. on sunday, april 19 >> american history tv was live thursday at appomattox courthouse, the site where robert e lee surrendered to ulysses s. grant. next, the commemorative ceremony marking the time, 150 years ago that grant and we met to discuss terms of surrender. ed aires hosts. and part of the program reenactments of grant's arrival and lee's departure.

>> my name is robin snyder and it is my honor to welcome each and every one of you on this historic day in our nation's history. this courthouse village stands as not just a symbol of war's and, but a place of departure for a transformed nation. the significance of what took place here settle the issue of who would be the victors of the american civil war, but many questions remained unanswered. soldiers echoed their thoughts and letters and diary entries. letters of union soldiers reflected jubilation, but also concerned.

in the front lines of appomattox from james mulligan, he wrote though the army of northern virginia is ours, still grave questions remain to be settled for which god alone can give wisdom and guidance. the confederate artillery private berkeley, recorded a diary entry on april 11 after confirming that lee had surrendered his army. " surely, the last 24 hours has been a day of intense mental anxiety. thousands of thoughts have passed through my mind as to what awaits my country, my family, my neighbors, my friends and myself.

and several months earlier, morgan carter was in the 28th colors troop and expressed his concerns and a letter home. you know, we have been trampled under the white man's heels, and we have a choice to elevate ourselves and what i can do toward it i will do willingly. if i should die before i receive the benefit of it i will have the constellation of knowing -- consolation of knowing that the generations to come will receive the blessing of it. that is the duty of all men of our race to do with they can. the diaries and letters of these soldiers reflect uncertainty but also hope. hope is our path as a nation and it is central to the story of

appomattox. when lee, when grant said the confederate soldiers could carry back their horses and baggage, they fueled their hope. we said that his army would not scatter to the countryside to fight a guerrilla war, he embodied the hope of lincoln grant, and other soldiers, that the conflict would end quickly and with ceremony, rather than slowly and with destruction. for slaves, appomattox represented the realization that the dreams of freedom and field new hope that the path forward would bring us this and inequality. -- justice and equality. as we gather and reflect on this immense event, played out in this village, let us take hope from the events we recall and

strength from the people we know walked on this ground 150 years ago. let us remember that the hope of a moment often requires the efforts of generations to realize. in that way, we remain active participants in our nation's efforts to realize the hopes and aspirations of born out of appomattox 150 years ago, today. at this time i would like to introduce to you patrick mendonca, senior director of the office of the postmaster general. career postal employee, we are fortunate to have -- patrick join us for this event. [applause]

>> good afternoon, thank you for that kind introduction. i would like to first think the national park service and postal service for this very fine preparation, recognize a couple colleagues from the district, district office. ed shaven and postmaster --, thank you for being here. i am honored to be here representing the u.s. postal service as we dedicate the final two stamps of our civil war series. it is a humbling experience to be at the site where 150 years ago, general robert e lee surrendered his army to do --

to ulysses s. grant. the setting is fitting because we come for cervical -- full circle with our stamp series. years ago, we started with our fort sumter stamp. also, our bull run stamp. the union army, artillery shells struck mr. mccain's kitchen and left it in ruin. after the second battle of bull run, esther mccain moved his family to a quiet country town called appomattox. his family lived peacefully until april 8, 1865 when charles marshall asked him to show him a place suitable for robert e lee

and another general to me. at first the idea was rejected but eventually mr. mccain offered his house. it would not have happened if not for a battle that had taken place in virginia, the battle of five forts. this battle was a decisive clash that forced confederate to abandon their capital and led to the surrender of the army of northern virginia. today, the united states postal service is pleased and proud to conclude the series by issuing two new stamps, one that the picks the battle of -- it depicts the battle of five forts, and also the surrender of robert e lee to ulysses s. grant at the courthouse. using historic image of his --

images, we created the stamps we dedicate today. the battle of five forts stamps features a richer -- reproduction of a painting, the artist best known for creating the 360 degrees in battle of gettysburg that went on display in 1863 and can be seen at the gettysburg -- park. and the other stamp is by thomas nash, the political cartoonist to popularized the donkey as representative of the democratic party, and the elephant of the republican party. this is done on the size of a postage stamp. from the state forward, this image of historical events will be carried on letters and packages to millions of households and businesses throughout the united states. on a personal note, i

experienced and finally remembered the centennial of the civil war, my first teacher who had something on it. it demonstrated to me how exciting the history of our nation is and how much we can learn from it. my daughter went to gettysburg college, my wife and son went to shepherd university, so the civil war has always been close to my family. let me state that in issuing these stamps, the unite states postal service has been proud to participate in a valuable effort to commemorate a critical area of our nation's history. on behalf of the u.s. postal service, i will ask robin to come up and help us unveil the stamps. [applause]

>> 1, 2, 3. [applause] [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, we will make a stage change here. we will make a stage change and then we will get to our program on the surrender of robert e lee

grant -- robert e lee and ulysses s. grant. if you will just give us a moment. [no audio]

[chatter amongst audience] >> ten hut!

>> shoulders arms. present arms. >> where are they going? >> good afternoon ladies and human -- ladies and gentlemen

on april 9 1855, ulysses s grant and a small group of officers arrived here. if you look to the right 150 years ago -- [no audio] >> after he arrived, general grant dismounted and moved

directly up the steps of the house. he disappeared into the home to discuss with robert e lee the surrender of the army of northern virginia. [indiscernible] [no audio]

[dog barking] >> robert e lee had arrived about a half hour prior to grant and was already in the parlor awaiting his arrival. for the next hour and 15 minutes, we will talk about this event, 150 years ago to the minute after it happened. robert e lee was accompanied by charles marshall, one of his aides. this grant was accompanied by -- s grant was accompanied -- grant was accompanied by his aid parker and a dozen or so other officers. they were there to negotiate

record, and defined the terms of surrender. today, 150 years ago to this minute we will revisit that afternoon in the mclean parlor. we remember it, assisted by descendents of those who were there that day. and we look for a larger meaning , for our nation and its people. at about five minutes after 3:00 today, after lead to parts of the house -- after lee the parts -- departs, there will be -- upon this land, and across the country there will be bells

ringing. the liberty bell will ring at 3:15. and the bell in the state capital and richmond and every firehouse in chicago and the hundreds of churches across our nation. the first of those bells will ring here, just a few minutes before 3:15. the bells will ring across the land for four minutes, one minute for each year of the war. we hope that after lee the parts -- departs, you will stay with us. now we began. appomattox courthouse, early 1855 -- 1865, appomattox courthouse was not unlike other communities in america.

