jefferson davis demand as a contradiction.ferson davis in his early life was a graduate of the military ketamine. he served in the front u.s. is already. researchers threw for up president peers. he served the united states congress, he also served in the united states senate. and he and his wife were the host during james mckinnon's administration in washington d.c.. on the south left and for their own government, they invited jefferson davis to become his first and only president. jefferson davis would accept that invitation and become the president of the confederate states of america. we're standing in the cell where jefferson davis was held at the conclusion of the american civil war. in 1865, jefferson davis received word from general robert e. lee, the commander of the army of northern virginia, that they no longer could hold the federal army back from attacking the city of richmond. with that news, jefferson davis joined the cabinet, sent his family on the road for the protection. jefferson davis soon after that would

jefferson davis would soon follow. he would not only catch up with his family right above the florida state line. it is here where a federal mounted unit was able to capture him and his family. jefferson davis was placed on a boat and moved back to fort monroe and incarcerated in this very cell. some people ask why. the main reason is that jefferson davis was indicted on three federal charges. 1, treason. two, complicit in the assassination of abraham likened. three, the mistreatment of federal soldiers in prison by the confederate states army. in order to answer to those charges in federal court, he had to be in the place where his last residency occurred, which would be richmond, the white house of the confederacy. it was here he would stay incarcerated for almost two years. he would never see his day in court. he would never be acquitted. he would retire, write his memoirs and live to the age of 80. with the understanding that jefferson davis was charged with three federal indictments, many folks in the united state

albert sidney johnston was number two, and of course, he was jefferson davis' favorite general. he had been what they call the first captain, the commander of the corps at west point when davis himself had been a cadet. he had reverence for johnson from the beginning, and after he had been killed at shiloh, he appointed his son on his staff in richmond to kind of keep that connection with him. so he was number two. number three was robert e. lee, class of 1827, graduating second. number four was joseph e. johnston, and last of all was beauregard from the class of, i think, '38. is that right? so those are the five. they were in that order. so if the two of them ever served in the same theater, one would have command jurisdiction over the other, and it wasn't the command jurisdiction that bothered johnston so much because he had authority in virginia. he was the top ranking field commander in virginia, but it was the idea that the law said i should be number one, and you made me number four, that requires an explanation. by the way, the argument against johnston's position here wa

product of that than the utility of using johnston as a blunt instrument with which to assail jefferson davis. davis's determination to defend the confederacy everywhere, they argue, made it impossible to defend it anywhere. and the confederate president's tendency to promote and protect personal favorites weakened the army and, therefore, also made a contribution to confederate defeat. because johnston favored acting on the defensive end concentrating forces on a few vital points, his view, that view, they insist, was the more realistic one and the effectiveness in the field was less his fault then davis's interference and lack of support. those are the arguments on the two sides and there's plenty of ammunition for either of those positions. unquestionably, johnston often seemed a reluctant warrior. he voluntarily evacuated manassas junction in 1861. he gave ground repeatedly on the peninsula in 1862, almost to the proverbial gates of richmond, before finally counter attacking. that attack was marked by confusion, and misdirection, and he was severely wounded. after his recovery, he went we

jefferson davis is heading to montgomery, alabama.hat's a serious sign this is going to be a conflict. >> jefferson davis is chosen to lead the confederacy. >> on february 22nd, 1861, when lincoln was in philadelphia en route to his ninauguration, he spoke outside of independence hall. he said every idea he ever had politically came from the deliberations from those men in that hall. he says rather than default to those ideas, he would rather be as s assassinated on the spot. on the trip he receives information that a mob in baltimore was going to assassinate him. baltimore was a hotbed of confederate sediment. >> it is the only city which he's scheduled to stop and speak. >> he could get shot, stabbed and kidnapped. it is as terrible situation he said. >> lincoln's adviser begs him to end his speaking tour and get to washington to under cover. >> he says i am going to look like a whimp or a coward. >> what happens next is a combination of secrecy and mystery. the plot is hatched to have him disguise himself. lincoln is encouraged to

