. >> tonight at 8:50 pm eastern, author elizabeth cobbs hoffman explores the costs and consequences ofion -- is america an empire or an empire or an empire? mpires cannotat u win. you are watching american history tv. >> next on the civil war, and author discusses the fall of the confederate navy in 1864. at the start of that year, the confederates were at the peak of as he explains, the loss of two important ships and the union victory in the battle of mobile bay crippled the rebel fleet. this 50-minute talk was part of the symposium hosted by the emerging civil war blog. >> our next speaker is a good fellow polish boy. a lot of man love between the two of us, let me tell you. it's a good thing. a lot of people have been coming up and, i love your. phil book. -- your book. once upon a time chris worked here at the spotsylvania national military arc but has since gone on to do amazing things. some of his career highlights, he served as supervisor out of. fill battlefield, the state park in connecticut -- kentucky, excuse me. currently he is now with the general macarthur memorial in no

. >> coming up next, author elizabeth cobbs hoffman look at american and umpire or an empire? she argues the u.s. has played the role of umpires since -- she also argues that umpires cannot win. this program was sponsored by world denver. it is about an hour. >> thank you so much, kay, and thank you all for being here. i can't tell you how pleased and honored i am to be here addressing the world affairs council and especially because what i hope we're going to discuss tonight is i think one of the most critical questions of our time, which is, you're

captioning performed by national captioning institute] tonight at 8:50 pm eastern, author elizabeth cobbs hoffman explores the consequences of the united states' role as a world leader. asking the question, is america an umpire or an empire? hoffman argues that the u.s. has played the role of umpire since 1776 but also argues that umpires cannot win. you're watching american history tv. >> each week, american history you reel america brings archival films that tell the story of the 20th century. 1952social security is a film designed to his plane how the social security system works. it was signed into law by franklin roosevelt in 1935 and after several supreme court cases affirmed's constitutionality, the first benefit payments were made in 1937. >> here is how it works. survivors insurance is earned by most of us because your jobs are covered by the social security act. half,working a year and a you become insured for a year and a half. from then on, you are in insured a traditional year for each six months he worked. at the end of 10 years of work, you are insured for the rest of your life. a

cobbs up next, elizabeth hoffman discuss the u.s. and world leadership. umpire?ca and she argues that america has played the role of an umpire since 1776. this is about an hour. , andank you so much, kay thank you so

cobbs up next, elizabeth hoffman discuss the u.s. and world leadership. umpire?ca and she argues that america has played the role of an umpire since 1776. this is about an hour. , andank you so much, kay thank you so much for allowing me to be here. i hopelly because what we are going to discuss tonight is one of the most critical questions of our time. you are not going to know it because i did not turn on the microphone. [laughter] well, where is the button here, jay? well, the green light, right? [indiscernible] light.ssic green [laughter] why the united states assumed the role of world defender. this was after world war ii, and the question is if we should continue this role indefinitely. this question springs from my new book, which i hope is available outside, but also fr om and op ed that i published last year in the new york times entitled "come home, america." in the essay, i observe that everybody talks about getting out of iraq and afghanistan. but what about germany and japan? i am tryingce, what to raise here, is a very fundamental question: where do

elizabeth cobbs hoff explores the costs and consequences of the u.s. role as a world leader, asking, is america an umpire or empire? looking at key turning point in history, hoffman argues the u.s. has played the rule is the role of umpire since 1776, it also argues that umpires cannot win. you are watching american history tv. >> each week american artifacts takes you to museums and historic places. in honor of the 100th anniversary of the panama canal opening, curators presented items from their collection for a special exhibit. work on the canal began in 1904. over the next decade, workers from around the world came to panama to build it. the canal was not only an engineering feat but a subject of fascination for americans. they followed the progress of this construction with keen interest. sheet music was produced about the canal, newspapers published regular updates. and photographers took hundreds of pictures of the construction and the people who lived and worked in the canal zone. >> the largest group of workers came from the west indies. perhaps 25,000 to 35,000. the second largest group was comprised of spanish workers. they were almost 12,000. the work