travelers came by lynchburg road for decades. he served as the villages postmaster and pharmacist. appomattox county was the county seat. it is an undeniable curiosity that the virginia legislator created appomattox county and designated this village as the seat. it is undeniable that local leaders decided to build the jail before they built the courthouse. once the courthouse opened in 1846, appomattox found that rhythm that persisted for decades. citizens gathered once a month to conduct business, run for office, sell goods, sell slaves.

to witness court proceedings. it is likely and perhaps probable that appomattox's famous people at that time was the sweeney family, a band. and sir hicks went about his business and 1865, he was rounding up deserters. and george pierce lives across from surrender triangle, he was the county clerk. and -- lives across from the house, he was the commonwealth's return -- attorney. and be on the farms, -- beyond the farms, many people cultivated.

indeed the slaves that worked here were worth almost twice as much as the land they worked upon. their homes, log buildings dozens of barnes in the village it is likely that by 1865, many women and men and children had heard of the emancipation proclamation. the union army and the freedom that would accompany it had always been miles and miles away from appomattox, until april 1865. >> in a town like this, new neighbors met big excitement. they seem to come along only once a decade or so. and wilbur mclean, his wife virginia, his son and their young daughter lulu arrived here in 1863.

the curiosity was surely intensified. appomattox had experienced war from only afar, the mclean's moved here from the midst of it. a close reading of confederate newspapers and 1861 would have rendered the locals here familiar with the mclean name long before the family arrived. mr. mclean had married well and in 1861, and has pursue as a -- in his pursuit as a merchant he found a plantation in bull run. there he formed his name and became moderately famous during the first major battles of the civil war. to general beauregard, he had made it mclean's house his headquarters during the first part of the war. and he mentioned it in his report.

mclean was no --, so far as celebrities went, but he likely arrived in appomattox with the tengion of fame. wilbur mclean had a root -- deep relationship with the war and the confederacy. threatened his home and his family along bull run and his livelihood depended on the confederacy. he did good business, supplying the confederate army. and with the various goods and services, he reinvested some of his profit back into the confederacy, buying hundreds of dollars worth of confederate bonds. in early 1862, when the confederate departed norther virginia, so did the mclean's. at least his business. he sent his family and slaves away for security fate -- sake and after the second battle of

manassas, he decided to leave the altogether. the decision brought him -- to appomattox, a place that had seen none of the war and had felt only hardship through the letters home. wilmer mclean and his family and slaves moved into the comfortable brick house next to us here. there, mclean would disappear from history, and till april 9 1865 when one of robert e lee's staff officers encountered him in the village. >> robert e lee, april of 1865 he was the most famous man not just an america, but perhaps in

the world. the name has come to us as a man of marvel. a product of dignity and boldness. but there is more to him than that. he was deeply analytical and saw the implications of his acts more clearly than his admirers did. he became unshakable he committed to the success of the confederacy, for sustaining the differences between north and south by forging a new independent nation. and he did perhaps more than anyone else, came close to make it happen. robert e lee spent -- successes, perhaps unmatched in our history. his battles, every one of them spectacular. his victories brought him fame

but more importantly they brought the confederacy --. while he won victories in virginia around the war effort, it stumbled. by 1863 we had a place in the public mind. he knew well the victories by his army, they were the beacon of hope for the confederacy. he knew that he was challenging the will of the northern people. the psychological impact of his successes would far out stretch the military value. his every decision, his every act, was purposeful. something for a decisive blow that would tip the set -- scales. that victory would never come. but still, the confederacy hoped and believed. soldiers from south there --

south carolina declared, no one can excite our enthusiasm like he does. another soldier says, it makes one feel better to look at him. unlike many of his opponent, lee spent little time worrying about what union generals might do to him. instead, he was taken about what he could do for -- to union generals and their armies. his mind put for that crazy initiative and he was most effective when he was --. and that he largely did intimate 1864 when ulysses s. grant arrived in virginia. >> unlikely, there would be few descriptions of ulysses s. grant , commander of all union armies. one veteran officer described him as an military slouchy western looking. very ordinary, in fact. a private soldier who saw him

said he rode his horse like a bag of meal. another noted, and walking, he leaned forward and toddled. it could not have been more different than robert e lee. at the time the armies arrived at appomattox, he might have been only slightly less famous than his opponent. certainly he had become a central figure to his nation's aspirations, as only was to the confederacy. -- adams junior, a grandson of the president, talked about grant's awkward ways, but saw the man within. " he is a remarkable man. he handles those around him

quietly and well. he has a faculty president lincoln recognized his skill, but especially admired his persistent purpose. he had the great of a bulldog. another officer put it in more colorful terms. he wears an expression as if he is determined to drive his head through a brick wall, and was about to do it. general grant attached himself to the armies of the potomac in 1864, and set about taking the initiative from robert he we -- robert e lee. it was an army larger than the army of northern virginia.

it intersected here at appomattox courthouse, not far from the home of the newcomer. >> grant first proposed surrender near farmville on april 7. lee danced around the issue trying to buy time.

on that morning how he portrayed himself in defeat mattered a great deal. lee dressed in a new uniform and sash. something he rarely did. at some point, she received a word east of the appomattox that the army could not break through union lines. on dozens of fields, lee always had options, but no more. there is nothing left for me to do, he said, then to go to general grant. and i would rather die a thousand deaths. lee sent threethrough the lines to grant. the last one was direct. i ask for an extension of

possibility and surrender of this army. at 10:30 april 9, 1865, the guns of the armies fell silent. lee waited for a response under an apple tree along the road near the narrow banks of the appomattox river, about a mile from us. not far from the banjo playing at their home. for a time, the general fell asleep, he awaited word from grant. before 1:00, an officer bearing a flag of truce and a note from grant arrived at the apple tree headquarters. the note informed lee, i will push forward to the front. it is my pleasure to call forth patrick schroeder.