, sees this for what it is. >> jefferson davis makes it clear that any effort by union ships to territory will be viewed as an act of war. the only way to assure that the troops on ft. sumpter do not starve would be to relinquish it to the confederacy. >> summons the surrender of sumpter. federal artilleryman robert anderson lightly replies under no circumstances, whatsoever, can he agree to that. and so, on the 12th of april, 1861, confederate artillery opens fire on ft. sumpter. >> as soon as sumpter is fired upon, the game's up. civil war as we know it begins. and what its end is going to be, now, lincoln cannot easily predict. >> nearly 800,000 americans are killed in the civil war. mak making it the deadliest conflict, in u.s. history. president abraham lincoln is tasked with leading country through the most perilous time it's ever known. and will determine the future of democracy and the fate of our nation. >>> hello and welcome to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. i'm michael holmes. appreciate your company. coming up here on cnn "newsroom."

so that then secretary ward, a guy by the name of jefferson davis, and yes it's it's the same jefferson davis that just a few years later would be the president of the confederacy, came up with the idea of importing camels from the middle east to see if they could be used to supply these far flung forts of settlements. it was called the texas experiment. the idea was there create an american camel corps. the experiment had its problems. although those were well trained and experience with camels found them to be great animals to work with, others who were less trained and less experienced had difficulties with them. now, these problems along with the beginning of the civil war caused an end to the program. and unfortunately, most of these camels were just set loose to fend for themselves. now, this is reported that some of the offspring from these camels that we just set loose, we still see roaming the southwest. up until the 1940s. a few of the cameras were still used by forces in the north and the south and doug was the most famous. again, he was the mascot of the 43rd mississippi inf

it was not meant as a compliment to jefferson davis to be compared to a pig but jeff davis the pig was very popular among the troops and he could do a number of things he could march with them on his hind legs. he could smoke a pipe he could run obstacle courses and he served with them extensively including when they did occupation duty and the newly captured city of new orleans but when it came time for them to go into combat, they made the very humane decision to send jeff davis back to a farm in new haven, connecticut so he could live out the rest of his days in peace. another animal that has similar fortunate date was brewing the bear. he belonged to the 12th wisconsin infantry and he was team bear he would march with them. he would board trains with them and he went with them on an extensive series of assignments. they ended up in fort leavenworth kansas, and then they got in order that they would have to take a grueling and dangerous march to texas again. they made the humane decision to leave him with an arrangement in fort leavenworth kansas that he could live out the remainder

jefferson davis is heading to montgomery, alabama to be inaugurated as president of the confederacy.retty serious sign that this is going to be a conflict. >> slave-owning mississippi senator and former secretary of war jefferson davis is chosen to lead the confederacy. >> on february 22 and, 1861, when lincoln was in philadelphia en route to his inauguration, he spoke outside of independence hall, and he said that every idea he had ever had politically came from the deliberations of those men in that hall. he said rather than be false to those ideas, he would rather be assassinated on the spot. >> on the trip, he received information that a mob in baltimore was going to assassinate him. >> even though maryland was in the union, baltimore was a hotbed of confederate sentiment. >> it is the only city below the mason-dixon line in which he is scheduled to stop and speak. >> he could get shot, stabbed, kidnapped. it's a terrible situation he's in. >> lincoln's advisers beg him to end his speaking tour and get to washington under cover. >> lincoln said that's going to look pretty bad. i'

the secretary of war, a guy named jefferson davis, and yes, is the same jefferson davis who would be the president of the confederacy, came up with the idea of importing camels from the mideast to see if they could supply these far-flung settlements. it was called the texas experiment. the idea was to create an american camel. the experiment had its problems. although those who were well trained count camels were great to work with, others who are less experienced had difficulties. these problems, along with the beginning of the civil war, caused an end to the program, and unfortunately, most of these camels were set loose to fend for themselves. the offspring from these camels were still in the southwest up until the 1940's, but a few of the camels were still used by horses in the north. doug was the most famous. he was the mascot of the 40 mississippi infantry, and he was used to transport some supplies. he was mainly a mascot. unfortunately, he was a rather big target and he was killed by sharpshooters at vicksburg. the men felt terrible about it. they buried him with full militar

adding, just imagine general lee class-ing the mantle of sumner with that of jefferson davis, exclamation point. longstreet was this paper charged a tool of the radical republicans, feeding on federal pap, as the paper pointed. he'd be left starved by his new allies, they predicted as soon as they had taken advantage of his enviable reputation and here is a key point, no longer after these june letters did democratic papers like in the long streets advice to lease advice, instead now, longstreet was in a sort of category of his own. alone in his apostasy's, has won paper but it. so the newspapers opposed to rip construction classed him with benedict arnold for his want, an wicked decision of his friends and country. and again, that's a quote. some southern papers targeted long streets soared as arbiter, proposition. warren never settles any principles whatsoever, the street port southwestern insisted, adding the only thing settled by the civil war with the assertion of the superior power of the north. and the charleston mercury, never known for its restraint, and went even farther and con

