in the senate, people like charles sumner and benjamin wade. and they really drove the agenda and pushed the lincoln administration not only to prosecute the war more vigorously, but to have a reconstruction after a war that was not so lenient toward southern states and was going to ensure that political rights were extended to african-americans. ms. elloitt: the war ends in 1865. i have you get to be first african-american members of congress? it does not happen right that day. mr. wasniewski: it did not happen right away. the role of the radicals becomes more assertive after the end of the war. after lincoln was assassinated, president johnson takes over and has an even more lenient view than lincoln of how the southern states are going to be readmitted, and he is pushed constantly by the radical republicans. in a short time, roughly for five years, they pass a series of constitutional amendments and also laws that bring about the equality of african-americans in the south and that starts with the passage of the 13th amendment. that is ratifi

he's so respected and an ally of senator charles sumner, that when sumner passes shortly before his bill moves through the house and senate, elliot goes and delivers a eulogy in boston which also is widely picked up in the northern press. he leaves the house, actually, mid congress in his second term and goes back to south carolina because he cares so much about state politics and he's watching the way things are trending towards the end of reconstruction and seeing a lot of abuses against a black political participation in voting rights. and he becomes the speaker of the south carolina state assembly for a brief period. and later goes onto serve as the very tail end of reconstruction as the attorney general for south carolina. afterwards, though, his story typifies so many of these members. once reconstruction ends, here you've got a guy who's a great speaker, got a law background, sets up a law practice, but he gets almost no business. and he's forced to move out of state and eventually in the mid 1880s, he dies in poverty. and that's sadly the story of so many of these 19th century in

in the senate, people like charles sumner, benjamin wade. they drove the agenda and pushed to the lincoln administration to prosecute the war more vigorously and have a reconstruction after the war that was one that was not so lenient towards southern states. they were going to assure that political rights were extended to african-americans. --ar: the war ends in 90 1865, but how do you get from 1865 to the first african-american members of congress? matthew: it does not happen right away but the role of the radicals in -- if anything becomes more assertive after the end of the war, after lincoln's assassinated president johnson more over and has an even lenient view of lincoln and of how the southern states are going to be readmitted. he is pushed constantly by radical republicans. of time theyriod pass a series of constitutional amendments and also laws that bring about the equality of african-americans in the south. that starts in early 1865 with the passage of the 13th amendment. that is ratified later that year banning slavery once and

the senate, charles sumner, an andrew wade. and they really drove the agenda, and push the lincoln administration, to not only prosecute the war more vigorously, but also to have a reconstruction after the war, that was one that was not so lenient towards southern states. that would assure political rights were extended to african americans. >> also the war ends in 1865, but how do you get from 1865, to the first african american members of congress. it doesn't happen right that day. >> no it doesn't happen right away, but the role of the radicals, in anything becomes even more assertive, after the end of the war. after lincoln is assassinated, president johnson, takes over and has an even more lenient view than lincoln, of how the southern states will be readmitted. and he is pushed constantly by the radical republicans. and in a very short period of time, roughly four or five years, they passed a series of constitutional amendments, and also law, in order to bring about the quality of african americans in the south. that star

charles sumner is the massachusetts abolitionist senator setting by president brooks of south carolina>> host: a congressman. >> guest: in the house, comes across the senate. sumner had stood up and made a very aggressive anti-slavery speech and enact he had insulted according to brooks, south carolina so brooks comes into the senate and basically says he was seated at his desk and with speeches to send out, he's insulted my part of the union, my state and basically threatens to punish him for it and violently canes him. the desks were bolted to the ground. ultimately in his anxiety to get away, he pulls the desk from the ground but brooks continues until his cane brakes. there is a number of interesting inings. although there was a lot of violence in congress which i write about in this book, deliberate attacks like that are supposed to take place in the street. violence erupts al also find particularly in the house that if you are going to stage an attacke in that way it's suppod to have been in the street and for two days he tries to catch sumner outside on the capitol grounds becau

senator charles sumner gave a fiery speech and was beaten by a fellow congressman on the floor of the senate for the his moral stand. we should be relieved tom cotton expressed had his soft spot for enslavers with words and not violence. but even 1854 is not far back enough for senator cotton who penned an editorial in the "new york times" last month calling if for the military occupation of american cities. it seems seeing black dpeople demonstrate for their lives made the senator long for the days when new york was under siege from an oppressive government. back then it was the british but senator cotton would have us new yorkers under martial law imposed not by king george but would be tyrant donald trump. i have bad news for senator cotton and all of the republican brethren, it is not the 18th century or the 19th or even the 20th. and here in 2020 we believe in full freedoms for all-americans, even those pesky women. even black and brown folks. even from those that always saw your rallying cry make america great again for the regressive nonsense that it was. don't say you were not

