mrs. thornton, mrs. rnton had a guy who she owned, a man named george plant, and he was her driver, and he was kind of the jack of all trades who kept the house up and fixed the wagons and did all of that. well, george, george plant had a wife who was free, and she lived in georgetown, and he had four kids, and they were free. and he would go home at night. and then in the morning he'd go -- so he was a slave who commuted. [laughter] but that was, i mean, that was one of the variations of slavery in washington at that time. also a lot of slaves made money by their owners would hire them out. so your owner would say, okay, you'd be hired out to the owner of a hotel. you'd go and be a waiter at the hotel. but you were there, you were a waiter, you could make tips, you controlled your own time. so slavery was a much more fluid thing in washington, and that's one reason why the anti-slavery movement could get going, was because there was more room to operate. and this was one of the things that key was most u

mrs. thornton. so when arthur turns himself in a few days later and says i have no memory of what happened, he is whisked off to jail and a mock conversions on the jail in downtown washington in judiciary square. and tries to seek and demand that he be turned over so that he can be hung on the spot. francis scott key comes to the defense of the jail is trying to hold back the crowd. fortunately, the secretary of the navy calls in the federal troops, the marines from the navy yard on the other side of washington. the troops march down pennsylvania avenue, surround the jail and push the crowd back and protect the jail. but arthur will not be lynched. it is only temporarily restored because the mob, frustrated by the fact that they cannot get there hands on arthur, decide to turn their fury on every other free black person in town. the mobs began to split up and attack any black people who have property, the black churches, the black schools, the black poorhouses come at any place where black people ga

mrs. thornton had bag servants who she honed. he was her driver. was kind of the jack of all trades to get the house up and fix the wagons and did all that. well, george had a life who was freed in georgetown. for kids who were free. he would go home and night. in the morning he would go. surrey was a slave who commuted. [laughter] that was one of the variations of slavery. their owners who hire them out you be hired at to the owner of a hotel. be a waiter in the hotel. the honor of the hotel would pay your honor, your wages. you were there. you could make tips, can show your own time. slavery was a much more fluid thing. that is one reason why the anti slavery movement could get going. because there was more room to operate. this was one of the things that he was most upset about. this freedom, these zero corners of freedom that the blacks for fighting, everybody understood that was going to be the toll. greater freedom. that was what they were out. that is what they were trying to repress. like us said, this is when the real ideological struggle

mrs. thornton was trying to help arthur. you could see that.dy ever wrote an article about that but you heard that throughout the press coverage of the time. >> a couple questions. you talk a lot about the different parallels between then and now and i would be interested -- race then and now are and what parallels you might see and also talking about then and now and something like we are condemned to repeat history. is that your conclusion? or we can learn? >> yes. the politics of race are central and when i talk about those principles that we debate in red/blue liberal conservative division, raise run through those and that is a big part of it. day when president obama on pennsylvania avenue gets out and walk down the street watching tv nobody knows it. not even barack obama himself. this is the quintessential obama story and nobody knows it. this doesn't directly answer your question but this idea of success is written now. religiously forgotten. that is the only explanation why this story is not known or why nobody knows the story of bever