lee is summoned to testify in jefferson davis' treason trial. basically lee was offered amnesty for his testimony against davis or face reindictment for treason after the prosecutor tried to establish that lee only followed orders that davis was responsible for, lee dug in his heels, quote, i am responsible for what i did and i cannot now recall any important movement i made had i not acted on my own responsibilities. how many of you, or how many times have you seen in your life where somebody has put the squeeze on them, they fold in the court? how many of you would have with that hanging over your head, potential indictment, would be able to get on the witness stand and self-indictment yourself? it's a lot. christmas day. 1868. president johnson sends out a general amnesty to all confederates who had not been restored their rights by previous actions. it was over. lee and davis would never be tried. but lee was still not a citizen because his application had been misplaced. right there. a couple of things on that. one, robert e. lee never votes

jefferson davis is offensive, defensive strategy is working. the union army was held back at every corner. and of the two major southern already means could just hold their own until the november elections, northern public opinion wood and civil war. and the confederate dream would be accomplished. this is the watermark of the war. and it lasted three months. three months. aa9s northern military to affect complete turnaround. the union navy caught the first lines on august 5th, had morale david -- had seized all important point of alabama. a change of commanders in the confederate army that prove disastrous. john detection munich beach -- soundly defeated in each engagement, they abandoned the deep south to supply center. and virginia, he calmly put a stranglehold only, he employed tens of thousands of billy yanks in the siege of both richmond and saint petersburg. grant kept warning the length of his alliance. this in turn stretched lee in smaller defenses like -- like a rubber band being pulled through its limits. more importantly, grand stra

jefferson davis' strategy was working. the union army was held back at every corner and if the two major southern armies could just hold their own until the november elections, northern public opinion would end the civil war and the confederate dream would be accomplished. this is a high-watermark of the war. and it lasted three months. three months. the time it took for northern military might to affect a complete turnaround. the navy got the first headlining when on august 5th, they seized the port of mobile, alabama. a change of commanders in the army in atlanta proved disastrous. soundly defeated in each engagement who had abandoned the deep south great supply center. in virginia, grant calmly put a strangled hold on lee. he employed tens of thousands of people in richmond and petersburg. grant kept widening the length of his lines. this stretched lee's smaller defenses like a rubber band being pulled to its limits. more importantly, grant's strategy took away from lee the only effective weapon the southern journal had

statue of jefferson davis donated by mississippi in 1931 cents at the height of jim crow. it is a beautiful moment of black political power coalescing in this very spot where jefferson davis was thought to be honored in 1931 and cbc is only 50 years old to see that change of political power is powerful. what about you amy? >> i thank you know the answer. but i think my favorite we have a lot of great anecdotes in the book was barack obama is in a posh new york restaurant talking to a group of black donors and essentially they are friends and go way back and ask him what he thinks about the race. who was up and who is down and he all but endorses elizabeth warren. i will not endorse or this is not an endorsement but he speaks for a good portion of the program this little off the record chat about elizabeth warren and at the same time he's jabbing at mayor pete. calling him gay and short he is ripping him of course but he is having fun. then he doesn't mention any of the other candidates but he is talking a lot about elizabeth warren at the same time the best part is he forg

the den secretary of war, jefferson davis, yes, the same jefferson davis that a few years later wouldthe president of the confederacy, came up with the idea of importing camels from the middle east -- from the mid east to see if they could supply these fourth and settlements. it was called the texas experiment. the idea was to create an america camel corps. the experiment had problems. although those who were experienced with camels found them to be great animals to work with, others who were less trained had difficulties with them. these problems, along with the beginning of the civil war, caused an end to the program and most of these camels were just set loose to fend for themselves. it is reported that some of the offspring from these camels were still seen roaming the southwest up until the 1940's. a few of the camels were still used by forces in the north and the south and doug was the most famous, he was the mascot of the 43rd mississippi infantry, and he was used to transport some supplies but he was mainly a mascot. unfortunately, he was a big target and he was killed by unio