he is a historian the national park service. he will carry our story from the apple tree to this minute. [applause] patrick schroeder: thank you john. think of all of you for being in attendance today to her this important date in our history. the union officer carrying grants letter was lieutenant cap -- lieutenant -- they found lee resting under the apple tree by the appomattox river. grants message directed lee to find a suitable place for the meeting to occur. lee only had one lieutenant with him.

and one orderly named joshua johns. lee refused to duck the responsibility himself. attending the meeting in person grant offered to save leave a humiliation by stating that he would meet with anybody that lee designated. lee's father had been with washington at yorktown, and witnessed what he deemed to be the shameful behavior of colonel wallace, by sending a subordinate to formally surrender the british army. lee would not shame the family name by transferring the

responsibility to a subordinate. as the party left the apple tree and reached the appomattox river, lee's forces stopped to drink. marshall continued into the village behind us. he encountered wilmer mclean, who is outside of his house perhaps looking to have a guard posted at his home. mclean first showed in the building, most likely in the front corner of his yard, the rain tavern as it was known. the building was unfurnished and marshall rejected it. mclean offered his own home which stands behind us. it was a fine brick home. marshall returned to guide lead to the location. the party arrived at the house

at about 1:00. they left lieutenant done at the gate. he was posted there to watch for the approach of grant. joshua johns held the horses of lee and marshall outside the house, probably in this area. babcock, marshall, and lee entered the house and took seats in the parlor. lee's biographers suggests that this may have been the longest half hour of his life. after writing for more than 20 miles, grant arrived with the staff intel at about 1:30 in the afternoon. he picked up general sheridan at the top of the ridge in front of you. on his way to the mclean house. in fact, he asked sheridan where

general the was and sheridan said he is over at that house waiting to surrender to you. he invited sheridan to come along with him. when grant enters the parlor, the rose and met him. the two men shook hands. there was a contrast between the men. general lee put on a new uniform that day, said he expected to be general grant prisoner and wanted to make his best appearance. general grant was never a fancy dresser. he had just rover 20 miles

virginia roads. as you probably experienced today. lee road only about 1.5 miles to this meeting. grant explained that he did not have baggage with them, and he did not want to make general lee wait. generally -- general lee arrived at the meeting. they found common ground. they discussed meeting and the mexican war. generally recalled that they had

met. as the generals are speaking, general grants staff of files into the room. after some time a conversation about mexico, lee called grant seduction -- grants protection to the matters at hand. grant replied the terms of be substantially the same as what he had wrote. lee asked grant to put his terms in writing. lee sat down near a large white table. while puffing on a cigar grant set at a wooden table with an oval top and began writing in pencil in his order book. observing lee as he wrote, grant said he could not discern lee's feelings. he said the initial joy he felt that receiving lee's letter

wanting to meet with him to surrender had dissipated. now he felt sad and depressed. grant had met lincoln on it -- on march 28 to discuss the end of the war. lincoln had said, let them off easy. after all, these men would become worthy united states citizens again. grant was generous. he was not going to send confederate soldiers to prison camp. they would be paroled and allowed to go home. officers were allowed to keep their side arms and personal baggage. and their private horses. with the terms written lee would not have to surrender his sword, he would not suffer that humiliation. after reading these generous

terms, lee said, this will have a happy affect upon my army. that he inquired if the enlisted men could keep their horses, as well. grant stated that the terms did not allow this and lee acknowledged that they did not. grant was perceptive and caught lee's anxiety on the matter, and he acted quickly. he was not going to make lee bank for it. -- lee bank -- lee beg for it. he assumed that many of the men were small farmers and they needed the horses. he stated that he would not change the terms as written but would give instructions to allow the confederate soldiers take horses home to work their farms. grant understood that this meeting was about the future of

the country. lee responded, this will have the best possible effect on my army. lee found the terms agreeable. the task of putting the final draft into ink fell to lieutenant colonel parker. a native american of the seneca people. who was said to have the best penmanship on general grants staff. parker sat down to write, but he lacked ink. charles marshall alleviated the problem by producing and ink stand for parker. parker wrote beautifully in the final copy, which is on loan to the national park here and appomattox, is on display in our visitor center.

marshall was tasked with writing the acceptance letter of the terms. marshall lacked paper. grant's staff quickly produce paper for colonel marshall. right there in the parlor, you already have the interdependency between the north and the south. while waiting for the final letters to be completed, lee mentioned that he had 1000 of grant's men prisoners. mainly captured at highbridge. lee dropped another large hint, saying that he had no food for grant's men and had nothing for his own men. no food for his own men. grant responded that he could send over 25,000 rations to feed the army. lee gratefully acknowledged that that was ample.

while drafting the letters he introduced some of the officers in the room. including general seth williams. general the new seth williams well. williams had been an accident when lee was superintendent at the united states military academy at west point from 1852-1855. another person that general grant introduced was a young captain that had joined his staff less than one month earlier. his name was robert lincoln. he was the son of abraham lincoln, recently graduated from harvard and joined general grant's staff in mid-march. we don't have a record of how general lee reacted to meeting robert lincoln.

the daughter of wilmer mclean left it all on the couch in the parlor where the meeting occurred. when everybody came in, they placed the doll the mantle. afterward, the officer started tossing the ragdoll around. it was kept as a bore souvenir by captain thomas moore. they called it the silent witness. the family kept that doll in new york, and they would exhibited as a war souvenir. in the early 1990's, the ladies of the family wanted that doll to come back to appomattox courthouse. it is now on the second level of our museum. once the letters were finished, they were exchanged. the commanders did not sign one

document, they simply exchanged letters. the meeting concluding, lee and grant shook hands general lee went onto the porch. once lee mounted grant came out of the house and tipped his hat to leave. be returned that gesture and began to write to his army. upon approaching his men, and appomattox river valley, general lee informed them that they had been surrendered. they told them to go home and make as good citizens as you have soldiers. went general grant left mclean house, he heard the separate -- celebratory firing of muskets and cannons being discharged. he ordered the firing stop.

