at abigail adams. through conversations with top experts, video towards of historic sites and questions from c-span's audience, we tell the stories of the americas 35 firstly. now -- 45 first ladies. now abigail adams. this is about 90 minutes. >> abigail would grow to be the equal of john adams as confidante and dearest friend. she revealed herself as an 18th-century woman, but her concerns sound very modern to us today. >> john and abigail adams have become so prominent because of these collection of papers. and the publications that have opened them up to the world. >> the story of abigail adams

and the revolutionary war is the story of sacrifice, commitment to country. she rose to the occasion. >> she was opposed to slavery. >> she was quite a behind-the-scenes dynamo,. she said cannot rule without including what women want. >> the backdrop to the occupancy of the white house is one of personal tragedy. >> she is worried about her husband. and defend him against slander. she is concerned about her children their upbringing, their , education. >> she could hold her own with anybody. in her own time and since, she was in every way her husband equal -- her husband's equal. >> born in 1744, abigail smith married john adams at age 19. over 54 years of including a future president. ahead of her time in many ways

and a writer perhaps unparalleled to any first lady, she pens this to her husband during the american revolution -- susan: good evening and welcome to "first ladies." for the next 90 minutes we will be learning more about abigail adams the second first lady of , the united states. we have two guests, authors of numerous books. learning about the items and bringing their writings. edith is the author of numerous books including to abigail adams . and c. james taylor is the editor-in-chief of the "adams papers." thank you to both of you.

abigail adams, just by virtue of the fact of being the wife of the second president and a mother of another president earned her place in history. but you say that she is an historical figure in her own right. how so? edith: primarily because she left us letters and we have a record of her life. the letters are not ordinary. they are extraordinary. they are wonderfully written and there are many of them. abigail was a letter writer at a time when women could not publish for publication. her letters became her outlet and they are the best record we have of women's role in the american revolution. and for the era of very early national government of the united states. susan: last week, we learned that martha washington burned all of her letters.

of correspondence with her husband. only two of them remain. we have the opposite here. thousands of them. explain the scope of the trove of materials that you have to work with as scholars to the writings of the adams family. c. james : the adams family gave to the massachusetts historical society of collection. we have never counted them individually, but probably 70,000 plus documents. probably about 300,000 pages. for abigail and john, there are about 1170 letters they exchanged over the years. susan: how frequently did they write to one another? c. james: depended. when they were together, we do not have any letters after 1801. after john leaves the white house, they're together almost all the time. but for periods when there is fairly regular mail delivery

between massachusetts and philadelphia or later, washington, dc they wrote at , least once a week and sometimes twice a week. susan: this program is an interactive one, which makes it more enjoyable. in about 50 minutes, we will be taking your telephone calls. we will put the numbers on the screen. there are two other ways you can be involved. if you go to twitter, we will include some of your tweets. use the #first ladies. you can also go to facebook and we posted a spot where you can send questions. i'm going to start with a facebook comment. from sofia. "she looks like a tough cookie." by looking at the words of abigail adams was she a tough , cookie? edith: oh, my goodness. yes and no. in fact one of the things that , is important to understand is that she started out as a naive young woman whose expectations

were to have a normal life like her mother did. the revolution disrupted that. her whole life shifted and --. this is one of the reasons she has become so great a model for us as women. she used the opportunities of this disruption in her life to grow as a person. she begins as a naive young woman and she does become a very sophisticated worldly opinionated woman. c. james: i think this is one of the things that makes her most attractive. a good character in a novel develops over time. she's like a good character in a novel she develops. ,susan: what were her roots? where was she born? what was her upbringing such that she became a woman of letters? edith: she was the daughter of a minister, reverend william smith.

her mother was descended from nobility in new england. the clergy and political world of new england, of massachusetts bay colony. her mother's family were nortons and quincy's. she grew up in a household that was quite middle-class for that time and had two sisters and one brother. she was by all reports, sickly as a child and therefore did not go to any kind of public schooling. of which there were a few. but was educated at home by her mother. she read at random in her father's library. susan: in the course of reading her writing, when did she become political? and can you describe her

politics? c. james: i am trying to think. very early on when john is at the continental congress, she craves the news. she wants the newspapers. she wants pamphlets when they are published. one of the things -- she is consuming the news at that time. all of the news was printed. she begins -- by the mid 1770s she is on board. susan: in what capacity what was , her political thinking? c. james: she was an ardent revolutionary she was very , supportive. the fact that john was participating, they were partners. in everything that he did. at some point, he writes to her thanking her for being a partner.

later on, i think she is more conservative than john in some ways when it came to national politics. susan: we will be looking at some of her letters throughout the program. a very famous one was remember the ladies. that is a letter that is of particular interest to you. you write that the scope of it is much more broad. why is that letter significant in understanding abigail adams? edith: the letter does many things. my sense of abigail is that she wrote at night and she would enter a kind of revelry in which she followed her thought pattern wherever she went. she changes topics in her letters. many times. it starts out with a political statement about why the southerners favored slavery and

are still doing a rebellion against the tyranny. and she questions that. and then she goes on and in the middle of a paragraph, remember the ladies. and then goes on further to suggest that if john did not like this idea, it was a remarkable thing because he was actually in a position to do something. to make a change. because he was on the committee that was drafting a declaration of independence. he actually could have made a move for women's rights at that time. it is remarkable that she did suggest that. susan: give us a sense of the role women have in society. at that time. they could not publish under their own name, they certainly couldn't vote. how could women be influential? c. james: it is much more

subtle. in the same way -- many times, a decision is made, people think that the husband makes the decision. well, there is a kitchen table discussion that goes on before that. probably in the adams household, there were a lot of kitchen table discussions between john and abigail. abigail may not have been the most obvious in making the decisions. i think that she influenced john a lot. we know much later after the revolution that she is very influential. in helping him formulate ideas. susan: i want to tell you a little bit about what the country looks like in 1800. we have some statistics we will put on screen to give you some of the scope. for example, by that point, in

the census in 1800 which was done by john marshall went on to the supreme court. and secretary of state james madison. the population was 5.3 million across 16 states. they are around 990,000 blacks. about 19% of the population. only 12% of them free. 5.3 million was a 35% growth in the country. justin 10 years since the 1790 census. the average life expectancy was 39 years. the largest cities were new york, philadelphia, baltimore. what are some of the things we should take away from those statistics? that's caps on of america. -- that snapshot of america. c. james: there is an expansion going on. this is one of the things that is very difficult for the adams because politics are changing and changing politics means they