jefferson davis went on to be the president of the confederacy and robert ely, the confederate generalmazing to think out the fact that at the same time the country was at war, the protagonists of that conflict were accompanied by women all wearing dresses by the same african-american seamstresses and it shows you how slippery and complex the matter of craft is and how it easily pours itself across ideological lines and other lines of conflict. the real thing to focus on thinking about 19th century american craft as it touched the lives of black people is how important these skills were. for every douglas -- frederick douglass said in his you african americans needed to "learn trades or die." and he was speaking from experience because he managed to by good fortune ended up as a ships talker on the docks of baltimore, which was a terrible job. he was beaten by white dockworkers and his autobiography is filled with the difficulties of that time in his life but it allowed him to escape because he had relative freedom on the docks and not consigned to the fields where most enslaved people

slavery and is supportive ideology of white supremacy slaveholders from thomas, jefferson to jefferson davis did not hesitate to label the united states the land of freedom while insisting on the inferiority of those they felt justified in enslaving. the big problem for the united states. was that ever more states rejected slavery and those still guilty of racist policies these states insisted on freedom for their citizens of african heritage. so what happens when a black citizen of a free state travels to a slave state or slave finds his way into a free state? it is important to note that racism warped every aspect of american law politics society culture and language for instance given attendency of white slave owners to rate their female slaves leading to lighter skinned children it often became difficult to define blackness. and what happened when black sailors for the united states navy was integrated stepped assurance slaves state in 1822, south carolina declared that they would be sold into slavery the supreme court declared their law and constitution, but south carolina did not care.

would i really wanted to get, i feel to engage with the words of speeches that jefferson davis was given. it's really hard to give those. by the tyler graff was sending the reports that he's in northern alabama tonight or he's going to be in atlanta tomorrow night, so they knew where he was and they did get the words of his inaugural address in montgomery. but yeah, i was fascinated by that story. i mean, you have it in lincoln president elect to. but even the nature of that train trip was interesting and were revealed to my way of looking at, it a lot of the bankruptcy of the confederacy. that, how do want to offend any trump admirers on this call, but it resembled the situation -- in some ways, resembles the situation that they were much clearer on their right to govern. then they were on their actual governing. they weren't that interested in governing, they were very focused on their right to govern. and, so davis to get too -- well, he lives on a plantation on the mississippi near the louisiana and mississippi boundary, he has to get to -- first of vicksburg, ten to jackson. from ja

there was a counter inaugural journey by jefferson davis. and do we have any record of whether he i mean you've poured through all of the newspapers much more than i ever did small town papers and such. are there references in northern papers about this? other inaugural journey yes, there are. what i really wanted to get i i failed to get which were the words of speeches jefferson davis was giving it's really hard to get those. yeah, but the the telegraph was sending the reports that you know, he's he's in northern alabama tonight. or he's going to be in atlanta tomorrow night. so they knew where he was and they did get the words of his inaugural address in in montgomery. but yeah, i was fascinated by that that story you have it in lincoln president-elect two, but even the nature of that train trip was interesting and and revealed. to my way of looking at it a lot of the bankruptcy of the confederacy that you know i don't want to offend any trump admirers on this call, but it resembled the situation in some ways resembles the situation now t

the davis was davis jefferson and sumner was the radical abolitionist charles sumner who was highly loathed by confederates and had been for many years. this letter would get more provocative still. long strooept offered the self-evident proposition that, quote, the highest of human laws is the law established by the appeal to arms and then he then deduced since the war had sided with the north, and it was the duty of the south to, quote, abandon ideas that had become obsolete and among the things classed at obsolete in this letter was the democratic party itself. [ laughter ] which was nothing more he said than a vehicle for old prejudice, his word. sounding a whole lot like a republican, longstreet decide congress' reconstruction acts as peace offerings, again, his words, which would give the south a fresh start. moreover, he directly addressed the issue of race relations casting black suffrage in the south as a fait accompli and arguing that the experiment of black voting should be extended to the north and fully tested,' he put it. a few days later longstreet offered a fourth letter, a

i have a section of other people henry clay, jefferson davis and so on. so i think that, yes, even though there are more of marshall there fewer biographies of james buchanan. but i knew i wasn't there. and i know that i view things differently from what i call real historian who went to get all the facts out. and can write a big book. i don't want to write a big book we all know valley forge everybody died that brags for shoes and started up. that's not the real story that's part of the story. if they all started up he would not one the revolution, would we? it was tough, but it was not the death march either bruce bixby give inspiration will be coming up on questions and a few moments breaks want to remind the folks in my fifth question for robert please do type this into the comments. will be correcting those in turns your questions here in about ten or 15 minutes or so. not robert, when the key things you discuss in your book is this idea that marshall is head of the courts in the early 19th century really helps to keep the union together in that. aft