he said the rebels are our countrymen again. when the meeting concluded, a path was set for the future of the nation. when the meeting concluded, it meant that after four years of slaughter, americans would stop butchering americans. they would be a lasting peace and a more permanent binding for the nation. lee's letter of acceptance of grant's terms made the emancipation proclamation effective throughout virginia. i firmly believe and agree with what a west virginia soldier, and infantrymen named cunningham , who was present at the battle of appomattox courthouse on april 9, 1865, when he wrote home to his family in a letter. the letter stated, april 9 is

the greatest day in american history. thank you. [applause] john hennessy: descendents carry a sense of celebrity. we are honored today to welcome a slew of notable people, we are happy to feature one of them once again. a man who is dissented from the only confederate officer who

accompanied lee into the parlor. dennis bigelow is the great great grandson of charles marshall. as it said, the only officer to join lee in the house. on most days, mr. bigelow works as a costume interpreter for james monroe. we asked dennis if you would share with you his perspective of having a family connection to historic events. [applause]

dennis bigelow: you don't need to repeat of what you have already heard about the surrender, so i'm not going to read that of grandfather marshals book. i think you would like to hear this. punctuated by the laws of the armies of northern virginia on april 6, with confederate general gordon having been stopped dead by ac of general sheridan's blue coats on the morning of the ninth general lee new his shrinking army could not remain whole. and could not break out. that after four years of arduous

service marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the army of northern virginia must yield to overwhelming numbers and resources. in the wee hours of april 9 general these aid -- general these aid and fellow -- general lee's aides took their only refreshment of the day, cornmeal gruel they shared. grandfather marshall noted later that this was our last meal in the confederacy. our next was taken in the united states. [applause]

the agreement of surrender 150 years ago was the culmination of seven letters between general grant and generally, exchanges initiated by grant on the seventh and closed by grant on the morning of the ninth. the number seven, which might be seen as the number of completion if not perfection. grandfather marshall noticed that here, on the ninth of april, at the little village of appomattox, when general lee met general grant, the question of the into nine bull you didn't of this -- of the into deniable --

[applause] what was never be forgotten here was the conduct of victorious americans in blue to word defeatist americans in gray, particularly, marshall said, of the federal. they loved their enemy and did the -- did good to those who hated them. this kindness and magnanimity from the ninth to the 12th, from agreement of terms, from the conduct of general grant to the gracious spirit of general

chamberlain, from the soldiers of the blue toward the gray from the strong to the broken and lifting them up, forever molded charles marshall's life after appomattox, making him a peacemaker and he readily alluded -- blessed are the peacemakers, for they are the children of god. [applause] and so, after that, he became the peacemaker among the diehards of the lost cause renewing him as a citizen of the united states of america. he did that until he died in

1902. before he died, in 1892, a memorial day, he was asked to give a keynote speech before grant's tomb that he may carry on the work of peacemaking which is our job today. [applause] john hennessy: thank you dennis. it is probably at this moment 150 years ago that lieutenant colonel parker of grant's staff was transcribing the final terms of the surrender for grant signature. a copy of the surrender document is on display in the visitor

center. we met this morning a number of descendents, including a great great grand nephew of eli parker, seneca indian who would become somewhat famous for what he did here, but would remain legendary for a story told earlier today, when we met parker at the conclusion of the meeting he wondered or flinched or wondered at the presence of a man in the broom who is not white. after he recovered himself, lee looked at eli parker, extended his hand and said i'm glad to see one real american. unite parker grasped his hand and told the confederate general

, the general, the man at appomattox, the man at appomattox who probably had more cause to doubt his status as an american, being assured of his status as an american by a man who had had to strive hard to be seen as an american. ui parker shook his hand and said, we are all americans today. i would like to take this moment to introduce you just briefly to acknowledge his presence here. al parker, who is the great great grand nephew of eli parker of the seneca nation. [applause]

>> in the seneca language, i wish to acknowledge everybody who is here today. al parker: wonderful time, tremendous commemoration, it is an honor to represent the parker family and take part in this commemorative event. thank you very much. thank you. [applause] john hennessy: all of us who work for the national park service, many of us have done many events over the 150th. we are in all at the number of people here. we thank you very much for being here. we have looked at the afternoon of april 9, 1865. as this meeting wound down, it's

time to take a step back and see the events through a larger lens. we are honored to welcome dr. edward ayers. some of you have met him before, if you are in a sultry heat at manassas, he gave the keynote address at manassas on that date. it seems a very, very, very long time ago. he was more recently a driving force behind the outstanding events in richmond last weekend commemorating the fall of richmond. dr. edward ayers is one of america's preeminent civil war historians and i do not say that lightly. he is one notch is of impeccable scholarship, but reaching people beyond academia.

he roots out untold stories amplifies voices unheard, and he constantly challenges us to see events in new ways, always with a sense of historical justice for those who were there. perhaps more than any historian working in the field, he helped us assign meaning to events that were almost always far more complex and far-reaching than we imagined them to be. he is retiring from the university of richmond this summer. while it is a great loss to the university, the prospect of dr. ayers devoting his energies to history is good news for the rest of us. it is my pleasure to introduce to you dr. edward ayers. [applause] edward l. ayers: thank you. there are indeed very many of you. i can see where everybody is from by the baseball cap or it

everything from boston to mississippi. it seems very fitting. i'm going to take a few moments to think about what it has meant for this country to have a national park service step up throughout the sesquicentennial day after day to make the sites available to us, comprehensible to us, welcoming to us. it was approximately 800 degrees. i also had the good fortune of being at fort sumter the evening before the firing. i was a gettysburg where was also hot. as john mentioned, we had thousands of people in richmond to commemorate what it was like when the confederates fled that city, and color troops came into it.

