pronouncements and the passions that characterized this public wrangling heightened classical music's political significance across the country. watch this and other american history programs on our website, where all our video is archived. that's c-span.org/history. >> the indiana state museum houses artifacts that tell the history of the hoosier state. coming up, we go inside and learn about the people who helped make indiana what it is today. >> welcome to the indiana state museum. as a whole looks at indiana from its earliest geological beginnings to the present. we will focus on those sections that explore the time when humans first came into indiana

and the first peoples were here at least 12,000 years ago. we are going to start looking at indiana's first nations, and the very thing you will see in the first gallery is a case filled with beautiful objects that show how these cultures were not only surviving in indiana, but really thriving. you have the entire span represented, everything from projectile points for hunting, and very practical vessels to really beautiful objects. a couple items i would highlight are the pipe in the center of the case here, which is one of the first artifacts in the museum's collection. it is actually a very beautiful pipe in the shape of a wolf and shows the importance of pipes for ceremonial purposes in those early cultures. this one was probably made between about 100 and 500. it is about 1500 years old.

directly below it is in enormous vessel and it is probably directly before europeans came to indiana. this holds 14 gallons. it was probably a food storage pot. it was found in fragments. archaeologists reconstructed the beautiful shape. you can see the detailed patterns as well on the surface. behind me is a map that gives an example of how sophisticated and well traveled these cultures were. they had extensive trading networks that covered most of north america. if you look at the map, that represents the hopewell or middle woodland culture. they're getting shark teeth from the gulf coast of florida, they are getting material from canada, obsidian from montana, just going thousands and thousands of miles, importing raw material and finished goods and exporting materials, as well. we have moved to contested territory where we explore who would ultimately control what became indiana.

that was a contest between european powers, france, and then britain, even spain, and it was also a contest between europeans and after we became the united states, the americans, with the native peoples who were trying to defend their longtime lands. we are looking at one of the earliest settlements in indiana. this is the french town and fort of vicennes. vicennes was a military outpost and trading center. the for trade was central to the economy, and that relied on excellent relationships with the native peoples who brought fur. when the french came in, they were another trading partner in what were historically strong trading connections the native peoples had. the french came with a bit of a difference, though. they and the other european powers claimed the land for themselves and ultimately it was

that aspect of the relationship that would make all the difference here in what became indiana. there was also in this later period an intentional effort to make the native peoples more dependent on trade goods so they could be economically manipulated toward the end of ultimately getting the land whether that was through treaty or force. in the american revolution, you have very complex alliances between the british, american colonists fighting and the other powers. after the revolution, britain cedes an enormous part of the now u.s. to the americans, and the americans create the northwest territory. one problem with that is although they own it by treaty with the british, they don't actually own it. native people still owned much of the land. that will lead to a long period of conflict. initially, after these conflicts

began in the wake of the revolution, the native peoples are very successful. they win many major battles. after the battle of fallen timbers, where the british make it clear they are not a reliable ally to the native peoples, many of the leaders of nations realize they are going to have to negotiate some kind of settlement. that leads to the treaty of greenville, which cedes an enormous amount of land and what what is the northwest territory to the americans. the treaty of greenville is one of the earliest major treaties in the northwest territory that cedes large amounts of land but it is just the beginning of a process where with increasing speed and frequency, treaty after treaty will take place so that more and more land is taken from the nations' control to the americans. william henry harrison was a very ambitious military and political leader from virginia. in his late 20's, he has made the territorial governor of

indiana an almost immediately -- and almost immediately accelerates the process of treaty making and moving native lands into american control. william henry harrison would continue to have a great influence on the early years of what became indiana. he came from virginia and wanted to re-create indiana and the -- in the model of an aristocratic, slave-owning society, but he had a lot of opposition. that opposition was led by a man named jonathan jennings, who had been pushing for statehood even before the war of 1812. with the war over, now that bush -- push resumed. jennings led a faction that really wanted to emphasize the rights of the common man, much more democratic, also outline, as did -- outline, as did -- outlawing, as did the northwest ordinance, any form of slavery in the state outlawed.

ultimately his faction would prevail and determine the course of indiana over the next decades. after indiana achieved statehood, december, 1816, most of the early settlers were from the upper south, kentucky, virginia, north carolina. they came to indiana for a better future. one family that moved to indiana in december 1816 was absolutely typical of pioneer families of the time. they moved from kentucky where they had just lost another farm because they could not get clear land title and were looking for new opportunities. the father was a carpenter who was moving into the community as the main person who could build furniture, cabins, buildings. he brought with him his wife and his son and daughter. that son, abraham lincoln, would become president of the united states. we are going to look at a cabin that is very much like the one the lincolns built when they came to indiana. we do have some pieces in the cabin that belonged to the