why are we allowing confederates, particularly confederate leaders, generals and people like jefferson davis, why would we welcome those people back into full citizenship including voting rights. so he's commenting on policy under johnson. when we have not, welcome to full citizenship, which means voting rights, black veterans. shall i trust these men? who have confederate leadership, coming and asking for forgiveness, but the companion panel on the other side, showed her gesturing to, standing next to her a black veteran, who had lost a leg. in the image is a ballot box. and that's one of the core components of cartoon representation. and that is a good example of how nast you voting. and from his point of view, you could not be equal within the united states, if you are not free to vote. so he repeatedly created cartoons, in which the right to vote, was the right to be american. so the second one, which i think we see here. and then i'll come back to this in a later one to, is that nast always emphasize that voting was dangerous. he understood that to vote, was to put yourself in the cente

particularly confederate leaders generals people like jefferson davis? why would we ever welcome those people back into full citizenship including voting rights? so he's commenting on the pardon policy under johnson. when we have not welcomed to full citizenship, which means voting rights black veterans and so shall i trust these men and has the confederate leadership coming to lady liberty and asking for forgiveness and then the the companion panel on the other side of harper's weekly showed her gesturing 2 standing next to her a black veteran who had lost a leg and in the image is the ballot box, which the mhs has featured as one of the core components of cartoon representations of voting and that is a good example of nest's view of voting as central to citizenship from his point of view. you could not be equal within the united states if you are not free to vote and so he repeatedly created cartoons in which the right to vote was the right to be an american. so the second one which i think we see here in some ways and then i'll come back to this in a

that is the jefferson davis memorial highway. so that is just an example of the kind of story that you can write from these inquests and that i hope you will write in the weeks ahead. does anybody have any questions about death investigation in the united states the coroners office in the 19th century south? or anything else i know it's in another glum day in the history of death and dying in the united states. i'll see you all on tuesday. thanks very much. you can watch lectures in history every weekend on american history tv. we take you inside college classrooms to learn about topics ranging from the american revolution to 9/11 that saturday at 8pm at midnight eastern on c-span 3 if you like american history tv keep up with us during the week on facebook twitter and youtube learn about what happened this day in history and see preview clips of upcoming programs follow us at c-spanhistory. sunday smithsonian secretary lonnie bunch and documentary filmmaker ken burns discuss the complex challenge of telling america's story. here

jefferson davis said that slavery was established by almighty god and sanctioned in the bible in bothtaments from genesis to revelation. even after slavery was abolished, we heard these religious freedom arguments. theodore billbeaux, a two-time governor in mississippi, used religion to justify racism and discrimination, he wrote that allowing the blood of races to mix was an attack on god. a century ago, in georgia, a man said that god made them negros and we cannot buy education make them white folks. segregated schools, 1960, mississippi governor ross barnett proclaimed that the good lord was the original segregationist. in 1960 three, president harry truman, when asked whether he believed if segregation would lead to interracial marriage responded by saying, i hope not. i don't believe in it. the lord created it that way, you read your bible and you will find out. i do not understand that in this nation that believes in our faith traditions, that believe -- literally in our founding documents, all people are created equal, that we still have a nation that tolerates with the majori

to stand there and defend something that a hundred years ago jefferson davis would be applauding. >>was purposefully letting listeners know that he was a bigot. that white terrorists, trump terrorists scared him less than black people marching. you know, mika, ron though also may not be the sharpest tool in the shed. because by admitting they were coming up and attacking the capitol to try to stop him from certifying the electoral votes, he actually helps prove, if you look at the statute, he helps prove one of the points that needs to be proved in approving sedition. that you were coming and you were committing violence in hopes to stop a legal process by the united states government or a constitutional process by the united states government. so i'm sure the prosecution in all the cases appreciate ron johnson, a sitting senator stating that, yes, that's exactly what they were trying to do. >> extremely helpful, that's for sure. >> thank you, ron. >> some democratic lawmakers are now say they won't work with any republicans who voted for against the affirming of the election. so how

the life of joseph johnston highlighting his difficult relationship with confederate president jefferson davis.