are new englanders. their federalist. as time goes by, as the population moved south and west, makes it more difficult for politics they believe in. susan: and then, we will invite your telephone calls. i am told you want to read a passage. from one of her letters. edith: i would like to remark on the 39-year life span. that is not exactly accurate to the extent that children died much more rapidly. so that if a child survived to 12, the life span was much longer. many people lived into their 70's, as the adams did. susan: the five children, how many of them survived to adulthood? edith: four. susan: you wanted to read from the letter we talked about earlier? edith: in this particular letter, she was ruminating about

conditions in her life and what was going on in her world. she says, i would like to hear that you have declared independence. she knew john was on the committee. by the way, i desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. which is a bold and remarkable statement for a woman to have made in that era. susan: based on the relationship we have seen detailed in the letters would it have been a , surprising thing for her to say? c. james: no, i don't think so at all. we're back to the kitchen table. i am sure that before he rode off to philadelphia, she filled his ear with a lot of ideas along the way. john knows that there are several groups of people servants, slaves, also moved

during this time to think about their rights and their independence. susan: what was her viewpoint on slavery? c. james: she was opposed to slavery. she had a servant, a black servant, who had been a slave of her fathers. i think the woman -- what was the story? cb -- phoebe. did she have the right to be free after -- i cannot remember. edith: abigail cared for her for the rest of her life. after her parents died. she lived in their house. when they went to europe. susan: the adams business was a farm. how did they manage to work the

farm? what kind of labor did they use? edith: tenant farming. they did have hired labor. it became very problematic for abigail. the whole situation of having labor on the land. i want to go back to the letter. you mentioned john's response to her and what she does in this , letter in addition to saying why is it that southerners can support our revolution when they keep people in slavery? then she goes on and says remember the ladies -- and then she says, if you do not pay attention to this, rebellion. and then it goes on further to say that you should treat us the same way that god treats people. she invokes the hierarchy. in this one letter, she brings up so many ideas. i would suggest that her threat

to ferment a revolution is indicative of one of the ways the adams related to each other. eight east each other. his response to her was a tease -- they teased each other. his response to her was a tease also. one of the ways in which they related, it seems to me. in terms that the escalating an argument, it brings it down to normal. one of the ways in which they related to things to me. susan: how did they meet each other? c. james: they met at her father's house. he went as a dinner guest with a lifelong friend. he then married the elder sister. abigail was not yet 15. at that time john was not enthusiastic about her at first.

apparently, things changed over the years. he was 9 years older than her. he was 23 or 24. edith: he had a girlfriend at the time. c. james: there was an amazing story that he was about to propose to this woman and one of his friends burst in and broke the mood and she went off and married somebody else. it came within a whisker of him proposing to someone else. susan: he was a lawyer. would that have been a profession that her family would have appreciated? edith: the family lore suggested that it was not. when charles francis adams wrote about it, that her family disapproved of her marrying a lawyer. but she was also very young. i think they were being protective. susan: was john political at that point?

did she know she was going to be choosing a life of project that's politics -- a life of politics? edith: no one knew about the revolution. all of this is happening when there is no revolution. there is no revolution on the horizon. he was interested in politics. i think he was running profit by this time. -- running for office. c. james: his trajectory was to be a lawyer in massachusetts. he was following that line. susan: it is important to know because these two were married for 54 years. they were great partners. even though it was not a love match in the beginning, it grew to become one. we have one letter as an example. this is the adorable letter. you will see that next. >> what is so appealing about the family series is the intimacy that the letters

reveal. the earliest extant letter we have dates to october 1762. we call it the miss adorable letter. because that is how john adams opens the letter. it was john writing to abigail. he says by the same order that the bearer sat upon you tonight i hereby order you to give him , as many kisses and as many hours of your company after 9:00 at she shall please to demand. and charge them to my account. and he continues. i presume i have good right to draw upon you for the kisses as i had given two or three millions at least. when one has been received, and of consequence the account , between us is immensely in favor of yours. very teasing affectionate tones. there's just some wonderful

moments in their courtship correspondence. >> fun to bring these founding fathers, people that we see in these two-dimensional poses, come to life and have real personalities. if people were clearly having fun and enjoyed one another. c. james: i think this is one of the most appealing things about john and abigail. they have a life that you can follow because of the documents. you see them in good times and in bad. you see death in the family, you see triumph. it is like "downton abbey." but it's not exactly. it is a wonderful story. it is because we have so many of these documents. there is texture there you don't have with the other founders. susan: based on how you describe her admonitions to john about

remembering the ladies, brenda elliott on twitter wants to know -- would you say abigail adams was the mother of women's rights. edith: one of the things that we know is that women were aware of their subordinate role in the 18th century. because we have those letters, where she writes about this, we know that she was not exemplary. other women in her time were totally agreeing with her. and a colleague. i think that one of the things we have learned in the women's movement in the late 20th early 21st century is that we can trace the movement for women's rights back further and further in history. abigail happens to be an outstanding example because she left us letters that say these things. she was also very eloquent.

not everyone could write like that. she was a wonderful writer. susan: first telephone call. comes from jan in new york city. >> good evening. she certainly was one of the first great american female writers, she was also a poor mother. despite john quincy another son , committed suicide. and another son drank himself to death. susan: what she a good mother? edith: yes, a very good mother. we live in a post-freudian world in which when something goes wrong inside of a family, the mother gets the blame. first of all the children were , living through a revolution. secondly, their father was not at home for 25 years. she was doing it all by herself. she was coping in a situation which was extraordinary.

i think that applying 21st century standards to mothering and even the psychology that has developed in the early 20th century does not fly for the 18th century. susan: mary is up next from california. >> thank you for taking my call. i am interesting in finding out the relationship between abigail and thomas jefferson. did they correspond during john's year of not speaking to each other? i've also heard that abigail had an intimate relationship with him as far as correspondence went. and i'm wondering how true that is. c. james: they were very good friends at one time. the highest point of the relationship was when abigail

was in france and then in england and thomas jefferson was a diplomat abroad at that time. they were very close. as a matter of fact, for a while, while jefferson was in paris and she was in london, they bought goods for one another. they kept accounts for one another. at one point, one of jefferson's younger daughters came from virginia to france but stopped in london and abigail took care of her during that time. during the national. per particularlyiodiod, particularly after the election of 1800, the relationship really fell apart. it was over politics. during that time, abigail was very disappointed with jefferson. susan: next up is matt in wisconsin.

