civil war historian james oakes examines how abraham lincoln used the constitution throughout his political career to abolish slavery. then authors annette gordon reed, elizabeth hintona cobb offer their thoughts on racial injustice in america. also tonight marshall project staff writer, marise reports on capitol punishment in texas. nationally syndicated radio host eric talks about his life and career for that all started on book tv on cspan2. visit booktv.org for more schedule information or consult your program guide. now, here's james oakes on abraham lincoln. >> this evening we are joined by professor james oakes who is one of the leading historians of 19th century america. his early work focused on examining slavery as it economic and social system that shaped southern life. his books include the ruling class, the radical and the republican, frederick douglass abraham lincoln and the triumph of antislavery politics and freedom national abolition

his name was hinton james and he came over 100 miles from near the coast of north carolina and he was the entire student body for about two weeks before more students gradually drifted onto campus for its first century. it was a school for white man only and it was only until the 1890s that women were first admitted to the university in the university did not integrate admitting african-american and other students of color until the 1950s. it's really impossible to talk about the history of the university without talking about slavery and slave people were involved in the construction of all of the early campus buildings the earliest oldies the one behind me now south building in the in the construction and can subsequent renovation. we also know that slavery played a role in the financing of the university and this was due to the fact that the state legislature did not originally a lot funding for the university instead. they provided funds through what they call this sheets and this meant that any unclaimed property. so if somebody north going to died without a legal air that proper