so that was douglas's first encounter with o'connell so nantucket and nantucket like ireland is very important in douglas's personal development and douglas at this stage had been interested in abolition and he was persuaded by a quaker banker abolitionist on the island of nantucket to come to an abolitionist an annual abolitionist meeting and so he came to nantucket and it's also propriet in some ways that the weather prevents me from being here in march because i'm here in august and it was actually in august 1841 that frederick douglass came to the island of nantucket as a spectator at this great abolitionist meeting and the convention lasted for three days and it was multi race. so this is where frederick spoke in the and i hope i pronounce it wrong at the name. that's how you say it. okay at the name and this is the original building and sadly it burned down the great fire on the island. i think 1846 local historians can tell me if i'm right and it was re so frederick spoke in the original antonym and his intention was not to speak originally, but he was called on because there'

the nantucket historical association hosted this. prof. shannon: it is great to be in nantucket. i first came here when i was five years old with my mother and my aunt and they decided i should learn how to ride a bike. they crossed the street to young's bike shot and got a bike for me and i learned how to ride the bike and i was happy to see young's bike shop is still in business. i will not take a spin on this visit. it is great to be back and seeing that nantucket and its people are prospering. my talk tonight irish immigration and the greater island, i am going to focus on three interrelated themes. i will consider the patents of irish immigration to the united states, the push and pull factors that compelled it in the major focus of the influx that began as a result of the great irish famine and continued on it steadily until the early 20th century. there will be a boston, massachusetts slant to all aspects of my commentary tonight. secondly, i will describe the welcome they received on the shores and how their experiences of immigration and hostility helped to shape strong

the nantucket lightship was technically the first landfall. the ship was as good as in port.le square rigger was escorted in to complete her voyage 5,435 miles under sail. in 54 days at sea as, again, 66 for the original crews, the modern "mayflower" achieved a notable feat, which helps to realize just how much more was accomplished and endured by the pilgrim fathers. as it was in 1620, provincetown harbor was the first port of call. here the original vessel lay offshore on her cargo of migrants to the new world drew up "the mayflower compact." one of the developments in anglo-american democracy. on the shore at plymouth where a wilderness awaited the pilgrims now stand the gleaming monument that houses plymouth rock. instead of silent wilderness, a cheering throng reached the second "mayflower." ♪♪ the captain and his men receive a hero's ovation at plymouth. close by plymouth rock where the pilgrims first set foot in the new world, the "mayflower ii" will be docked permanently, a living memorial to a great voyage. ♪♪ >>> weeknights this month, we're featuring american histo

about 20 years ago i moved to nantucket island and i became fascinated with the place, having grown up in the maritime center of the world, pittsburgh, pennsylvania, i was a little bit overwhelmed by having all this water around me. and i was also overwhelmed because one of my most favorite books in the world was "moby-dick." this was as if i had stepped into the pages of my favorite novel. and i wanted to learn everything i could about it. and the more i learned about it, the more i began to realize that if i was ever going to write a book about the history of nantucket, i had to put it in the context of new england. if i was going to do that, i had to begin with the pilgrims, that story i assumed i already knew. and so i began to look into 17th century new england. and the more i looked into the story, the more almost indignant i became, because, you know, what i learned in third grade didn't do justice to the complexity and the real relevance of what happened in 17th century new england. because the story of the pilgrims does not end with the first thanksgiving. that is just the beg

after moving to nantucket, became very interested in the history.writing for me, if i don't write something during a day, i really feel as if i have cheated myself in some way, so i try to keep at it. thank you. yes? any more questions? over here? >> as you've traveled around the country on your book tour, i know you've been to new england, to chicago, to san francisco and to dallas. have you noticed any regional differences, either in the way the people look at the book, or the way they look at the pilgrims? >> the question for you those of you who didn't hear it, i've been on this book tour that is taking me around the country. what has been the response? there are regional differences in that response. well for one thing, literally every place i have gone, there has been a generous portion of the audience who are mayflower descendants. it is showing me that this is a story that has a vital connection with who we are. one of the surprises for me was to learn that to be a descendant og the mayflower passengers, i thought was an elite only club. 10%

up next, we hear a presentation from the nantucket historical association about the history of the new england settlement and the period when quaker missionaries arrived. >> what we wanted to do today -- there's going to be a merging of styles. i need to turn you into puritans, if you are to understand where we are going to go with the quakers. i taught freshman english for six years. one of my courses was on sensored books in the 1950s. i realized, my students were young and came from a different moral climate. my students were so very young that payton place was not shocking to them at all. i needed to understand just how radical the novel was. so we're going to take a little time to give you the puritan mentality so when the quakers enter your world you can understand how frightening it is. we're going to be looking at a time when the world was turned upside down between the year 1649 and 1660 or 1661. we're all sweltering in the quaker meeting house, i need you to imagine the coldest day in monday. bitterly cold. and there is a very small man, smaller than i am, about five feet get

i'm delighted to be on nantucket. it's my first time and it's beautiful. so i'm pretty wide up if i slip out o

i'm delighted to be on nantucket. it's my first time and it's beautiful. so i'm pretty wide up if i slip out of sound. please tell me and i've been given some very modern technology, which if it doesn't work, please tell me also i just admitted to dr. lovely camera woman. i've already seen my first spelling mistake. i've misspelled my own name. that is not how you spell christine. i was doing it quickly. please forgive me. i do know how to spell my own