charles sumner is the massachusetts abolitionist senator. by preston brooks, a congressman in the house. comes across to the senate. sumner had stood up and made a very aggressive antislavery speech and and it he had invoked south carolina and a kinsman of brooks. so brooks comes into the senate and basically says to sumner seating at his desk. you've insulted my state of the union, my kinsman and threatened to punish him for it. and violently caned him. sumner innocence is trapped seated at that that spirit and his anxiety to get away, launches the desk from the ground but but he continues until the cane breaks. there are a number of interesting things about the caning. deliberate attacks like that are supposed to take place in the streets. violence erupts over time, particularly in the house. if you want to stage an attack in that way, supposed to have been in the street. brooks for two days tries to catch sumner on the capitol grounds. but because that's the proper way to beat a congressman. why? you can see why it is when he confronts hi

but also in 1849, massachusetts' charles sumner is quoted in your book saying the separation of children schools of boston on account of color or race, he wrote, is in the nature of caste. and on this account is a violation of equality. he quoted a fellow humanitarian saying, caste makes distinction where god has made none. what do you make of those various levels of moral evolution that existed in the same society? >> that is one of the big conundrums that we face as a society and as a country with our history, is that we proclaim ourselves and are very proud to present ourselves as a place of liberty and of democracy and of openness for all people. and yet beneath all of this is this infrastructure that we have all inherited, that no one alive created, but that encases us and encloses us in ways that we may not realize. we're not dealing with the same classical open racism of our forefathers' era necessarily, but the idea of caste as a reminder of the hierarchies that have existed and that we have received and that have passed down to the generations with an idea that everyone seems to

bully brooks, preston brooks, who attacks charles sumner, that's his nickname. that was a word applied to these people throughout the period. there was a sense that these people before the second half of the 1850s, that the southerners were picking on people who could be bullied because they couldn't fight back in the same way. what happened is the northerners come, and the northern congressman campaigning on the idea that they would fight the slave power. there was a reality to that in congress. congress that they meant it and they came with these weapons and literally made it clear. the document you mentioned, these three northerners explain they will now agree to duel from now on, and the part that really captured me is at the end, after describing this with all of this emotion, they say we are putting this down on paper so that future generations will understand how hard it was to fight slavery on the floor of congress. so they make clear precisely what i'm trying to describe in the book. it is bullying, but what happens when you are being bullied? i suppose

in the public guardian in boston, there's a statue for charles sumner. all it says there is sumner.here's no exclamation. no explanation of who he was, no explanation of who the sculpture was. and most people i think probably one out of a thousand people in boston has no idea who he was. they have any thought about them is probably the built the sumner tunnel. and he did not. charles sumner went to paris because he wanted to attend lectures at the serve on any attended lectures of all kinds. and he took notes, he grabbed before he started his lecture eattendance. and it became quite fluent and q then pretty took notes on everything. everything imaginable. and one day, his mind began to straight a little because the aofessor was running on little longer than he expected. so he began looking around at the other students in the hall. paul is still there by the way. nicholas will thousand students in the hall. any news that the black students were treated just as everyone else . it talk to the same as everyone else and address the same. and they have the same ambitions that he had. any

you get the caning of charles sumner.dramatic stories it does a lot of character work more than anything else. or at least not until recently has that been taught as a way of getting deeper. >> what happened on that day in 1804 and why did it happen. >> agnew opponents for a long time. hamilton was largely the fuel behind much of that opposition. ephe thought of them as somethi is a demagogue. because he came from the equivalent of royalty. his family he was someone who hamilton saw as an opportunist, hamilton sounds really early on in their relationship back in 1792 pretty much a direct quote i consider it my religious duty to oppose his career. that serious opposition you have going there.y he's pretty bound and determined to quash in his career and that goes on for quite some time. in the election of 1800 two candidates from the same party they step forward and do everything they can do to quash his chances, this is not make them happy, they came near fighting dual at that point and got smoothed over, four years later

sumner readstone has passed away. anthony mason looks back. >> in the 1950s. >>> the sunrise auto cleaner. as he told charlesin 2001 -- >> it started out with a handful of, which as you know, pretty important nostalgic era in the motion picture business. >> reporter: he would build the business into national amusements, one of the largest movie theater chains in the country. seeing america's migration to the suburbs in the s60s, he put up multi-screen cinemas and coined the term multiplex. from a young age he was driven. he graduated first in his class as the boston latin school. >> i said winning is everything as long as you win fairly. i think i'm driven to succeed. >> he went on to harvard to study german and japanese. and during world war ii was recruited by the u.s. army intelligence unit that became famous for cracking japanese military code. read stone's greatest business success came after a near tragedy. in 1979, a fire engulfed the copley plaza hotel in boston where he was a guest. read redstone survived by hanging from a third floor window by one hand. third-degree burns covered 45% of his body. t