whenever she's conducting the interview, are still unrepen tanlt nazis and saying hitler had a lot of good things to offer. i think that was out there less and less. you mentioned this was in the '80s. i think this is probably happening, i hope, and just certainly the time is pushing it in the direction of -- but to be sure, not every german has reckoned with that time in a real way. >> i think we'll end it there. it was such a great session that our neighbors behind us were afrauding for you. so thank you, dawn. thank you, jessica. we're standing in -- near the geographical center of san antonio, texas. we're in front of what's called the spanish governor's palace in a town that was actually set up

here due to the conflicts between two european empires, france and spain in the 18th century. spain had, of course, established itself well in latin america and south america and in mexico. france was over to the northeast in louisiana, and it was up -- it reached up to the northern border of new spain along the red river. it was causing trouble with the indians and looking into the reaches of texas into the silver mines. the spaniards knew they had to have some sort of defense, and they came upon san antonio. so in 1618, 302 years ago, san antonio was established here.

the first thing the priest did when they set up a community like san antonio is to build a church. the second thing they did was to set up a water system, and in texas, you have rivers, but you don't really have a lot of green fertile areas too far away from them. so to address that, they drew from their experience in spain, which had come from arabia, which had come from the roman empire, a system of irrigation ditches. they were not just irrigation ditches, but they furnished drinking water and water for the cattle and everybody else. everybody used the same water, nobody knew anything about germs, then they wondered why they had epidemics. but they figured that out. so san antonio was selected in large part because it had two major sources of water upstream.

we had the head water of the san antonio river, and we had the head waters of san pedro creek. so from those places, engineers very carefully, because this land was plat, they were able to devise a system of a half dozen canals that came from those rivers and came through channels that followed the line of depravity downhill through what became san antonio, so that the water continued to flow. san antonio used that system for more than 100 years. it wasn't until the end of the 19th century that the system was not in general use, but there still have two of them at the spanish missions. they are still used by area farmers to water their crops. religion has a very visible role in the community. in addition to what you don't

see, you have the cathedral here which began in 1731 as the parish church. but we have five missions in san antonio, which are now named a world heritage site. we have the first mission, the alamo, right here in the city of san antonio. and then there was a second mission established, which was mission san jose, which has been restored rather elaborately and is the largest -- was the largest and most successful mission in texas. three of the missions actually moved from north texas to san antonio. and they are scattered along the san antonio river south of downtown. the largest of them is mission cons concepci concepcion, the church itself is

the largest unrestored church in the spanish church in the united states. we also have two smaller ones, mission san francisco, and mission san juan capstrano, which we call san juan. that gives us five missions, which is the largest grouping of spanish missions in the united states. texas was very desirable for its geography and location. as a lot of border lands are, it went -- the control went back and forth between various governmental entities. i would suspect that the people of san antonio got whiplash in the early 19th century. there were six different governments in san antonio. first up until the 1820s, san antonio was under the overall control of spain. then in 1821, there was a revolution in which mexico took control.

then came the republic of texas, the revolution in 1836, which was related to the alamo. and we have the republic of texas. then in 1845, texas was annexed by the united states. in 1861, we had the confederacy in charge, and four years later, we were back to the united states. but probably the single factor that shaped san antonio's character and it's appearance and it's very being was its isolation on the texas frontier. we're inland, a couple hundred miles from the texas coast. and the only way to reach san antonio was by ox cart from the texas coast. and that took a couple of days when it wasn't raining. it was a very difficult city to get to. until san antonio finally got a railroad in 1877. at which point san antonio began to explode.

the tourism business was one of the first that took off, because san antonio had been a familiar topic of magazines and other publications, periodicals in the united states. reporters would love to come to san antonio and report on what it looked like. this didn't please people in houston where the railroad came from. after the railroad came, one newspaper over there reported that hordes of people went to san antonio for a day to peep around and then come back and tell everyone how queer the city looked. and it did. that was a big attraction then and is now. san antonio is probably three hours from the mexican border. but the proximity to mexico has been very beneficial to san antonio, long-term, because of immigration.

>> they were settled in refugee camps and tens of thousands of them came to san antonio. for many years, they lived in the poorest centers of town, but then became leading citizens in the community. that has really helped make san antonio the time of place it is today. i think it would be important for people to realize, as they learn about san antonio, simply to understand what a distinctive and diverse city san antonio is. how significant its roots are in history and how much it has

contributed to the history of the country. >> looking at what's coming up tonight, beginning at 8:00 eastern, a couple of programs from our american history tv's "reel america" series. first, all the way home. a 1957 film looking at changing racial demographics in u.s. neighborhoods. then it's the american look. this examines the style of mass goods produced in the '50s, including classic american cars. at 9:00 p.m., we'll show you the cable tv pioneers induction ceremony, honoring 22 men and women who have made lasting contributions to the cable industry. at 9:55, more from "reel america." a film about racial issues in american suburbs during the 1950s. american history tv on c-span3, exploring the events that tell the american story,

every weekend. coming up this weekend, saturday, at 10:00 p.m. eastern on "reel america," as health officials prepare to roll out a vaccine against the coronavirus, we take you back in time with five archival films about vaccines and the fight against disease. on sunday, at 6:00 p.m. eastern on american artifacts, tour new york city's lower east side with reconstructed dwellings that show how immigrant families coped in crowded conditions. at 6:30 p.m., a look at presidential leadership during the cold war with william hitch cot and the age of eisenhower. and then at 9:00 p.m., a u.s. constitutional debate, hosted by the colonial williamsburg foundation, featuring a re-enactment from james madison and george mason, on issues from the bill of rights to slavery. watch american history tv, this weekend on c-span3.

you're watching c-span3 your unfiltered view of government, created by america's cable television companies and brought to you by your television provider. next on americanis t ihisto, democratic chief counsel michael evans discusses how shakespeare has been invoked in congressional debates and the political lessons learned from his plays, especially the tragedies. this lasts about an hour. today is very special. mike evans comes to us a graduate of salem state university where he was just granted an honorary dock rate for his significant