it is one of the more powerful moments of my life. i am noble by the drums. it has been a long war. i'm going to say -- i would like to take this moment to thank the folks from the national park service for the remarkable work. [applause] [drumming] [indiscernible]

i feel a great sense of responsibility at this moment, what could it possibly say? the meaning of these events seem firmly embedded in our national story. there is a reason all of you came here, to see the story that you know. in our national understanding, appomattox is america at its best. the drama on this landscape showed americans to be principled generous, and fundamentally decent. the shaking of hands the [indiscernible] all of those things tell us that the bloodletting of the previous four years it was the equivalent

of 8 million people died had been an anomaly. the stories of confederate soldiers and of them melting away suddenly civilians back to their homes has reassured generations of americans that americans are different from other nations. we are fundamentally on more like, fundamentally unified. this is the story in our textbooks. this is the story we teach our children, this is story of our best sellers. we like it because it shows us at our best selves. it elevates soldiers into men of discipline, principled restraint, and courage. it allows everybody to be a hero. even an icon. that general grant himself did much to create this version to create the story. here is what he wrote in his

memoirs dieting in upstate new york desperate to tell the story of the civil war. he recalled that unnecessary humiliation of confederates. they were now prisoners, we did not want to exalt over their downfall. indeed, as you heard from patrick, grant's feelings which had been quite jubilant, were sad and depressed. i felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the downfall of a folk who fought so long and valiantly and had suffered so much. there's just a -- there is just the comma, not a semicolon, not

a dash, not a period. in one sentence, granted saying that he felt -- grant is saying that he felt sad and depressed. and that his foes suffered so much that the cause was the worst for which have people ever thought. that is the feeling that all americans have to wrestle with from that day on. it is a remarkable -- self-contradictory. it is non sequitur that has defined our understanding of this event ever since. the cause could not have been worse and there is no excuse for that fight and yet, the man who led the fight, has fought long and valiantly. the cause the grant identified was the dismantling of the united states. the world's most hopeful

democracy to create a new nation that would be explicitly based on slavery. it was that severing of the cause and the fight that established the bargain that the white north and the white south would hold onto for generations. despite the terrible cause quote i do not -- sincerity. indeed, who could have doubted the sincerity of the confederacy, who it let itself to death and pursuit of that cause. the confederacy was profoundly sincere, the soldiers were sincere in their longing to leave the united states, sincere in their hatred of what they saw as an invading army, sincere in their hatred of the abolitionist

and a black republicans that they blamed for starting the war, sincere and there believe that they had the best army and the best general. they were never shaken and those believes all the way up to appomattox and beyond for generations. so general grant was right, not to doubt their sincerity. now, general grant's betrayal at appomattox gave the white south what it most wanted and thought it had earned. respect. the soldiers were not fooled into fighting, they said, we were not traders, they said, but were sincere believers and we have held the same ideals that other americans have held. our own freedom, our own independence, our own rights. they used exactly the same words as the northern counterparts. as a result, the fighting, and the confederate size could be

and was divorced from the worst cause for which people ever fought. they could say they did not fight for slavery, but rather for home and rights. they would say that three fourths of them were not slaveholders, but that all were citizens and soldiers. indeed, the root cause but abraham lincoln said that all they knew was somehow the cause of the war was buried deeply most of the time during the war. the confederates never charged into battle shouting about slavery. their generals never exhorted them to fight over slavery. the fact that the nations they fought to create was based on slavery was not the re--- rallying cry, but it was the reality underneath. while grant, lee, and her comrades, slavery was dying

elsewhere. it had been mortally wounded across the south during the war itself, dissolving everywhere it could dissolve everywhere the united states army one everywhere the slaveholders fled. now, it was dying in a letter city hall in washington, where the 13th and then it passed the u.s. senate the day before grant and lee met here. -- 13th amendment passed the u.s. senate the day before granted lee met here. -- the day before grant met lee here. jefferson davis fleeing into this other night with sherman marching into the southern spring with the confederate army scattered and powerless. despite later fantasies of drill of fighting, that could month be a desperate -- fantasies of guerrilla fighting, he knew the

war was over, the confederacy was over. all of the other confederate generals followed his example. through the bore, slavery and confederacy ended in 1865, nobody could claim to know what would come next. everything was up in the air. when the event that we are commemorating today unfolded. the history that elizabeth avera and has help us to understand here quote, the union victory was one of right over wrong, he believed that his magnanimity no less than his victory vindicated free society and the unions wherefore. his generosity of spirit, he continued to say, this is what the north is actually like. this is the spirit of generosity that we bring. she continued, grant's eyes are

on the future, a future in which southerners chase into every would join the northern brethren in the marsh toward material progress. she sees lee acting differently. by contrast, he believes that the union victory was one of might over right and if you listen, to the orders that you just heard, it is that we have succumbed to superior numbers and resources. it does not say we have succumbed to a better purpose. in his view, southerners have nothing to repent of and have survived the war with her honors and principles intact. he was intent on restoration, on turning the clock back as much as possible to the days where virginia led the nation and before sexual extremism alienated the north from the south. each man believe that he was on the high moral ground, but they were believing that they were on

different high moral ground. for supporters of lincoln and republicans, including abolitionist, blacks, and whites, grant's generosity of spirit proved their moral as well as their superiority. they were giving the south a chance to acknowledge that it was wrong as well as defeatist. for supporters of the confederacy and for the many northern enemies of lincoln and his party, on the other hand these dignity proved that the south could be restored into the nation and whatever slavery became we changed the racial order as little as possible. throughout the war, lincoln's enemies in the north had hauled in the you did as it was and when lee was surrendering here he believed that that is what he was helping restore, the union as it was. both republicans and the democrats, the north and the south, claim victory in the