>> i was wondering what some of the intellectual influences on her writing was. at the that she might have read and how they might have influenced her. susan: thank you. did she have influences? edith: she was a great reader. this is the beginning point of learning to write well, to read good literature. she read the bible. c. james: when we do the research on her letters, if she is quoting somebody or citing somebody, we want to identify who is. sometimes she does not use quotation marks. educated people in 18th century a lot of things automatically. i would say the things she quoted most often were things that she referenced with shakespeare, the bible, the classics. susan: this next call is from quincy, massachusetts.

>> hello. congratulations on having this wonderful series on the first ladies. i live in quincy, massachusetts, and we are very lucky see and experience and breathe the adams life up close every day. my comment would be about abigail's sentiment about remembering the ladies. i think she pretty much -- women can change destinies, of nations and the world if they set their mind to it. it is very important because women are the primary factors in bringing up the children.

especially since she did it on the brink of the united states as we know it today. adams was instrumental in the constitution and the forming of this nation. quincy is actually called the birthplace of the american dream. she may not be formally recognized, but she definitely had a very important role in shaping women's place in this country and in history. susan: thank you. observation, rather than a question. the caller was from quincy. we will taking you next to the quincy home as they prepare to tell you the story of the revolutionary times.

in which the adams lived. let's watch. >> the story of abigail adams is a story of sacrifice and commitment to country. abigail rose to the occasion. for the first 10 years, they lived in this home, from 1764-1774. it is where they raise their four children. this is the birthplace of their second child, john quincy adams, who went on to become president of the united states. the primary link between she and john adams would be letter writing. it was from this house that he was provided a window into what was happening back here in the colony of massachusetts. during the revolutionary war. she would report to john about the militia in boston. during the battle of bunker hill, she took her son and she

would watch the battle of bunker hill with her son and report about the fires and smoke. she was the eyes of the revolution to john adams and the second continental congress in philadelphia. we are in the hub of the household. this room in particular could be really considered the classroom for abigail and her four children. during the war, one must remember schools were closed down. the children did not benefit from formal education. it was up to abigail to teach lessons. not only arithmetic and french, but also morality, literature, and what is going on in the revolution. she was their primary educator in the home. this is the room where many lessons would have taken place. she reported to john adams. at one point she began to take

up the works of law and agent history, and she was having john quincy read at least two agents today. i don't know if anyone who has read this history, but for a seven-year-old boy to read this, he had a very good instructor in abigail. there were many refugees leaving from austin into the country had they needed a place to live. abigail adams wanted to open a home next door for these refugees. she rented out the house to a farmer. they would provide assistance on the farm here. she reported to john that was met with ill-treatment. she asked mr. hayes to share his house but he refused. by the time abigail received a response she had solved the problem herself and reported to john later. she had taken care of it and made mr. hayes leave.

there are troops that are marching in her yard practicing their maneuvers and prepping for war. she reports to john that young john quincy is behind the house watching proudly. at one point there were militia living in the upstairs attic and also the second or. she welcomed the militia men to her home and supported the revolutionary war with her actions. susan: the adams life and trajectory puts them into the biggest events of our country. we have a timeline on some of the key points. you can see 1744 when she was born and mary john adams 20 years later. after that, the stamp act. then the boston massacre.

if you are watching that timeline and wanted to ask about how endangered the adams family were living in the midst of this separation. and being sympathizers against the government. edith: for the first decade of their marriage, abigail and john lived together. it was during this decade that the events happened that the events escalated towards war. this was the kind of simultaneous parallel occurrence at the personal level and then the more global political level. during this time, there was not danger. there was danger once lexington and concorde had happened. once there was fighting in the massachusetts bay area. it was dangerous. more than that, they didn't know if there would be danger. they never knew where the next troop deployment was going to happen. she was ready at any minute to

live away from the house, to move inland. and bring them to safety. susan: how much time was she alone while john adams was working on the foundations of the government? edith: from 1774 until 1780 or they were a part most of the time. he came a couple of times for a couple of months, but during that time she was alone on the farm by herself bringing up the children. susan: and she was writing these letters. how concerned with the about his family back in massachusetts? c. james: i think he is very concerned. there is one heart wrenching time when she is pregnant and writing right up until the time that she begins labor, and because of the time and distance -- which is so hard for us to understand now, with our instant communication -- he is writing hoping that she will have a daughter and that everything will be fine. in the meantime, the infant is born dead.

she had a premonition that this was going to happen. while he is writing happily, joyfully, she has buried this child. he knows that she is capable of doing almost anything that a woman or man could do during that time, but there is a certain helplessness on his part. he is so consumed by what he is doing over there, but then he will reflect and send, kiss tommy and johnny. a lot of it is very emotional. susan: when war broke out, i read that she was so supportive that she would do things like how the effort by melting down a cuter -- pewter housewares so that

they could be made into bullets. was that common? edith: sure, people were doing that altogether. i'm going to pass on that. susan: let's take a couple more calls as we learn more about the revolutionary years of the adams family. next is a call from denise in michigan. >> hello. i would like to know if the miniseries from hbo was reflected in any way of how things really where in the sense of family. , i know they did not go too deep into that. i would also like to know, when you talk about five kids, was that the baby who died? was it correct about the sun -- the son drinking? to death. susan: first, the hbo mini series. which brought the adams family to the forefront for a lot of contemporary americans here it --. c. james: it was good history.

part of it was drama also, so you have to understand in order to make it appealing, a little license was taken. generally, it was pretty good history. susan: there was this tweet -- the caller asked about the five children and didn't include the child who died? edith: the child who died was the third child, born before charles. there was abigail jr., then john quincy, then a third child named susana who lived only one year and there is very little reference to this child in their correspondence. we know very little about it. abigail was pregnant at the time of the death of susana. her third child charles was born.

at the end of her life, when her daughter-in-law lost a child, in st. petersburg, abigail wrote to her, and for the first time i have seen, she made reference to having lost a baby daughter. it was a closed topic. susan: the caller also wanted to know about the son who was an alcoholic and died. edith: charles -- people did not know about alcoholism in those days. it was considered sinful. it was not considered a disease. charles is throughout the correspondence treated as a person who was sensitive. from the earliest years, he was sensitive. he went to europe with his father in 1779, and he had to come back because he was home sick. thereafter, every reference about him, is that he was a sweet child, a pleasant child.

