important for a long time. inn thomas hooker came here 1636 for massachusetts, he founded hartford on this plot of land. it was in a couple of years later when he delivered a sermon and out of that sermon came the fundamental order, which later became the foundation of government for connecticut. this building was built in 1796 and the architect was a well-known architect of federal buildings and public buildings. is built in the federal style. it was placed on a hill overlooking the river. it was like a temple on the hill. even this new government was stable and firm and it was a monumental building. you can imagine what hartford look like at that time.

it was meant to show the united states is here to stay and the government was firm and it was meant to impress. connecticut is a very small state, but for a long time, it had two capitals, one in new haven and one in hartford. people started to think that maybe this building was a little bit too small. pt barnum felt the building was a disgrace to the state because it he felt it was too small. he was advocating for the capital to move to bridgeport. there was a discussion about where the capital should be and eventually, the capital city was made solely in hartford and a new building was built a mile away from here. this building became the property of the city of hartford and has served as city hall. then had a -- then it had a

period of abandonment. today, the building is used as a museum. we have a mission of history and we also have a mission of civics. we do programming that teaches people how government works. we do programs that explore different issues today. this is a house of representatives and it is restored to a later period right before the building was turned over to become city hall. sometimes we make decisions that are unfortunate and sometimes we make great decisions. what unfortunate decision happened in the early 1830's. a woman opened up a school for young black women in canterbury, connecticut, and her town was not pleased about it and they

agitated for a law called the black lot which made it illegal for anyone to invite out-of-state african-americans into their school. that law was passed here in the old statehouse. prudence crandall broke felt law and was arrested -- broke felt law and was arrested for it -- broke that law and was arrested for it. in the 1860's, pt barnum was a legislator at the old statehouse and he really worked hard for the passage of suffrage for african-american men after the civil war. it was something he believed in very much. unfortunately, even though it was passed here and the governor approved of it, when it went out to vote to the american -- connecticut people, it was turned down by a vote of 6000 against it. barnum was not successful at

that point. it was not until the federal government made this mandatory that african-americans were allowed to vote in the state in the 1870's. this has an uncomfortable balcony with hardwood and benches. the way the public was able to come in and observe what was going on in the house of representatives. the house was always open to the public. people could observe their government. this was not so in the senate until we got a new constitution in 1818 and part of that constitution made it so that people would be able to come in and watch the senate deliberate. this room was seen to two very -- was the scene 22 very important historical events. the hartford convention of 1814.

kidnapped, taken captive and brought to cuba on a ship. 53 of these people were and they by two men were being transported to another and of cuba -- end of cuba. on the way, the african captives managed to break loose from their shackles. they escaped, they found sugar cane knives on the ship, they formed a mutiny and killed the captain and some of the crew members. they had the two men bring the ship back to africa. on the way, the two spaniards, the owners redirected the ship. the ship ended up in long island. it was found by a naval ship. it was pulled into new london,

connecticut. new york did not have slavery anymore at that time and connecticut did. the africans were sent to jail in new haven and the trial came here and began here and ended up going to new haven and on to the supreme court. the other significant event that took place was the hartford convention of 1814. that was a very unfortunate event. it was happening during the war of 1812 and just briefly, new england states were starting to feel they were losing a lot of the powers they had and they were losing that power to the south and west and they wanted to hold on to that power. the party in charge with the federalist party. they were not happy with the war of 1812. they felt the new england shoreline was not being protected and they had been against the war from the moment it was declared.

it had dragged on at this point. he rounded up people from around new england and decided to meet in hartford. they have been accused of being the first group to try to secede from the union, which is not true. they passed a resolution, they wanted better protections for the new england shores, that they also wanted changes in the constitution. rid of theo get clause that gave the south more representation in congress. it probably would have been ok for them to do that, although they met in secret and that made a lot of rumors spread about what they were doing. when they sent their messages to washington, d.c., at the same time, andrew jackson had a huge victory in new orleans and everyone was caught up in patriotic fervor. their complaints looked a little

lame and they looked they -- like they were not patriotic. that helped to bring the death knell for the federalist party. the courtroom, a of big cases during the course of the building's lifetime. when cases were exciting and interesting and captured people's imaginations, just like today, people would flock to watch to see what was going on. that made it a very exciting place to be. trials in this room could almost be service like. there was a murder trial, a young man killed his sister and his mother. he lived in nearby manchester. it was a very violent killing and he was being tried here and they were trying to decide whether he was insane or not. this captured the imagination of people. it was a sensational trial.

people came from all over to see it. windowseering in the and people not only sitting in the seats provided for the public, but people sitting on the windowsills. it is an important building for people to know about because it is an iconic structure architecturally, it also embodies the struggles that people have had over the years in thinking about how we deal with issues of freedom and civil rights and access to government and all of those things. it symbolizes how people have come together to work to make the world a better place and i think that makes it important. it is this wonderful story of the american process wrapped in iconic box and it is at the heart of hartford and the center of connecticut.

our staff recently traveled to hartford, connecticut, to learn about its rich history. learn more about hartford and the other stops at c-span.org/cities to her bang. .- citiestour c-span takes you on the road to the white house and into the classroom. this year, our student cam documentary contest asks students to tell us what issues they want to hear from the presidential candidates. did all the details about our student cam contest at c-span.org. week, american history tv america" brings you archival films.

♪ >> president johnson addresses a joint session of congress to push a voting's rights bill aimed at ending discrimination. it would put an end to complicated literacy tests and other hampering tactics. president referred to the events in selma as an american tragedy and throughout the nation, even in canada, marches to the streets of towns and cities. in harlem, 15,000, half of them white, walked through the streets. broughtts in selma were to a climax by an attack on a white minister by white men.

the next day, four men were held for his murder. the demonstrators write his appetite with this tribute. tribute.h with this selma sprang overnight from an obscure southern town to the front pages of world newspapers. it was here that martin luther king came to lend his support to the campaign. he acted that from selma's 14,000 negroes, only 300 have been registered at the polls. set out to march in montgomery, it was broken up violently by state troopers. king letting other contingent for the town -- led in other contingent through the town.

this time, there is no violence. they reached the end of the bridge where the troopers stand. they are ordered to turn back. dr. king confers with the police and the marchers hold their ground. he requests they be allowed to pray. there are a few minutes of mounting tension. the request to pray is granted and they kneel in the streets. at king turned his marchers the behest of the white house, and arrangement that had been made in advance to avoid a

confrontation that can only end in bloodshed. the troops and deputies stand by as the prayers are said and the marchers go back to selma. this alabama town will go down in the history books. people can understand the plea that no american can have freedom and justice unless there is freedom and justice for all. in selma, there is a lesson to be learned. >> from 1914 to 1917, under the leadership of president woodrow wilson, the united states remained neutral as the first world war escalated through europe. we discussed the events and politics behind america's entry into world war i.