ceremony, claim vindication for their cause. even though they claimed different things. now it was no accident that lee and grant broke farther and farther apart as the months and years past after this date. the powerful moment we commemorate today which seemed to stand outside of the war and outside of politics became ever more entangled in the messy politics that followed. in fact, appomattox became ever more elevated in our national imagination not because it resolved what followed, but because everybody could see it what they wanted. they could see here their highest aspirations. the white south envisioned nothing like the reconstruction that would follow. based -- they thought that the honorable surrender here meant we fought, we lost, we are back in the united states, they did not imagine that the united

states army would press on with reconstruction, they could not imagine that more would be demanded of them. they saw appomattox as the end as a resolution, not as the beginning of a more profound revolution in american life. they could not have imagined that the same army was gathered here would, in two years help oversee the men who were held in slavery for 250 years up to this day would then become voting men in the south. they could not imagine that the enslaved people all around here in virginia would be insisted upon as being full citizens in the 13th 14th amendments. that is not what they thought that they were surrendering. they did not believe that they were undergoing a revolution in which the north would call the shots in american politics and

public life, for generation after generation to follow. to many people in the north, by contrast, saw appomattox as the cessation of hostility but not as the culmination, the fulfillment of all that the war had been. enemies of slavery new that nearly ended in the gallantly of slavery did not and it spirit -- that free people would have to begin a chance to make lecture themselves with law, with education, with an opportunity to gain property, with the right to the ballot box. and in these they determined it would not be permitted and honored in the white house, and congress, and the supreme court, that it had enjoyed since the founding of the nation. the american south had controlled much of america's history up to the civil war, white north says, no longer. we have won the war, we will now run the nation. grant's generosity of spirit was

a generosity not only of the general, but of a man whose thought he stood for the future. a future in which the south has sacrificed its place of authority in the united states. lee and grant i really expressed their profound disappointment and each other of the next few years. that was one reason the grant became more -- than he had been on the state agency five. he thought that the white south had not fulfilled the spirit of the surrender that he struck here. when he saw the black vote in months of this time, when he saw the rights in memphis and new orleans, when he saw the ku klux klan rise up, grant's says, that is not the spirit of appomattox. that is the spirit of revenge unit that is the spirit of retaliation. that is the spirit of contrary of what we agreed upon. lee, for his part, burned with resentment, that even though he

had surrendered in good faith breaking the board and its purpose is to an end grant and the north continue to present for more and more in the five years after appomattox. the was appalled when grant was elected president of the united states. he wrote that are self government is fast becoming the laughing stock of the world. that is not very long after these events that those are years that were filled with a profound reimagining of what this country might mean. what would it mean, not only of slavery were gone, what would it mean, not only of the north nacelle for unifying, but what would it mean if black americans, 4 million of them, actually had a chance to be full americans? so from these perspective, reconstruction was a violation here to read a bargain that would have restored things close to the way they had been in 1851 as possible. now that's one reason that the

memory of this place has not been stable. people did not immediately flock to this as the kind of shrine that it is today. african-americans celebrated this place first because of the role of the united states colored troops here. the white southerners are much more ambivalent. this was not a place that white southerners thought -- that is one reason that appomattox did not become a national park site until 1950. so it takes a long time to people to decide that what this place means -- and it may not be in accident that it is in the wake of world war ii -- it takes them that long to decide, yes, this is the place that we want to remember the best that america is. this is the place we want to remember what america became reunited. so the debates have never stop, you may not be surprised to know that historians still argue about these things. that is because people see in these events both testimony to

american shared greatness and testimony to processes unfulfilled. both of those things are real. let me be clear. it mattered enormously that the death and the suffering and the chaos in these years as it in this year. it did matter that the union army was gracious, it did matter that the confederates went home peacefully. most civil lars as we can see in our television sets every day do not end this way. most civil war's end with rampant bloodshed and while american politics were forever changed after this, outright more did not resume although many people worried that it should. we should be great for the accompanist miss that happen here. on the other hand, it did matter that fundamental issues of freedom, of rights, and of power could not be settled here.

generations of struggle followed. and still follow. to build those rights for all americans. that is why we all come here. it's that it comes here to remind us of how much sacrifice there was to create a foundation on which we can build. that is why today it is important, it is not merely a celebration, but a commemoration, remembering of just what was at stake here. and what was at stake here was nothing less than the future of the united states and all the people who live in it. at the maddox was not an ending, but a beginning of a long journey on which we are still traveling, in which the best days of the united states life not behind us but before us. thank you very much. [applause]

john hennessy: thank you, dr. ayers. the clock ticks for 3:00. as the meeting between leeann grant did his conclusion, the armies waited under flags of troops sprawled from miles around you. it is likely, that after 10:30 that morning, not shot -- even before official word of the surrender came out, confederates realized what the silence portended. they had risk everything in the risk for independence, and now any chance for reconvene its e.on pride was gone. they south carolinian road the emotion can only be imagined. i cannot describe it. we looked into each other's faces, were blank and fathomless to bear with it, nor said one aware, our hearts were too full for language, we could only murmur stupidly and meaningfully the word surrender, it sounded

like damnation. an artillery man remembered men sopping my children, recovering from convulsions of grief after a severe whipping. another said simply, it was the saddest a of my life. not surprising, more than a few union soldiers called the happiest day of their life. virtually all struggle to find words to describe the moment. chaplain from a pennsylvania resident said, oh, it was grant to be there. patient endurance, and a victory and the defeat, and mismanagement and all the various wound and sunshine of the four years history of the army of the potomac crowded upon my mind. and now, it had its reward. his work is done. and well done. one soldier offered a simple synopsis to his life at home. my dear, i can say now that the war is over and i am still

living. >> the march of death. as we've competed for men continued to die. at precisely the same time, lee and grant were meeting in the house that afternoon bells told in indian house number 20 in philadelphia while mourners gathered at the home of the soldier and firefighter william hoover for his funeral. hoover had been a member of the 99th pennsylvania, of the army of the potomac. in captured in battle. from the philadelphia inquirer the deceased died from exposure while a prisoner in cell is very can north carolina -- cell is very, north carolina. he was a member of the fire engine company never 20. his funeral was largely attended.