but also fragile, and he may have got into trouble when he was in hartford. -- hartford. his life was a regular. c. james: you know from the letters between abigail and her sisters and that they kept an eye on him, that there was a problem. it is never fully discussed. i think one of the things that was difficult for abigail is that her brother was an alcoholic also. and left his family. susan: this viewer on family says, abigail adams sounds most like eleanor roosevelt. if she had been born at a later age, which she had been like eleanor roosevelt? edith: that's very hard. yes, she certainly wasn't, she had all of the attributes of a very dynamic woman who was opinionated and would have had her own goals to pursue. she would have been very influential. she was very influential in the presidency. we know. susan: a lot of historians --

there have been a four surveys of historians over the past decades abigail adams always comes in the number two or number three position as most influential. why? c. james: who would be number one? edith: eleanor roosevelt, i think. why does she end up in the number two spot? c. james: there is a distance in time. people have other images. people are still alive that new eleanor roosevelt. she is modern. if you did a survey now, jacqueline kennedy would probably rate much higher because people know and like her at that time. abigail, the only be we have from her are the letters. susan: and she's still in the number two spot. not bad. she seemed to route this to

hundred years being the second most influential first ladies based on the letters you have been spending your career on. c. james: i think also if you , see her influence on her husband, i do not know there have been many first ladies that have had that kind of influence. susan: what is a specific example of an important policy that you see she worked on him? c. james: i do not know of a particular policy. it is that he consults her all the time. she talks -- her letters at a certain point are divided into two things, this is what is happening with the children, this is what is happening on the farm, here are my thoughts about politics. she shared all the time. by the time he got to be president, and he was not popular with his party, she was his major adviser. susan: we're talking about letters. here is another in a video piece of a letter, add if to

-- abigail to john focus on , virginia. [video clip] >> the remember the ladies letter is a letter everybody knows. this letter and associates it with abigail adams. what is lesser-known and what is fascinating is that the remember the ladies comment comes quite far down in the letter. the first section of her letter to john is questioning and voicing her concerns about virginia's role in the revolutionary war. she writes, what sort of defense virginia can make against our common enemy, whether it is so situated as to make an able defense, are not the gentry lords and the common people of vassals? are they not like the uncivilized natives? she continues, and one of her probably most pointed comments

on slavery -- i am sometimes been ready to think that the passion for liberty cannot be equally strong in the breast of those who have been accustomed to deprive their fellow creatures of theirs. of this i am certain, that it is not founded upon that generous and christian principle of doing to others as we would that others should do unto us. susan: how influential was this opinion about enslaved people on john adams's thinking? c. james: i think john adams had to be more practical. he is in congress. he is dealing with these people. he cannot alienate them. he couldn't eat -- maybe he could because he was outspoken. but he had to help hold this together. it is easy to be a critic when you're not there. i think throughout the first 60 years of the country, people had to tread softly in order to keep the union together. susan: we are going to fast forward.

the country is formed. the washingtons are elected president and serving in new york, then philadelphia. john adams is vice-president. how does he and abigail decide their household? did she move to new york, or philadelphia? how did they arrange all that? edith: john was vice-president for eight years. he moved to new york for one year, because the capital was in new york for the first year. she loved it. she had a beautiful house on the hudson river overlooking the city of manhattan and overlooking new jersey's sore. -- shore. she loved it. she was also happy because her daughter lived nearly -- nearby. then she moved to philadelphia and she spent the entire year ill. it was not the climate for her.

her health was always precarious. she decided after that year in philadelphia, they decided together that she would stay at home. there was no precedent for the first lady and the second lady to be living with the men. it was by choice that martha did it. abigail had the liberty to choose to go home. she did for the next six years. susan: on her illness we learned , last week that the city of philadelphia was decimated at the start of the second washington term with yellow fever. 12% of the population died. did she have an illness related to that? did she have an illness related to that? edith: no. it is very hard to tell. she describes symptoms, but it is hard to put a name on it. she did have rheumatism. beyond that, the symptoms she

describes are very hard to diagnose. susan: there was no role model for being the second lady at the time. but on twitter -- c. james: i am not sure about that. susan: was she a national figure? c. james: no, not at all. she was known because she had been the wife of the minister to great britain -- of the problems they had is that people thought they were monarchical, they had been tainted by their time in europe. i think this is one other interesting things about abigail, she grew up minister's daughter, and then she sat at -- at one point she is at versailles, so she is a much more sophisticated person.

much more so than martha washington. martha washington was american elite abigail was international. ,susan: what is the relationship between martha washington and abigail adams? edith: it was wonderful. abigail loved martha. she met her when she was the mother of the vice- president. whenever they had a social event, there were very close. whenever she wrote about martha, which was not much, but when she did write about martha, it was in the most glowing terms. c. james: one of the things she did was just after she knew that john was going to be elected, she wrote to martha washington asking her about how to be the first lady, how she would carry the role. edith: martha wrote back and said you know inside yourself how to behave. susan: we know that is a tradition

that continues today for new incoming first ladies, reach out to the people that served before, to understand the enormity of the task. here is a call. it is from ron in washington. >> good evening. thank you for the program. i read one of your guests books and some earlier works on john adams. i still think the most comprehensive biography, technically of john adams, but really of them both, was one done more than half a century ago, two volumes by paige smith. i think that stands out. edith: i think no one writes about john adams today without consulting page smith. the foundation for writing

about. it is remarkable to me because the adams papers had just been open to the public at the time when he started writing his look. he had this so thoroughly researched. c. james: that was the first thing i wrote about graduate school. susan: the caller was nice to mention your books. i want to show some of them. we're hoping people be intrigued enough to read more. "abigail adams: a writing life." another, "my dearest friend: the letters of abigail and john adams." can you dive right in and get a sense of the person? c. james: yes, you might need a little bit of historical context, the letters are personal. in some ways, they are timeless. the talk about problems that people have today, concerns that people have today.

not the political context, but the intimacy. edith: abigail's letters have it in print and she has been read since 1840 when her grandson's first published an edition of her letters. which went through four editions in the 1840's. she was a best seller through the 19th century, people knew her. she has always been famous. susan: i won't be able to find the tweet as quickly as i need to, but nobody asked -- somebody asked a question, did the adams to think about their letters being published? c. james: as early as 1776, don -- john is telling her to keep the letters. at a certain point, there is a consciousness in some, particularly his letters.

