♪ >> we are standing at the historic port smelling. firstrt really is the foothold in the region for united states expansion. during the early 1800s, you began to have this idea of spreading across the country, of the manifest destiny of the united states to spread from sea to shining sea. right of god-given america to extend across north america. of course, that is problematic because there are other people who lived here first. the american indian nation.

in this region, it was primarily the dakota. it is a foothold for future expansion. after the fort was established here, nothing was the same. american between indians and this region and the united states government began to change. europeans are arriving because of the first trade. they are interested in exchanging first with the dakotas. they are exchanging first for manufactured goods. the first trade really establishes european presence in the region. fur tradeuse of the that they establish a fortress. they are interested in protecting the fur trade in the area after the war of 1812. the fur trade drives the

economic interest in the region. the dakota had their comedy based on the fur based on the 17 and 1800s. to decline, begins that is when you see a shift in relations between the people. aim. fire. 1851, the treaties were signed in which the dakotas seated over 24 million acres of the land to the united states. by the 1860's, you had divisions within dakota community for those who want to acculturated and those who did not. you also had food shortages and you had increasing pressure from immigrants coming into the area.

in 1862, a small group of the dakotas decided to declare were on the united states, attacking civilians, trading posts, settlements. it was a six-week war. result, dakota treaties were aggregated by the united states. the dakota were forced out of minnesota. fort snelling itself became in interment camp for dakota civilians who were awaiting deportation out of the state. of 1862 andter 1863, between 1600 and 1700 dakota men, women, and children, primarily women and children, were held here. because of the living conditions and poor quarters, many died. there were acts of violence against people in the concentration camp. it was a horrible place for

them. the u.s. effort to remove the dakota from minnesota. what is really tragic ironic is this place, which for many dakotas is seen as a place of the birth of their people, is also a place of their confinement in a concentration camp and genocide. it's important when you think about the story and history of the region that you think beyond the wall of fort snelling. that is what we try to do here, push people to think more about, what does it mean when all of these cultures come together? what perspectives do they have on these events? you can look at a single event from history from multiple perspectives and that helps us think about the world we live in today. how can we see things through someone else's eyes?

you can look at the fort in multiple ways. you can look at it is the expansion of the united states and the pioneer spirit, moving west, conquering the wilderness, or you can look at it as a place of internment for the dakota that were here because of the u.s.-dakota war of 1862. it as theok at colonization of native lands by the united states government. there is also the story of african, both free and enslave. place supposed to be a free of slavery and you have the existence of slavery alongside free africans. it is a wonderful way to explore the complexity of history and out events in the past, people's choices and decisions, shape the world we live in today. right now we are inside one of the first squad rooms and stone barracks. the stone barracks where the

home for the enlisted men. several barracks were here further quarters. he's barracks were used from the 1820's all the way up through the civil war. today they are furnished like they would have been in the 1820's. you can see the equipment, uniform items, weaponry. all of these things would have been used here by soldiers in that early area during the 1830's. this would have been home to 12 men, 11 private sign one corporal. -- privates and one corporal. one thing people immediately notice is that there are only six beds. prior to the civil war, soldiers were required to sleep two soldiers to a red box. the army wants to maximize space and cut down on fuel power. the more people you can squeeze into small areas, the better for the army.

this is not one of the original buildings. it was one of the original reconstructed buildings built from the 1960's and 1970's. it is built from the same specifications and materials, soy soldier from the 1820's would recognize much of this as what he would have lived in. upwas used all the way through the civil war this way, the only difference being that in 1860 with a would have added a different bunk on top. fort snelling was the rendezvous place for people during the civil war. served duringtans the war. fort snelling was the portal for that. war, they hadthe left the war and returned to civilian life at the fort. the garrison at the fort fluctuated quite a bit depending on the year you are looking at. in the 1820's, most estimates are around 500 people would have been here at the fort. and is about 350 soldiers