lincolns or relate directly to them. i would like to show those to you. know, lincoln's mother nancy hanks lincoln died when he was quite young. when lincoln moved back to kentucky and brought back his stepmother, sarah, she insisted on a few improvements. that is what you see in this cabin. there is now a wooden floor. cut windows. whitewash the inside. make it more livable. many people thought pioneers brought only the absolute necessities with them, but they wanted a better life. they often brought treasured possessions. in the homes, there would have been furniture made by thomas lincoln, a very skilled carpenter. here, you see examples of his corner cabinets. on the one side, we have a -- they relate to the maxim, you get what you pay for. on the one side, we have a simple, practical corner cabinet that would have been something that was extremely utilitarian. in the other corner, we have a

much more high-style corner cabinet with beautiful inlay that really shows the level of detail and fine craftsmanship thomas lincoln brought to his work. finally, we have a mallet that belonged to abraham lincoln. he spent his formative years in indiana ages 7 to 21. this mallet, we like to refer to it as the rail splitter. rail splitter because at one time, it was an actual rail splitting mall. you can see a groove where the burls split in half and lincoln repurposed it into a bench mallet. he also put his initials a.l. and the year, 1829 on the mallet. transportation was always a challenge. the earliest transportation was along rivers, but there was more more need for roads. the federal government had

started the national road leaving cumberland, maryland and by the 1830's, it came to indiana. what you see behind me is a recreation of a portion of the national road, which shows you how difficult it was to travel on. muddy, stumps. stumps have to be shorter than 18 inches so the wagon axles could clear them. there was a constant push to improve roads and to improve transportation, not only within the state of indiana but also linking indiana to the rest of the nation. indiana is centrally located. some of the first roads crossed in indianapolis. the railroads crossed in indianapolis. even though it was built on a nonnavigable river but more and more transportation came through indiana so that it was a hub. that was transportation within the stage. we have one of the largest inner urban railroad networks in the country. by the 1890's, early 1900s, all the way up to when automobiles come in in the 1920's.

even today, we are still a center for transportation and logistics. a lot of people, if they have not been to indianapolis, they have been through it or flown over it. here in enterprise, indiana we explore the rise of new industries 1920 to 1940, foremost among those, the automobile industry. in indiana, we have more than 80 towns and cities that have some element of automobile manufacturing in them, more than 200 companies either made cars or were suppliers to those manufacturers. here, we have two of the earliest cars that were made. these are both 1910 models. the yellow car was manufactured by john lambert, who made a variety of internal combustion engines for industry and then went into car manufacturing.in e earliest vehicles in the midwest.

the other car, which is a bit fancier, was made by elwood haynes of kokomo. he made his first car in 1894. however, he was quite the promoter. he sent his car to the smithsonian, saying it was the first car made in the united states. now we are in global indiana. that looks at the cultural explosion, economic growth after world war ii. you have the baby boom, the rise of youth culture, new consumer goods from transistor radios made here to popular music, all varieties of culture and of everyday life. one of those things central to indiana, which predates the postwar period is indiana basketball. we were one of the first states where basketball really took off. you could play it with a small team so even a tiny school surrounded by farms could compete. it has become nationally famous, most prominently through the

movie, "hoosiers." "hoosiers" fictionalizes the story of a tiny high school that became the state champion after beating one of the big powerhouse schools. they made it to the championship after a last-minute shot won the regional game against muncie central. that shot was made by a man named bobby plumb. [applause] here, we have the backboard off bobby's barn, which is the quintessential indiana basketball artifact. his dad put the backboard on the barn. here, he practiced over and over and over again so that he was able to make that winning shot and ultimately went on to play basketball for butler university in indianapolis. finally, i would like to focus on another famous indian export. the jackson five. they came out of gary, indiana.

here, we have costumes from a 1976 tour as well as the traveling trunk. they had a primetime television special, their record sold millions. individual members of the family then went on to greater stardom. when people come from indiana, from all over the world, they recognize the jacksons. they are one of the biggest exports from indiana in terms of both cultural and musical influence. we continue to see that influence today. here in american originals, i call this the aha gallery. so many people from indiana, people had no idea were from this state. in some ways, that summarizes what we hope you will find when you come to the museum, that you will learn new stories, you will be surprised what you find out about indiana. you will see how it fits into the larger currents of our country and world. you will also see some of those elements that really make indiana very much a place of its own.

our cities tour staff recently traveled to indianapolis to learn about its rich history. from otherre video stops on our tour, visit c-span.org/citiestour. you are watching american history tv, all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. >> next on "the presidency," university of central arkansas historian marcus witcher explores conservatives' criticism of president reagan's foreign policy toward the soviet union in the 1980's. he also explains how conservatives gradually downplayed this criticism in later get gauge -- decades as they saw to reimagine their relationship with the president. the federalist society for law and public policy studies at montgomery, alabama posted this event.