they know at a certain point and i'm not sure when the cross the threshold, that they are important. that is one of the reasons the family saves the letters. early on, it is the motion with -- emotion with the miss adorable letters and so on. but later on, their letters extend from 1762 -- the miss adorable . the most important years. susan: they understand they were players. c. james: i think so. susan: this is the tweet. i don't know that that is true. i think what we said was that abigail and life is friendship helped facilitate the relationship between washington and adams when they were trying to understand what a president and vice-president might do.

can you see any evidence for that? c. james: i don't know, i think john and george washington got along pretty well all the time. john adams was extraordinarily supportive of washington and was personally injured when some of the press turned on washington could not believe it. martha and george were a hard act to follow. they knew they would be difficult. susan: we will move into the years of their one-term presidency. before that video, there's a time in one of your books, you call it a splendid missouri -- misery being in the white house. explain what that phrase meant. edith: it was splendid in that they were at the pinnacle of his political career and her career. they had risen to the top.

and it was nothing but trouble agonizing trouble from the very beginning. at very first, john was very enthusiastic about becoming president. abigail said, i'm going to stay here in quincy. she was taking care of john's mother. and she said, i will not be there until october. he said, that's fine, you do not come until october. once he was in the presidency, he discovered it was the loneliest place in the world. he started writing letters, drop everything that you're doing come here, i need you immediately. she did. c. james: one of the interesting things, one of the reasons she was hesitant was she said, i like to be outspoken. she knew that in that context, she could not. when she was in quincy, she could. susan: when she was in quincy, there was a house they built another called peace field. let's take a look at it.

>> in 1787, abigail realized they outgrew their cottage. she began to negotiate through her cousin to purchase a house we're standing in front of right now. john adams enjoyed a lot of peace and tranquility at this home, as did abigail. he called it peacefield. there were two rooms on the first floor, to go on the second, and smaller bedrooms on the third floor. and a small kitchen in the back. there were about seven and a half rooms on this home. this was their home base. before becoming first lady abigail was spent nine years in this house. the first year, she was setting up the house after returning from europe. she had remembered this house as one of the grand houses in quincy. her perception had changed after living in europe. she began making plans to enlarge the house. she wanted to improve on the size and height of the ceilings and the space. she would write to her daughter,

warning her not to wear any of her large feathered hats because the ceilings were too low. she began working with an architect to enlarge the home. in effect, doubling the size. they added a long hall and along entertainment room where she would receive her guests. with sensitivity to the architecture on the outside and the flow of the home, she had the builder did down so they -- dig down so they could lower the floors and get the high ceilings that she desired without disrupting the architecture. you step down two steps and you're in a whole different world. a typical day for abigail would be to rise at 5:00 in the morning. she had many chores to do much for time was spent in the farm taking care of the orchard taking care of the house. she also loved those early morning hours to spend by herself, preparing herself for the day. most of importantly, having a chance to indulge in one of her

novels. although this was a presidential home, it is the home of a family. abigail, instead of having servants do all the work, even as a first lady, she would also be contributing to the kitchen and running of the household. this is something she continued throughout her life no matter what her position was. she was very involved. she had children and grandchildren visiting. it was an active and lively household. she spent a great deal of time writing. again, their misfortune was our fortune. in one letter when he is asking her to come to philadelphia, abigail would write of the room that she was in and the view that she saw. the beauty that unfolds outside the window tempts me to forget the past. this is an indication that while abigail was back here, she was on a new beginning as the first lady of the united states, as the wife of the president, and still a mother. she would describe life.

here so romantically that john adams would reply in one of his letters, oh my sweet little farm, what i would do to enjoy thee without interruption. susan: of the four years of his presidency, how much time did she spend at peacefield vs. the capitol? edith: she became ill in 1798 and went home and had to stay there for an extended time. john actually followed her and stayed there, too long according to his cabinet. who finally urged him to come back to philadelphia, and the capital. she tried to stay there for as much time as she could. again, her health caused her to be at home. she was quite ill. for close to a year. she was possibly close to death during that time. susan: how did he serve as chief executive from afar? c. james: this also happened

during the vice presidency. when congress was needed, the -- meeting, the vice president would go back to where he lived. especially during the summer they would usually lead in the spring and come back in the fall. it was a seasonal thing. although he did overdo it a little bit during this time. it was not unusual for the president to be away. susan: these were very trying and tempestuous years for a brand new nation. can you give us a sense of the history, what was happening during the adams administration, key policy issues? c. james: the major problems were international. we had problems with the french, the british, in particular with the french.

american political parties were divided pro-french, pro-british. one of the things john was troubled with was keeping the country out of four. he was successful. i think that is probably the thing that he should be most recognized for during that time. edith: i also find it ironic that he is one president who kept us out of war, avoided war because the united states would have collapsed. c. james: and people would have gone to war at the drop of a hat. edith: yes. he prevented that. it also subverted his career . politicians at the time, where maybe like it -- maybe like politicians forever. they were enjoying that. the population in general were

outraged by the piracy that was going on, american ships being taken on the seas. american diplomats were being badly treated in france especially. the french revolution had happened here it --. john adams kept us out of war. susan: we had a few key dates and a very historic four years of the adams administration. 1797-1801. presidents were not created in march. -- were inaugurated in march. you can see washington d c was selected as the capital. i want to go to 1798 with the passage of the alien and sedition act. what were they and what was the significance? c. james: the alien sedition

acts were a to some of the international problems at the time. there was a belief on the part of some people that we were about to be overrun by french revolutionaries and that they were influencing people in america. there were rumors about cities were going to be burned and that -- it was terrorism they were anticipating. susan: so americans were afraid of the french? c. james: some of the friends. there were people who were, for example, the opposition party. the democratic republican party was very enthusiastic about the french and some of the ideals of the french revolution. jefferson in particular. this is where they begin to go different directions. also, some of the press was very vehement in the criticisms of the administration. one of the things, they muzzled

the press. this is one of the things john adams is most criticized for. abigail i believe, supported -- he came out of congress and he signed it. but abigail is even more vehement. this is where i say she is even more >> and the upshot of this for people who would be breaking the law, if you were caught of breaking the alien and sedition acts, what happened? >> you could be jailed. >> page smith said that the press wrote that the press at this time was most scurrilous in american history. they made things up. they didn't have standards.

so that the press was it was not only that they were supporting the french. they made up stories that were not true. and the adamses were seriously worried about this. and also it should be said that jefferson also supported the alien and sedition acts except that he believed the states should be passing sedition laws. not the national government because he was in favor of states rights and that was part of what separated them. so, it was not it was something that at that time people didn't have the same horror about suppressing the press that we have today. >> right. and it was in the heat of a moment. it was in the heat of a moment. >> next question comes from steven watching us in chicago. caller: hi there. i'm a i was just wondering, you know, they say history repeats itself. and i was wondering if there are any presidents and first lady, first couple that most resemble or are analogous of the adams's. you know, people talk about george and barbara bush because of the one-term presidency and the son that went on to be president. but is there a better relationship or is that sort of the relationship standard?