150 slaves and enslaved -- free and enslaved people. it fluctuated based on the goals of the army, whether they wanted to have a large garrison of troops here. in 1837, the seminal wars being fought in florida -- seminole wars were being fought in florida and a number of troops were called off from here. over 300,000 men and women has to fort snelling as they were inducted into military service. this was a very busy place throughout its history. we're standing in front of the place that we believe that dred and harriet scott lived between 1806 and 1840. when they hear the story of the enslaved people that were here,

many of them are very surprised. they may have heard of dred scott and high school history, but they did not know he lived here. they did not know that the institution of slavery existed this far north. it really surprises a lot of people. we hope that they came away not only learning about the stories of these people, but knowing that what happened at the fort impacted history. dred scott's experience at the fort provided for the legal case when they sued through their feet -- when they sued for their freedom. the case when all the way to the supreme court. because of the dred scott decision in 1857, it stated that dred and harriet did not have the right to sue in court african-americans

they were not citizens of the united states and the missouri compromise, which limited where slavery could exist in the country, was unconstitutional because it prohibited people in the rights to property. time, slaves were considered property and not people. the dred scott decision furthered the divide between the north and south in the years prior to the civil war. one of the direct causes leading up to the rupture in the 1860's had its origin at fort snelling with dred scott. evidence about daily lives of the enslaved people at fort snelling was very scarce, but we believe they were primarily were involved in domestic slavery, doing cooking, cleaning, domestic chores for their owners. eded and harriet scott -- dr and harriet scott belongs to a

surgeon. they would have been living in his kitchen, the workspace. in domestic slavery, typically enslaved people working under that type of condition would have been living inside the places that they worked. ,long the officers quarters dine the basement kitchen, that is where we believe a lot of the majority of the slave people would have been working and living. it is arguable that this is the place that had the first major african-american community in what would become minnesota by virtue of the enslaved population that was living here. if you look at it simply as a you do notrt and have the context on it, you miss out on the important role that it played not just in minnesota, but a national history. you miss the narrative. you miss the whole point of this being here. if you don't have that large

bracket around it, you will miss out on all the other stories that shape the history. they may not have realized it at the time, but what those people did shaped the world that their descendents would live in. the world we live in now was shape i what people were doing then. was shaped of it -- by what people were doing then. if we think of it that way, it is a complex, diverse story. >> the c-span cities tour takes books tv and american history tv on the road, traveling to u.s. cities to learn about their history and literary life. we partner with comcast for a visit to st. paul, minnesota. st. paul in the 1930's, i would not call at las vegas but it was a very lively city because the gangsters brought their gun molls. during prohibition, you had the

biggest jazz artists of the decade here in st. paul. it was a very lively place partially because the gangsters were welcomed here. virtually every major gangster kidnapper, and bank robber in america lived and worked with in a three-block radius of where we are standing today. john dillinger, baby faced alivin creepy carpus. there are no statues of these gangsters, but this was the epicenter of 1930's crime in the area of john dillinger. the fbi had this building with their headquarters. this is also the building were bootleggers and bank robbers were tried and sent to alcatraz, leavenworth prison, and other prisons across america. it is where it began and where it ended. we're standing here at historic fort snelling and we are looking

over the junction of the minnesota and mississippi rivers -- missouri rivers. the fortis connected in the creation of st. paul. in the 1830's, their groups of settlers that were moving -- living on the property. the army had enough of competing them from -- the settlers moved to the other side and formed the nucleus of the city of st. paul. when you think about the history, when you think the on the walls of fort snelling, and that is what we try to do, push people to think about what it means when all of these people came together, what perspectives to they have on this historic events? >> watch all of our events from st. paul throughout the day on book tv and sunday afternoon on

american history tv on c-span 3. >> history bookshelf features popular american history writers every weekend at this time. in september 1849, harriet tubman escaped from slavery in maryland and fled to philadelphia. over the next decade, she became o saint /* st. pa >> in harriet tubman the road to freedom they write about her escape and details her time as scout, spy and nurse for the union army. they discuss it from march 2004. >> thank you. good e