moving through, and he asked the soldiers what was going on. that was the only time i heard of a concentration camp, when he said that was at dachau. like i said, i never knew what a concentration camp was. i didn't even know what a labor camp was. we never had the opportunity because we were constantly on the move, and you are shooting and fighting at the same time. and it is constant. we had 183 days of combat. and it was just constantly go, go, go. to run into a situation like this was just, it was phenomenal to me. i just did not believe anything like that existed. >> you are watching american history tv. all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. during the conversation, like us on facebook at -- to join the

conversation, like us on facebook. >> in 1772, a british difficulty gaspe in foreste -- british ship called the gaspee enforce trade laws unpopular with the colonists. this is 13 minutes. >> thank you, madam president. i am here on the floor today to celebrate a significant event in our country's history and in rhode island. every student of american history knows the story of the boston tea party. we all learned about samuel adams and the sons of liberty dumping chests of tea into boston harbor to protest british taxation without representation.

what many students don't know is that down in rhode island , more than a year earlier a group of rhode island patriots made an even harsher challenge to the british empire. one dark night in june of 1772. i am here to tell their story. the episode began when amid growing tensions with colonists, king george the third moved to the gaspee into rhode island's bay. the gaspee was known for destroying fishing vessels seizing cargo, and flagging down ships only to harass, humiliate, and interrogate the colonials.

as nick bunker, author of the book "an empire on the edge," wrote, "this harassment did not sit well with rhode islanders, who had grown accustomed to personal freedom unique in that time." to quote bunker, "even by american standards rhode island was an extreme case of popular government." the chapter in his book in which he describes this is entitled "this dark affair by the gaspee incident." he went on to say "out of all the colleagues, rhode island was the one where the ocean entered most deeply into the lives of people. and we wanted it free." in july of 1663, 100 years before the incident, king charles ii granted a royal

charter. establishing rhode island in new england. the charter said this was to hold forth a lively experiment. that a most flourishing civil state may stand and best be maintained with full liberty in religious concerns. the lively experiment in rhode island blazed the path for american freedom of religion, the fundamental right of our great nation. in rhode island, what was then considered radical ideologies of freedom ran very deep. a century later william betting sten would learn how as he went about confiscating cargo. the british armed forces have come to regard all most every local merchant as a smuggler and eight sheet, bunker wrote -- a c

heat, bunker wrote. rhode islanders were fed up with the abuse. something was bound to give. local sea men and traders led by john brown signed a petition. they brought it to stephen hopkins, a political leader in providence and an advocate for liberty. to quote nick bunker "for brown and hopkins, the only law would --law they would recognize was theirs, laid down by their assembly and their local courts." this in 1772. chief justice hopkins provided a legal opinion, saying that british officers needed to present their orders and

commission drew rhode island's -- to rhode island's governor before entering local waters. they refused and indeed threatened to hang with any man who tried to oppose them. so the fuse was lit. it all came to a head in june 9. 1772. rhode island captain benjamin lindsay was sailing to providence from newport in his ship, the hannah. he was accosted and ordered to yield to inspection by gaspee. captain lindsay refused. he raised up the bay -- raced up the bay despite warning shots fired at the hannah. the gasp he gave chase -- gaspee gave chase and captain lindsay

sturges trip north towards the cove -- steered his trip north towards the call. they are, the letter had a shot over the shallows but the heavier -- there, the letter have a -- lighter hannah shot over the shallows but the heavier gaspee ran aground and stuck firm. the british ship and her crew was caught. stranded in a falling tide. they would need to wait many hours for a rising tide to free them again. according to nick bunker, "as night fell the gaspee crew turned in, leaving only one person on the deck." spotting an irresistible opportunity captain lindsay sailed on the providence. there he enlisted the help of john brown, the respected merchant and statesmen who led the petition against the gaspee back in march. brown was from one of the most prominent families in the city.

the ultimately helped found what we know today as brown university. brown and lindsay rallied new england patriots down on what is now the eastside of providence along the waterfront. refreshments, no doubt, were served. refreshed or not, the group resolved to end the menace in rhode island waters. that night, those readers -- raiders, led by what nick bunker called the maritime elite of providence, set out with blackened faces, long boats, and rode down the day. oars muffled to prevent detection. they make their way to the stranded gaspee and surrounded it. as daniel harrington recounted

in a recent op-ed that he wrote in "the providence journal," "captain abraham spoke first for the rhode islanders, summoning d unningston. imd sheridan -- i am the sheriff of the county. there's a warrant to apprehend you, expletive. so surrender, expletive." it was, as harrington said, a classic rhode island greeting. i consent that his article be added to the record at the end of my remarks. >> without objection. >> the lieutenant refused his command and ordered his men to fire upon anyone who attempted to board. the rhode islanders outnumbered the british and swarmed onto the deck. shots rang out in the dark. the lieutenant felt wounded.

in the arm and the guy -- the lieutenant fell wounded in the arm and the thigh. that night the very first blood in the conflict that was to become the american revolution was drawn by american arms. a little bit more than just tea over the side of the boston harbor. as the patriots commandeered the ship brown ordered one of its rhode islanders to tend to his wounds. he was an able doctor and saved the lieutenant. they took the crew was sure -- and then they returned -- ashore and then they returned. they set her a fire. blaze spread, reaching the ship's charges of gunpowder and

the canon, setting off explosions like fireworks. ultimately the flames reached the gaspee's powder. and the resulting blast echoed across the bay as airborne fragments of the gaspee splashed down beneath a moonless sky. nick bunker wrote "the british have never seen anything quite like the gaspee affair." their attack on the ship amounted to a complete rejection of the empire's right to rule . according to dan harrington's op-ed, "king george iii was furious and offered huge rewards. inquiries were made and nooses were fashioned. but in the end not one name was

produced as thousands of rhode islanders remained true to silence." the site of this historic victory is now named gaspee point. in honor of this incident and the audacious rhode islanders who accomplished it. according to bunker, the rhode island patriots successfully organized "a military operation three years ahead of its time that arose not merely from a private quarrel but a matrix of ideas. -- ideas." the ideas, madam president, a liberty. rhode islanders have made it a tradition of celebrating the incident and this year marks the 50th annual gaspee day celebration. we celebrate by marching in the annual parade as we recall the courage of the men who fired theand

drew the first blood in the quest for american independence.i'd like to think the gaspee day's committee for their efforts to host the celebration into my friend jim mcnamara, state representative, for his work each year in making the events of special. i come to the floor every year at this time to speak about the burning of the gaspee. as proud as i am of what the brave rhode islanders did in 1772 i am also disappointed their story has largely been lost to history outside our little state. i hope these speeches will help new generations learn about this important american event. in rhode island, of course, we will never forget. as mr. harrington wrote in "the

providence journal," "through the ages, noble rhode islanders have named their daughter's hannah in honor of the ship that long ago led a fledgling young country towards independence and helped create the finest nation ever born of man." i thank the chair. i yield the floor. announcer: during the civil war in 1863, the union rv believed confederate guerrillas were drawing support from western missouri. in an attempt to cut off supplies, the union army evicted citizens from multiple counties along the kansas border and burned homes. this became known as missouri's burnt district. next an author talks about what happened to the families