>> i hope you'll take that question. >> yes, there's no one else like abigail and john. first of all, we don't have the insights into anyone else's lives. they don't leave us letters telling us. i think whose letters recently were revealed? lyndon johnson's love letters to lady bird were recently published. >> and bess truman and harry truman wrote letters to each other. >> yes. right. but there's nothing like the abigail and john exchange in american history. >> no, and i think that the length of it's when they were situated in such an important period of time and they were players on so many stages and that's the thing that sets them apart. susan: here's the question about peacefield from twitter. many presidents, aaron chihi writes, use their homes as neutral space for meetings.

did john and abigail host dignitaries at peacefield? james: people came by, i know that, but not so much during the presidency, much later at in retirement. remember, there's when john is really quite ancient and i think it's a little while after abigail has passed. cadets from west point came and they were they had a band and they played and marched and they were served punch and the officers, john adams gave a talk to the a patriotic talk to the for the troops. and occasionally people would come by but they didn't entertain in the sense of politically entertaining. they too it was family for the most part. susan: and which is a contrast from mount vernon and the washingtons which seem to be constantly welcoming people into their house throughout their -- edith: well, i think they did that. i think there was a lot of traffic through their houses.

people wanted to be close to the president and they were accessible. i think social standards were different then and standards of hospitality were different. so that if someone came to your door, you just didn't turn them away, although they might like to have done so. susan: so during the period of the white house years, she continued to write letters as in the time they were separated? james: oh, right. yes, she did. and when this i think another important point is that when she is with john, it isn't that she isn't writing letters, she's writing letters to other people. while he is president, two of their children are in europe as yes, on a diplomatic mission. so there's a lot of letters back and forth between thomas boylston and john quincy adams to their parents especially to abigail. and she writes to her sister. she writes wonderful letters to her sisters who were back in massachusetts or a while in new hampshire. susan: we have another example of letter to john adams from abigail. let's watch. >> "i have been much diverted with a little occurrence which took place a few days since and which served to show how little founded in nature the so much

boasted principle of liberty and equality is. neighbor faxon came in one evening and requested to speak to me. his errant was to inform me that if james went to school, it would break up the school for the other lads refused to go. pray mr. faxon has the boy misbehaved? if he has let the master turn him out of school. oh no, there was no complaint of that kind, but they did not choose to go to school with a black boy. and why not object to going to meeting, because he does mr. faxon." she continues on in this vein saying, you know, they allow him to play at the dance and they still go. and she closes this section saying, "the boy is a freeman as much as any of the young men and merely because his face is black, is he to be denied instruction? how is he to be qualified to procure a livelihood?

is this the christian principle of doing to others, as we would have others do to us?" susan: this is a letter to john adams as he's serving in the presidency. she's not just recounting an experience in her life. she's hoping to influence his thinking it seems. so, how concerned was he with rights and equality at this point in his presidency? james: i think it's a little different thing. and i think this is james that she's talking about who was an adams' servant. james was a special person to abigail. and when abigail, in few months after this goes to philadelphia, john says, "don't bring james." he didn't want blacks in philadelphia as his servants.

it's not really clear why but i think it was a sense that they could be corrupted because there were much many fewer blacks in massachusetts and it was a larger black free black community and slaves in philadelphia. and he says to her, "don't have him come beyond philadelphia or beyond new york. have him go back." and he writes a second letter, and this is very revealing to me and he says, "you have babied him." and i think he was a special. i think she taught him to read. and so, i don't think that this i don't know that she was instructing john adams so much on this is that she was showing her love and affection for james as an individual regardless of his race. here's a quote that one of our viewers are sending i believe, it looks like she's quoting john a letter of john to abigail in 1774. the quote is fewer picked out was, "we live, my dear soul, in an age of trial. what will the consequence be, i know not." do you have any thoughts on that?

edith: well, it's a wonderful quote because it does tell us that they had no idea that there would be war. although, i guess they suspected there would be a war. they did not know its duration. they did not know it would separate the colonies from the mother country. all of the things that we take for granted that we know about them, we have to erase if we go back to a letter like this and view it from their point of view. he was saying, "we don't know what's going to happen." few more things from this time -- susan: few more things from this time period of the presidency, we said at the outset that she was criticized by the press who at sometimes used the phrase to describe her as mrs. president. what's the whole context of that reference? edith: the context is the scurrilous press at that time, for one thing and that they attacked a woman was not very nice. and the british press did the same, referred to them as darby and joan and had attacked them because he was of course the american minister to great britain.

so she was accustomed to not having good relations with the press, but it didn't endear the press to her. and it speaks to the tone of newspaper journalism at that time. susan: did she complain to family members about this? was she hurt by the way she was treated in the press or just take it as part of politics? james: i think she probably took it as part of politics. i think she was much more defensive about her husband. abigail didn't have great ambition for herself but she had great ambition for john, she had great ambition for her boys but particularly for john quincy adams and she was very defensive of them. so, i think this is one of the reasons why the relationship with jefferson is so difficult because she had really loved thomas jefferson as a friend and jefferson she believed turned on her husband. susan: how did she express her support of her husband in addition to just writing letters to him and encouraging him

along? edith: she stayed there. she went there. and she was with him all of the time. when he needed her, she was there. susan: was there an avenue for her to respond to the press? edith: not that i can think of. but her avenue of responding to the press was, oh, she was in favor of the sedition laws. she liked the idea of curtailing the press. susan: let's take our next telephone call. it is from allen in boca raton florida. caller: yes. hi. good program. thank you for taking my call. interestingly enough, i'm a member of the press and we've heard two callers tonight kind of insinuate that abigail was not a good mother because of a situation with charlie yet they talk nothing about john quincy not only becoming present. i believe john quincy was a