up next on american history tv we hear a presentation from the nantucket historical association about the history of this new england settlement and the tumultuous period when quaker missionaries arrived. >> what we wanted to do today, there's going to be a mind of melange of styles going on here because i need to turn you into puritans if you are going to understand where we are going to go with the quakers. i taught freshman english at the university of connecticut for six years and one of my courses was on censored books in the 1950s and what i realized was my students were so very young and came from a different moral climate that peyton place wasn't shocking to them at all. so i needed to give them the milieu of the moment to understand just how radical the novel was. so we are going to take a little time to give you the puritan mentality so that when the quakers enter your world, you can understand just how frightening it is. we're going to be looking at a time when the world was turned upside down between the years 1649 and 1660 or 1661. though we are all sweltering in the quak

think critically about the impact you would like to have in your communities in youri'm delighten nantucket. it's my first time and it's beautiful. so i'm pretty wide up if i slip out of sound. please tell me and i've been given some very modern technology, which if it doesn't work, please tell me also i

i won "most promising debut novel" at the 2009 nantucket book festival, non-fantasy or science fiction division. i think i can handle a wedding toast. - thanks, tom. i don't know what that is, but that's very cool of you. - aw, brotherly love. - that's so sweet. - not all heroes wear capes, right? - i am just so excited to go to a party for grown-ups-- open bar, dancing, bacon-wrapped dates. - spags will have b-wrapped-d's, for sure. champagne fountain. i think they're releasing, like, 100 doves. - do you know what happens to those doves after they're released? - oh, yeah. they get eaten by hawks. it's gnarly. - oh, my god. i am so glad we didn't do any of that at our wedding. - well, we barely had a wedding. - yeah, that was definitely the right choice. - [strained] yeah. definitely. anyone else need coffee? [mischievous music] ♪ ♪ - oh, my god! - gosh. phew. [overlapping chatter] ooh! - hey. - hey! - what're you watching? - i was just doing--my email. just sending, receiving. bcc, cc, lol. - are you watching porn? - no--yes. yes, i am. just hardcore sex content. - all right, well, th

he wrote that memo to president obama from nantucket and faxed it to the white house. >> which is new you said it, not me. >> he was pleading with the president. obama didn't listen to him. obama sunday and eventually did draw down. yesterday obama came out in a full-throated support of joe biden. and what's interesting about biden is an obama adviser told you something to the effect of biden's message translating into this country needs to chill the eff out and have a boring president. this isn't a boring president. >> things will change the paradigm. he said, i don't want to tinker around the edges. you saw this with the $2 trillion relief covid plan, the american rescue plan, then, of course, with the infrastructure program, which is of the same financial scale, and now this is about going after what has been in his mind one of the core facts that defines american life today, which is we've been at war longer than the young men and women who can join and go to afghanistan. they've been at war longer than they've been alive. this is personal, after all. he's the first president sinc

even sending him -- faxing him that memo from vacation in nantucket, pleading with him to make this decision. well, now biden got to make that decision. and i wonder what you think it tells us about his presidency and what is to come, right? the willingness to go against top military generals' advice. some of your own advisers' advice and to see i believe this in my gut. this is right, and i'm going to do it. >> yeah, i sat through nine meetings in the situation room back in 2009 when the policy on afghanistan was being reviewed. and the vice president -- then vice president was an emphatic voice that we should focus on counterterrorism and not try and engage in a larger project of nation building in afghanistan. he didn't call for the withdrawal of troops but he called for much smaller numbers -- >> i should have said against the surge. you're right. >> exactly. but, you know, the -- it does not surprise me that he's taken the position that he's taken. he understood what the commitment of the large numbers of troops were, and that was a very tough decision for the president. he ultimately c

he faxed the letter to the white house from his thanksgiving vacation on nantucket.ma instead chose to surge troops will for eventually pulling many out. two years later in 2011, he announced a plan to end the war in afghanistan. this is 10 years ago. pres. obama: tonight we take comfort in knowing the tide of war is receding. fewer of our sons and daughters are serving in harm's way. we have ended our combat mission in iraq with 100,000 american troops already out of that country. and even as there will be dark days ahead in afghanistan, the light of a secure peace can be seen in the distance. these long wars will come to a responsible ends. amy: that was president obama 10 years ago. before that you had bush. biden pointed out he does not want to hang this onto a fifth president. now the war has been through two republican and two democratic presidents. while trump has that all troops would be out, first, biden says troops will begin to be pulled out, first. as we see in "the new york times," we're talking about thousands and thousands more mercenaries, intelligenc

but her mother, her father had died young, and her mother, who had grown up on nantucket and where the quakers, there was a very strong quaker community, and where women historically had done exactly the same work that their husbands had, they just believed absolutely in the equality of men and women. her older sister was a great early human rights advocate, basically taught martha everything she came to believe about the evils of slavery and the absurdity of women having to live a life constricted to their houses. so she was, she was, you know, very much ready to embrace both causes. and she and francis quickly became friends once she moved -- once martha moved to auburn with her family. and so the early 1840s in this very conservative town, the two of them would get together and conspire. and they would exchange pamphlets that were revolutionary and talk about all of these things. but it really was the presence of harriet tubman who liberated herself from slavery in 1849, walked out of slavery on her own without -- her free husband would not accompany her. walked, she had learned all

the nantucket historical association hosted this. prof. shannon: it is great to be in nantucket. i first came here when i was five years old with my mother and my aunt and they decided i should learn how to ride a bike. they crossed the street to