and saw a job at springfield armory, instead of a resume, he brought in this rifle. he was hired on the spot. >> one of the great leaps forward in the design of firearms began to take place in the 1880's when we transitioned from black powder to smokeless powder. up until this time, most of the guns had been muzzleloading. force the powder down the muzzle. that was with black powder, which left a thick oily residue. with a rifle, after so many shots, that would tend to constrict the aperture of the barrel to where it became hard to ram a round from the muzzle to the breach. that is why breach loaders were so important. with reach loading arms,

smokeless powder allows you to fire more rapidly because the inner workings of the gun are not being gummed up with that residue. by 1881, an american living in london developed the machine gun, that actually with one pull of a trigger, it allows the firing of multiple rounds. rates of fire go anywhere from 400-1200 rounds a minute. with the development of smokeless powder, america finds itself involved in the first world war in 1917 with new types of firearms that they had not used before. by world war ii, through the efforts of the springfield armory, the m1 rifle was the only semi automatic infantry

rifle that was standard issue to the military of any country in world war ii. other countries had semi automatics, but the u.s. armed all of our guys with the m1 rifle, making some 5 million of them. general patton called it the best battle rifle ever devised. it played a key factor in our quest for victory over fascism in the spring and summer of 1945. >> moving to the galleries that show the firearms of the competition's shooting sports, starting with shotguns using sport, skeet. moving to the firearms for olympic competitions. the gold medals won with them. we are into some of the fun

aspects of the national firearms museum, beginning with this 1950's era kid's room. this is not what my room looked like, but it is what i wanted it to look like. i had the cowboy bedspread. i definitely wanted the covered wagon nightlight. she was sure it was -- my mom was sure it would set the house on fire. we have an original coney island shooting gallery. this was established in the early 20th century. it went from steam powered to electric powered. ♪ this is one of the most popular

galleries in the national firearms museum. everyone loves the movies. in here, we have over 120 guns from 80 years of hollywood films. beginning with the first revolver used by john wayne and his first credited role. moving through oscar winners such as "the hurt locker" and and "no country for old men." there are classics like the rifle used in "stagecoach." and dirty harry's revolver. when you talk about famous movie lines, famous guns in movies, go ahead, make my day. the 44 magnum is the most widely recognized firearm on earth. certainly made extremely popular by a whole series of dirty harry films. some of the firearms, like the ones you see in front of it are just rubber dummy guns.

these are the guns you see being thrown into the river. great sound editing makes it sound like real guns. all of these guns are real firearms. a lot of great pieces. bruce willis and mel gibson both use the same m9 beretta in "lethal weapon" and "die hard." we have one of the props from star wars. tom selleck is a benefactor. not only has he lent us guns from his personal collection and guns he has used in a number of films like "quigley down under"" we have three of the guns he had made for the "magnum p.i." series. the gatling gun was used in 1939

kerry grant film -- cary grant film "gunga din." next to that is a gun used in the movie "the alamo." one of my favorite westerns is "the wild bunch." sam peckham bob's wonderful western starring artis borgnine, william holden, a real cast of characters. it goes on and on. truly one of the real stars is this browning watercooled belt fed machine gun. peckinpah went through a quarter of a million blanks using this gun in the final scene of the great shootout at the mexican general's headquarters. if you look at the ammo box, you can see some of the fake blood splatter. that splashed on the ammo box during the final scene.

to kind of close things out with the hollywood guns, for someone that grew up in a house that was not firearms friendly, there were no guns in the house, it was through the movies and television that i gained my love and admiration for firearms. especially all the military and cowboy films i was so enamored with. it established a connection with the stars of the silver screen, most of us before we had an opportunity to fire a real firearm. >> in the hunting galleries, we have our largest rifle and largest shotgun. the rifle is a full-bore rifle.

it throws a quarter pound of lead with each shot. this particular rifle was used by stanley on the expedition to find dr. livingston. across from it, we have a shotgun exhibit. on the bottom is a massive shotgun. this was not fired from the shoulder. it would be loaded with up to a pound of lead shot and was used for harvesting up to 100 waterfowl. this type of firearm was banned, but for a number of years, it would provide waterfowl for sale to markets and restaurants. one of the last galleries is dedicated to law enforcement. this is where we have the other

gun i believe brackets are -- our firearm stories at the museum. this is not one of the most impressive guns to look at it initially. it is very beaten up. it is twisted. this was a gun that was carried into the world trade center on september 11, 2001. the officer never came out, but the revolver was recovered from the ashes. the officer had been a strong supporter of the nra, and enthusiastic member. his family wanted us to have it. we display it here with great pride in a place of honor as a reminder of those who put their lives on the line to serve and protect. this is a story of americans and their guns. we want them to leave with a newfound appreciation of the

role firearms have paid for our nation's history. it was our ability to create firearms that enabled us to manufacture anything at all during world war ii and stopped fascism in its tracks. they played a huge part in the development of the nation. teaching men and women to shoot to defend themselves. americans and their guns is a significant and seminal part of american history. >> for more information about the national firearms museum and the nra, visit their website, nramuseum.org. americann watch

artifacts programs anytime on c-span.org/history. this is american history tv all weekend, every weekend on c-span three. you are watching american history tv. all weekend, every weekend, on c-span three. hee us on facebook that spent history. >> each week, american history tv's real america brings archival films that tell the story of the 20th century. next, from the lyndon johnson presidential library, 1968 documentary produced by the office of economic opportunity -- "the mexican-american -- a to fixe for opportunity" spanish-speaking americans as part of the war on poverty. the office was established in 1964 and abolished in 1981, but many of its programs continue to the present day under other

federal agencies. >> ever since my teaching days in texas, i work for the education and progress of the spanish-speaking people. i knew many little boys just like lawn, mexican-american. you will notice i emphasized american. -- that't have committee is made up of some of the ablest members of my cabinet. it is the highest level of committee i can possibly name because of spanish-speaking people. i think they need to get closer to their government and get action from their government. >> we are bringing the government since the to the people rather than having the people come to the government. i always felt this was the better way.

>> we are here for solutions, a sadder portve of many problems. we're here to talk about opportunities and not just difficulties. this next and american finds himself with an unemployment rate almost double the average for this area. that is not right. he suffers historic injustices. his forefathers were driven from their spanish and mexican land grant. his children all too often

attend segregated or semi-segregated schools. they get on average five years less ruling than other children. mexican-americans have determined they will do whatever they must do to help themselves. if there's one phrase in one thatabove all, characterizes america and what it means and what it stands for, not just freedom, not just liberty, not just wealth and power, but the word that characterizes america's hope and dream and promise is opportunity. opportunity -- that is what we want to stop that is what mankind wants all over the world -- the opportunity to make something out of himself. [applause] >> coming up next, the college

of william and mary professor and his students prepared -- compare the reconstruction civil rights eras, exploring many similarities and differences between the post civil war south and the second reconstruction of the 1960's. this is part of the course called african-american here we are at the end of the semester and it strikes me maybe to compare the reconstruction period that we started off talking about in this course with what some have called the second reconstruction, which is the time of the civil rights movement of the '50s and '60s. let me tell you, first, what i mean by the first reconstruction and the second reconstruction. by the