leading abolitionist and here we are just follow american history whether it's the kkk still doing their thing in the south today whether it's the john birch society, whether it's the tea party now which is 97 percent caucasian, can we at least give abigail throw her a bouquet of roses to say that may be she might have influenced john quincy in terms of the color of a man's skin should not determine how we place them in this society and now you got scumbags like -- susan: all right. we're going to stop you right there but her influence on raising john quincy adams. edith: well, john quincy lived with her until he was 11 years old in which point he went to europe with john. and she didn't see him again until he was 17 or 18. so he became a man and -- susan: under the tutelage of his father. edith: under the tutelage of his father. but she was very influential in those first 11 years. i balk at this tendency blame the mother every time something

goes wrong with the children. circumstances happen. there are genes. i mean, there is possibly a genetic predisposition to alcoholism in that family. abigail's brother died of it and there apparently were other members of the family. and it's certainly was in the culture and the kind of sensitivity to alcohol. so a revolution happened when her children grew up. they grew up in wartime. that can be very, very damaging to children's psyches. the year 1800 was a very, very difficult year for the adamses. susan: a campaign for re-election hard fought against the big political rival in thomas jefferson they lost that. there was also a year that they moved to the white house and they also lost their son in that year. so, let's talk about all of those individually for a little bit. first of all, the decision to run for the office again.

did abigail support john's interest in continuing in the presidency? james: yes. we don't have as much as we had in the decision for the previous election where they agonized over it. they went back and forth and there's letters should i shouldn't i, should i, shouldn't i. i don't have as much of that for the second term. this was he was in a harness things were going and part of it was because by this time the political parties were so strong. he followed his he just didn't want the other party in. he wanted to follow through with what he was doing. and he had and even though there were several bad things happening around or to the adams family during that time is that actually in 1800 he had one of his great successes, the convention with the french that ended the non-declared war.

edith: right. right. i also would emphasize that the political parties was not were not written into the constitution. and washington and adams both and many of the people around them did not anticipate political parties. they thought they had a constitution, they had a government. well, everyone was going to agree and it would be harmonious. didn't work out that way. but and it was a surprise to them. i think it was a surprise to adams that there was so much dissension during his administration. susan: they lived the last four months of their administration as the first occupants of the white house. we have this graphic that we've shown of the white house in 1800 and it just really looks pretty miserable. what was life like in the mansion for the adamses? edith: well, it was pretty miserable. they did not have heat. they had to put gather wood such as it was in that area and stoke fires in the fireplaces.

the mansion was not finished when they moved in. abigail describes georgetown as a swamp. the city was not yet built. they moved in before there was a proper white house. i think and it also i think affected the way she entertained, it affected her entire role as first lady and that she was limited by what she could do in that drafty, cold, incomplete house. they had one stairway that they could use to go to the second floor. susan: but it must have been shared misery by the members of congress who were arriving in the city with -- james: they are most of them lived in rooming houses and boarding houses. and, of course another thing was it was seasonal. congress came and went. there weren't a lot of people who lived year round in washington at that time. susan: and we have this graphic

we've been showing of laundry being hung inside rooms of the white house. is that apocryphal or that really happened? james: i don't know. edith: i don't either. i suspect it's apocryphal. and she may have done it. i don't know, right. it sounds like abigail actually -- pragmatic solutions. james: it wouldn't have been a good place to dry laundry though because it was dark and cold. susan: and we've talked about charles dying. anymore to say about how that affected her and anymore for people to know about the death of that son in that turbulent year of 1800 for that? edith: oh, it's a terrible heartache for her and for him. james: he denied it though. he tried to stand off from it. edith: right. right. he did write it to jefferson in later years, "the greatest grief of my life." susan: you're on the air jen.

caller: thank you for putting on this series. i'm curious about what role religion played in her life given that her father was a pastor. my sense was that john was raised with more calvinist bent, but was more unitarian as an older man. what about abigail? edith: thank you, thank you for that question. abigail was a very religious woman. abigail was so religious that in times of turbulence, when things went wrong in her life, she thought it was a case of punishment. when there was an epidemic during the war years when john was away when they that people were dying and her servants were sick and so forth. she said, it is a scourge sent upon us for some sin. and she truly believed that life was providential. her letters continually reference the bible. i think that when things got bad in her life, she became more religious.

and when and more conservatively religious. i agree with you that she was probably more conservative in her religion than john adams. susan: we've got 10 minutes left in our discussion of abigail adams in this series on the biographies of the first ladies with our two guests here. when john adams realized that he'd lost the presidency, how did he take that? how did abigail take it? james: i think they were well, by the time the electoral vote was counted, i think they pretty well knew that he was not going to be re-elected. i think they were disappointed. one of the things that john said throughout his public life was that he was always going to retire, he was always going to go back to the farm and retire. so, the and he loved the farm. so in that sense, it wasn't so bad. but i think it was the defeat of the ideas and some people referred to as a revolution of 1800 because it was such a dramatic change with the other

party coming in. he did not attend the inauguration and that some people say it was because he's being spiteful or whatever. those of us who defend adams say he had to catch an early stage to get back. i don't know. it might be somewhere in between there. but part of it was a man who in a sense i think he felt betrayed him and defeated him and i think that was probably the hardest thing. susan: now, this couple who had spent so many years apart and the development of their country and now had this opportunity to live together. how long did they live together in the post-white house years? edith: well, abigail lived until 1818 and they lived together for 18 years. susan: and what were those years like for them? edith: they were idyllic in some ways and very difficult in other ways. it was not an easy retirement all the time. they were very happy to be together.

abigail refused to go visit her daughter for instance because she said, "i can't leave john. i'm not going to leave john." and during that period of time her daughter had a mastectomy in 1811 without anesthesia. susan: that's so hard to think of. and then ultimately died. edith: and ultimately died two years later, but came from new york state to her parents' home to die. so they were very close. so, it was a time of satisfaction and peace and also very great disruptions in their lives. i mean, they had problems with grandchildren and children, i mean, there was constant drama going on. one grandson went off and fought in a revolution in venezuela and they had to bail him out or not bail him out. john refused to bail him out was that right? james: and also they had some financial difficulties for a

while. there was a bank failure in england that their son had invested in and and one of the problems with the daughter was that she had a terrible husband. and they very early on realized that and they were constantly worried about her. not just physically but just everything about her life. susan: from the perspective of your life's work and the letters they were together so obviously they stopped writing letters at that point? james: they stopped writing letters to each other, but she's still writing to other people and john is still writing to other people. susan: to whom most prolifically? james: they're writing to well john quincy adams is frequently away on diplomatic assignments or later will be secretary of state. and he's in washington -- a senator and other things. she has a sister abigail has a sister who lives in new hampshire at that time.

