french were totally deficient against our adversaries, it was in the area of strategic communication and public information. hal: this has been a wonderfully informative set of comments. we will take a break and let the in.lars weigh please join me in thanking our panelists. [applause] >> from george washington to george w. bush, every sunday at 8:00 p.m. on the night -- to midnight eastern, we explore the presidency. you are watching american history tv all weekend, every weekend on c-span three. as on the campus of

unc chapel hill in north carolina where we are learning about the area's history. it is the nation's oldest public university. up next, we learn about its founding. unc chapel hill is the first state university in the country. this is a contested claim we argue with the university of georgia about. the university of georgia was chartered first. the unc charter came a few years later. unc was first to open an already graduated a couple of classes before the university of georgia. the university and the city were founded at the same time. there was no town or village here. there was an anglican chapel located on what is now the site of the carolina inn, but there was no town to speak of. on the day they laid the cornerstone for the first university building, they had an

auction of town lots. the understood if ther university was going to succeed, they needed a town around it. the town of chapel hill and the university were born on the same day. university was chartered in 1789. the ground broke for the first building in 1793. when the university open, they held a ceremony. they had events on campus. no students showed up. it took another few weeks before the first student arrived. miles fromm over 100 the coast of north carolina. he was the entire student for a few weeks before other students drifted onto the campus. it was not until the 1890's when women were admitted into the university. it is impossible to talk about

the history of the university without talking about slavery. slave people were involved in the construction of all of the .arly campus buildings we also know that slavery played a role in the financing of the university. this was due to the fact the state legislature not originally a lot funding for the university. instead, they provided funds through -- any unclaimed properties, that property would revert -- we become the ownership of the university. this is usually in the form of land. there were number of cases where the university inherited enslaved people and ordered them to be sold to finance the university. leading up to the civil war, slavery was an integral part of life in the town of chapel hill and at the university of north

carolina. students and faculty were overwhelmingly on the side of the confederacy. thecampus life dwindled in years after the civil war. a lot of students left to enlist. the university stayed open but barely. at the end of the work, troops -- made it into chapel phil -- chapel hill. from many soldiers night states regiment housed on campus and nearby towns. things began to change for the university and the talent in the 1880's and 1890's. in the 1880's, a branch of the railroad came to town. it was in carrboro. a couple of text mills began to develop. communities began to develop outside of the university. in the 1890's, the university

began a drive toward becoming a modern research university. this meant expanding and moment. developing a graduate school and making a more concerted effort to be involved in a positive way with the state of north carolina. grow inersity began to prestige and national reputation in the 1920's and 1930's. this was when it was embarking on an ambitious building and growth campaign. it was inspired by state universities in the midwest and other parts of the country. the university began to engage with notches the state of north carolina but also the region. programsd of academic attracted students from all over the country. they brought attention to university faculty and began to avelop this reputation of regional and national leader in public higher education.

the university today is dramatically different from how it was when it was founded. it is hard to imagine there's rustic isolated place from 200 years ago and the bustling public university it is now. it is a modern global public university. it is deeply committed to the state of north carolina. it also has ties to programs and research facilities all over the world. it is still located in the heart of the state. it is still at the center of public life in north carolina. that is something that is really important. tour staffes recently traveled to chapel hill, north carolina to learn about history. watch more video about chapel hill, visit c-span.org/cities tour. you are watching american history tv all weekend, every weekend, on c-span3.

announcer 1: you are watching "american history tv" with event coverage, archival films, lectures in college classrooms, and visits to museums and historic places, all weekend, every weekend on c-span three. ♪ [indistinct chatter]

[roaring] every july for the past 25 years, the gettysburg anniversary committee has hosted a civil war reenactment and living history village depicting camp life. next we visit a union army surgeon and embalmer. aboutlk to reenactors medical practices during the war. theuring the beginning of war, like i said there was a lot , of quack surgeons in the union army. dr. lederman took over the medical