the members of the independent engine company in a body with their ambulance followed the remains to the last resting place. the old bell and engine house told the sad news of the death of one of its members. the fall of richmond in the eminent surrender of lee's army while soldiers still toiled and died engendered it uncomfortable mix of joy and sadness among northerners. from the milwaukee sentinel, our foes are flying, but our friends are falling. it is a shame not to rejoice but it is a sin not to weep. it is unjust not to see the victories, but it is cruel not to mourn the dead who died in the sight of what they died for. whether we have their names are

not, we shall have their needs. the deeds of these dead on this field, all around the rebellious regions for all time to come, there will be, they're well this girdle of gray of the republic sacrificial son. they will remain without marble mausoleums and elaborate epitaphs, but they will be sacred. in future ages will draw as many reference as mecca or the pyramid's of egypt. >> as the mental clocks around appomattox courthouse 3:00, that sunday afternoon, the meeting between lee and grant in maclean's parlor came to an end. the two generals rose, they shook hands, lee bowed to the

other officers present and he and charles marshall walked out the front door. when lee crossed the threshold and into maclean's yard, he walked into a landscape awash with jubilation and sadness. for union soldiers union -- jubilation for their effort and sacrifice, joy for the union joy for the promise of home and safety. for slaves, jubilation at the prospect of freedom, although the road ahead seemed unsure indeed. for confederates despair and a cause loss. in the man unrewarded, the reality that they believe appomattox with no more than pride after four years of toil. they would return, the communities and towns often ravaged by war, to the empty

beds and the terror of lost brothers, sons, and fathers. few places have other and body so many emotions at odds as did appomattox, 150 years ago, this moment. but when property crossed that -- when robert e lee crossed the threshold onto the porch, he did more than confront that place of deep emotion, he answered a new world, one in which the southern confederacy was no longer a possibility. the end of slavery was real, and the united states confronted the immense challenges of reconstruction reconciliation, and justice. although few could see it that day, lee's ride from the yard through appomattox to the throes

of his defeated army was not an end at a beginning. the first act in a long national journey that ♪

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we will conclude our program here today with the ringing of this bell. on the morning of april 10, 186

5shgs 5, the day after at mat ox, she was eating her breakfast in new york, suddenly, she recorded our church bell commenced to ring and then the methodist bell and now all the bells in town are ringing. mr. noah clark ran by all excitement and i don't believe he knows who he is or where he is. i saw captain aldridge passing, so i rushed to the window and he waved his hat and i raised the window and i asked them what was the matter and he almost shook my hand off the war is over. we have lee's surrender with his own name signed. five days later caroline richards looked out the same window and saw a group of men gathered around someone reading the morning paper. i feared from their silent, motionless interest that something dreadful had happened. that afternoon, just days after the bells of canondegua had rung

in the aftermath of appomattox the bells rang again to mark the death of america's president. bells have always been a powerful form of public expression. they mark our celebrations and our joys, our triumphs and our tragedies. today in america bells will toll again. at 3:15, the liberty bell will be struck and bells across minnesota and in downtown chicago and in richmond, at the state capital in delaware california kentucky, in georgia and many more, at ebenezer baptist church in atlanta bells will ring. and in churches across our land and schools and courthouses and streetcorners and in national parks. they will ring for four minutes one minute for each year of the

war, a grand, collective gesture in remembrance of the war's end. it is up to us here at appomattox that they're bells across the land. we will ring this bell brought to us by the family of mrs. mccoy who will ring it first today. her ancestors, her great-grandmother were once slaves and her great-great grandmother were once slaves and they acquired this bell after the civil war. we will ring this bell and from here the bells will reverberate across our land. for the first year of the war ending in spring of 1862, the year of manassas and shiloh and the realization that this war would be long and hard i call forth mrs. aura mccoy whose family provided this bell and john griffiths, the great-great

grandson of general ulysses s. grant. [ bell ringing ] [ bell ringing ]

the second year of the war ending in the spring of 1863 the year of an teet up and fredericksburg and the emancipation proclamation i call forth ted campbell of the sons of union veterans, the commander and dennis bigelow, the great great grandson of lieutenant colonel charles marshall who was here at appomattox. [ bell ringing ]lieutenant colonel charles marshall who was here at appomattox. [ bell ringing ]grandson of lieutenant colonel charles marshall who was here at appomattox. [ bell ringing ]lieutenant colonel charles marshall who was here at appomattox. [ bell ringing ]grandson of lieutenant colonel charles marshall who was here at appomattox. [ bell ringing ]eat grandson of lieutenant colonel charles marshall who was here at appomattox. [ bell ringing ]

[ bell ringing ] >> the third year of the war ending in the spring of 1864 the year of gettysburg, vicksburg and the overland campaign. i call forward cadet warren jackson of the virginia military institute who saw so many serve here and alvin parker the

great-great grand nephew of lieutenant colonel eli s. parker. [ bell ringing ] [ bell ringing ]

>> the fourth year of the war ending in the spring of 1865, sherman's march, the toils of petersburg richmond fallen the war's end, relief, grief and rejoicing. i call forth sergeant clark b. hall great-great-grandson of charles h. hall of the 13th mississippi infantry. a u.s. marine corps veteran of vietnam and 1st lieutenant samuel mosley, a korean war veteran and winner of a silver star and a purple heart. [ bell ringing ]

[ bell ringing ]

>> and now at precisely 3:15 on the afternoon of april 9, 2015, bells will ring across america. [ applause ]

>> join american>> history tv for live coverage marking the assassination of abraham lincoln. the president was carried across 10th street to the peterson house, where he died the next morning. we will be live from 10th street tuesday night where ford's theater will create the overnight vigil for president lincoln. historians will keep a candlelight watch on the street and we will hear first-person accounts of the assassination of events. president lincoln's assassination 150 years later,

tuesday night, april 14 at 8:00 p.m. eastern. on sunday, april 19, on c-span3. >> this year, c-span is touring sees across the -- cities across the country. next our visit to tulsa, oklahoma. on c-span3. >> my book, route 66, the mother route, came out in 1990. i was inspired that people kept talking about route 66 in the past tense and i knew 80% of the road is still here. between chicago and santa

monica. some stretches are better than ever. i wrote that book unabashedly as a love letter to the road. more important to the people of the road. eight states. the urban experience is far different than it would be out in the high desert of new mexico or arizona. even in the farmlands of central illinois. here, it is urban.