her i think mary cranch is her favorite sister, her older sister, lives fairly nearby so there aren't there isn't much correspondence there. but to children, to friends -- friends -- edith: close to her granddaughter caroline. and so there is lovely correspondence between her and this young girl. susan: when john quincy goes to england, he meets his wife louisa catherine there. what was the relationship between the two adams women? edith: well, i think it was a good one. i think louisa catherine was quite shocked by the culture she encountered in new england after having had a rather gentile upbringing in england and in france and was quite shocked by the people in the surroundings and the customs, even church attendance she -- james: when she went to the old house, she said it was like going on noah's ark. edith: right. susan: well, let's actually have our closing video, "a return to

peacefield" where the adams spent their final years. [video clip] >> abigail enjoyed 17 years of retirement here at peacefield with her husband john adams. here, the old couple could dote on their children and grandchildren and enjoy the peace and tranquility that this place offered them throughout their lives. the president's bedroom is a reflection of the warmth that this house provided them. it was inviting, sunny and bright. and abigail enjoyed many hours in this room writing to her friends, writing to her family enjoying the time with her husband. on october 27th of 1818, abigail passed away from typhoid fever. she was 74 years old and john adams had lost his dearest friend. the only way that he could find comfort was in the pen. he would pen a letter to thomas jefferson, letting jefferson know that he lost his dear friend. and he would say to his family "if only i could lie down beside her and die too."

susan: can you talk about john adams' life in the years after abigail died? edith: yes. john was surrounded by family, so he was not isolated. he had always as his amanuensis and hostess and caretaker, a niece who lived with him and had lived with him for most of their lives, her life. and grandchildren came and children came, so there was always traffic to the house and people came and the militia came from boston, as you've said. so there was a lot going on during those years. and he was quite palsy. he couldn't write his own letters, so he had to have an amanuensis. he had someone write for him. but he carried on this incredible correspondence with jefferson during those years.

susan: these great bitter enemies finally coming to peace and dying together. on the 50th anniversary of the declaration of independence on july 4th which is really quite amazing. there's a question here about whether or not there is a bloodline still living of john and abigail? or is there an adams family still today? edith: we were joking about this before. oh, yes. we were laughing. why don't you respond to that? james: there are several that the massachusetts historical society and the adams family have been close over the centuries. and there's an association, an adams family association for the adams memorial association. and i think they have more than 100 members. but what we were joking about is that we frequently get questions from people thinking, believing that they're related or a descendant of john and abigail. some of them may be, but there are many more descendants than

think are possible. edith: also the name gets lost because women of course marry out and so the adams name gets lost. susan: in our few minutes left stephanie from farmington hills, michigan. what's your question? caller: thank you. i'm wondering what became of nabby's children and after she died very young? did they remain with the adams at peacefield? and thank you for taking my call. i've enjoyed the show. thank you. edith: they were adults when she died. the daughter caroline was married. caroline de windt. she was married at that time. and the son was also an adult. so that there were no small children. susan: our last video of abigail's death at peacefield. [video clip]

susan: and if we all right, we don't have that. so we have very little bit of time left. so, in bringing this full circle, for people who have been introduced to abigail adams tonight, what's the important thing to know about her? what was her impact or influence on american history? edith: she was influential and particularly as a as we think back to the american revolution, she is the only woman her record of letters provides the only insights we have of the revolution at a sustained level during that entire period of the revolution and the early national period. so she's historically significant. she also was an exemplary person and tells us about women's lives in that time and what it was like to be -- not just first lady or not just the wife of the american minister but to be a wife and a mother, and a sister, and a daughter. dr. taylor, what would you say? james: i think the thing that i always think about with abigail is the relationship, the

partnership that with there's without abigail there's no john, without john there's no abigail. susan: and therefore, john's importance to history. so, the reason why she is important is the relationship? james: right. right. right. i they would without the kind of support that she provided both to him in europe, in the presidency, in the vice presidency the more important that he didn't have to worry. she was so trustworthy that she could take care of things, he could go off and be this great public person, which is exactly what she wanted. susan: to our two guests, edith gelles and c. james taylor, jim taylor, our thanks for helping us understand more about the life and legacy of america's second first lady, abigail adams. thank you for your time. thank you.

[captioning performed by the national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] ♪ >> american history tv is featuring c-span's original series, "first lady's, influence and image" at 8:00 p.m. eastern time on sunday night throughout the rest of the year. next week we look at dolly madison. this is american history tv, all

weekend, every weekend on c-span3. >> remarkable partnerships their stories in "first ladies the book." >> she did save the portrait of washington, which was one of the things that endeared her to the entire nation. >> whoever could find out what francis was doing that was going to help sell papers. >> hadi you do that? >> she exerted an enormous influence because she would move a mountain to make sure her husband was protected. >> "first ladies," now a book. looking inside the personal life of every first lady in american history based on original interviews from c-span's "first ladies" series. learn about their unique partnerships with their presidential spouses.

presidential historians on the lives of 45 iconic american women, filled with lively stories of fascinating women who survived the scrutiny of the white house sometimes at a great personal cost, often changing history. "first ladies" is an illuminating, entertaining, and inspiring read. no available through your favorite bookstore -- now available through your favorite store or online bookseller. ♪ >> you found what? >> did i? it looks like this one is deducting for medical payments covered by insurance. >> we suspect this is how a great many people think of automatic data processing. the newest tax tool of the internal revenue service, and new dimensions in tax administration. but this is the real heart of the martinsburg monster, its

unofficial name. nearly everyone in the united states has some concern with this mechanical marvel and its electronic relative. some in the same remote quarters in the mountains of west virginia. many and seven other widely scattered areas of the country. the regional service centers. these machines are things of gleaming metal and numerous flashing lights. lights which do not spell out the names of stage and screen attractions or their performers. they spell out the federal tax status of millions of taxpayers business or individuals. while much goes before and much comes after, most of these complex machines are placed in operation by the simple push of a finger.

♪ >> you are watching american history tv, 48 hours of programming on american history every weekend on c-span3. follow us on twitter at c-span history for information on our schedule of upcoming programs, and to keep up with the latest history news. >> up next on american history tv, as part of our programming marking the 150th anniversary of the assassination of resident lincoln, we visit ford's theatre to learn about an online project to collect documents and artifacts detailing ordinary americans' responses to the death of the president. sarah jencks: welcome to ford's theater. david mckenzie: i am david mckenzie, the digital projects manager. sarah jencks: and we are so