what you would see on 11th street, a.k.a. route 66 in tulsa, traditionally there are a lot of things related to the road like automotive businesses, garages. some small motels. but you do not necessarily see the kitsch, traveler tourist attractions you will see out in the country like the world largest totem pole or the blue whale or the painted desert, that kind of thing. you had public school. you had all of the route 66 states, america's main street around the corner.

halley's is one of the road warriors -- tally's -- road warriors come from all over the world. you will see businesses along the stretch that if nothing else put route 66 on their sign. be it a car wash or used car lot or sandwich shop or something -- so, now we have the city of tulsa coming out and we are going to fix of the intersection a little bit. this is an incredibly important point on route 66 and an important spot for the city of tulsa, really. this is dedicated to route 66, and especially to a man and adopted tulsan like me named cyrus stevens avery, who we love the road, consider the father of

route 66. that is cyrus avery behind me and that ford with his wife and daughter and he is driving along this new road that he has helped to create that was in veiled in 1926 and he has come across a teamster coming out of the oil patch, hauling crude and the horse is startled by this board. it's not used to seeing it come down the road and it represents the old and the new meeting. that is why this point is so important here to the city and to the road. because this is where we call east meets west, right here, on the banks of the arkansas river. this is where it all happens for tulsa. stephen avery was -- it is often

overused, but he really was a renaissance man. he came to missouri as a young man with his family. came down into rural indian territory. we associate him and his adult life with tulsa, where he became a very important civic and business leader. but most of all, he believed in roads. he liked roads. he came along at a time where we had the good roads movement. we were starting to get more and more automobiles. a teamster could buy one. a farmer could buy one. a schoolteacher could buy one. people took to the roads.

everybody had to get a car. that is where america's love affair with the internal combustion engine began. i do not think that has ever ended, to my dismay. so the people like avery got involved in this movement. he became a highway commissioner. and he tried to get as many roads paved as possible. and of course his biggest triumph was route 66, which came along in 1926 building longer roads, interstate roads. that is what happened with route 66. it is a road that connected with chicago, ran down through illinois, across the ozark plateau, nipped the corner of kansas, came right across the state.

410 miles to the texas line. into the great mojave of california, up through barstow san bernardino, and then into the foothills all the way to pasadena down through hollywood. america's main street was born. i think the best way to look at route 66 is to look at our time period. the layers of the road. it was a road that was born, if you will, when the nation was between wars and on the wagon, the roaring 1920's.

flagpole sitting, marathon dancing, the charleston, blue -- bootleg booze. between the one-two punch of the great depression and the dustbowl west of us, that is when the road began paying its dues. that is when it learned the moniker that john steinbeck gave it in his immortal novel "the grapes of wrath" in 1939. "the mother road." a nurturing road. a ribbon of highway that took in these dustbowl migrants from western oklahoma, the texas panhandle, the southern plains and in this part of the country, took in tenant farmers unemployed, and they got on the road and they headed west

following the scent of orange blossoms and lemons, going to work in the fields in california where they were met with ridicule and clobbered with billy clubs and spittle by border guards and generally reviled as okies or arkies from arkansas. that word was and still is a badge of courage because it still stands for the resiliency of these oklahoma people. and it transitions into that next incarnation, the war years. even before we had gotten into the war, on route 66 and other places in the country, we were

training troops to take on the axis. in oklahoma on route 66, we trained young air cadets to fly spitfires in the battle of britain. some of them died in air accidents up there. you go there today, the graveyards, you will see the graves of young airmen who will be 19 years old forever with a union jack flag by each gravestone. right on the concrete, route 66. the graves of young german and italian soldiers who died of their wounds at a pow camp during the war. out in the mohave, general patton, training his desert warriors to take on rommel in north africa. and that is who supplied those prisoners for our prison camps. those captured troops from north africa, italy, from sicily. it was a remarkable time because on the road, there was not civilian traffic.

there were tire rations. gasoline rations. the whole nation was involved in the war. route 66, filled with troop convoys, our g.i.'s taking one last visit before they shipped out. the war ended, what happened? america had prosperity, of course. those g.i.'s came home. what did they come home to? they came home to the g.i. bill. they got to go to college. they got to buy a house at a good rate. they got to marry their sweetheart. then everybody got a brand-new car. cars were made again. and we had to show our family where we trained at the great lakes or oklahoma or california. and people took to the road and that wartime blended right into

peacetime and into the great long heyday of route 66, late 1940's, throughout the 1950's, 1960's, even into the 1970's. even after president eisenhower in 1956 signed actually the death warrant for the roads, the interstate highway act which led to the creation of five interstate highways that tried to take route 66's place from chicago to santa monica. but it was not until the mid-1980's that the blast shields went down. that is when the decertification was complete. the federal shields were down. now we have the interstate. 55 and 54 and 40 and 10. route 66 went into a bit of a limbo. it is so many things.

the road is so many things. much more than just the physical road itself. for many people. it is traveling and a lot of yuks and buying souvenirs. whatever it takes. but for many people, it is a reminder that progress is good. route 66 can no longer handle the traffic. but along with progress -- you get some things up. >> find out where the c-span cities to her is going next. you're watching american history cour>> who sunday, andrew sullivan

on his writing career and what voters are looking for in a president. andrew: we want somebody who most like stood up for them. i am amazed the degree to which primary voters on both sides are motivated by resentment. the sense of being put upon. those people really do not understand us. and here is a guy who does understand us and he is going to stick it to them. but happens on both sides hillary clinton did her version. i did think that was actually true 30 years ago. resentment is always been a part of politics but the degree to which it is the exclusively motivating factor in committed republicans and democrats. >>