kaysix robert e. lee attended school at the alexandria academy which george washington endowed and robert e. lee ran errands for his mother in the marketplace were george washington had the troops during the french and indian war. in the descriptions we have of the childhood of robert e. lee described him as anything but a a boy. they described him as a nurse tending to his mother. they described him as a housekeeper running errands for his family and no one understood what track down harry lee better than his wife. wife. she made sure that tragedy did not repeat itself. he taught young robert to put duty before desire to automatic control himself. he was a could never have his own way. and so as much as robert e. lee might want for material things he would not like the virtue the separated harry lee from george washington. robert ely you self-control and knew how to deny himself what most connects actually happen just upriver. a little bit further upriver to the great pillard mentioned that sits atop the

the second anniversary was the 200th anniversary of the birth of robert e. lee. one of the hardest things to do for anyone is to get a sense of time. think back 200 years if you can to robert e. lee's era. and then another 200 years back to jamestown. that is hard to do. if someone just says 400 years ago, we cannot really envision that. so the thread is jamestown. that is where it starts. in 1519, 12 years later, the first african americans arrive at jamestown. they are not slaves yet. they are for the most part indentured servants. slavery will begin a little bit later. a lot of people wonder why did it take so long for slavery to end. well, slavery was in existence from us 200 years when robert e. lee is born in 1807. which is rather remarkable. and slavery will end in about four short -- well, long years at the end of the civil war. let's talk about ira aldridge. ira was not a slave. he was a free black. he was born in downtown manhattan, new york city, in 1807. along with ira aldridge, robert e. lee is going to shadow aldridge. ira aldridge, free black. not m

-- robert e lee and ulysses s. grant. if you will just give us a moment. [no audio] [chatter amongst audience] >> ten hut! >> shoulders arms. present arms. >> where are they going? >> good afternoon ladies and human -- ladies and gentlemen on april 9 1855, ulysses s grant and a small group of officers arrived here. if you look to the right 150 years ago -- [no audio] >> after he arrived, general grant dismounted and moved directly up the steps of the house. he disappeared into the home to discuss with robert e lee the surrender of the army of northern virginia. [indiscernible] [no audio] [dog barking] >> robert e lee had arrived about a half hour prior to grant and was already in the parlor awaiting his arrival. for the next hour and 15 minutes, we will talk about this event, 150 years ago to the minute after it happened. robert e lee was accompanied by charles marshall, one of his aides. this grant was accompanied by -- s grant was accompanied -- grant was accompanied by his aid parker and a dozen or so other offi

robert e. lee believes his army is invincible and eager to gain success in pennsylvania on the third of july, he will assemble 13,000 confederate infantryman in a line that is a mile-long soldier to soldier. he preludes the assault with a big artillery bombardment. at 3:00 in the afternoon after the confederate artillery is quite, the 13,000 infantryman step across the field, open field, we have been there, we have walked this. remember how long it took us to get across the field? it is a mile from cemetery ridge to seminary ridge. what happens when the confederate soldiers get to the center of the union line? do they break it? no they hit the wall and are repulsed. this is the angle to be there focal point on july 3. at the end of the day on july 3 agency three, by 4:00 in the afternoon, the high tide of the confederacy receded. they are falling back to cemetery ridge. robert e. lee will say 50% of the confederates who made the attack will be killed, wounded or captured. lee no longer able to figh

but when robert e. leeat threshold onto mclean's porch with a copy of the surrender terms written by eli n parker in his pocket he did pock more than confront a place of deep emotion. he entered a new world one in wo which therl southern confederacy hern was no longer a possibility.a the end of slavery was real, and an empowered united states ited s confronted the immense challenges of reconstruction, reconciliation and justice. though few could see it that day, lee's ride from the mclean yard through appomattox to the throes of his defeated army was not an end, but a beginning the first act in a long national eginni journey that continues still. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> forward, march! >> we will conclude our program here today with the ringing of this bell. rin on the morning of april 10th, 1865, the day after appomattox caroline carl richards was sitting quietly eating breakfast in new york. suddenly she recorded, our church bell commenced to ring. re and then the methodist bell. and now all the bells in tow

though the bearing he could not have been more different than robert e. lee. e time the armies arrived at appomattox, he might have been only slightly less famous than his opponent. certainly, he had become a central to his nation's aspirations as lee was to the confederacy. charles francis adams jr., a grandson of presidents conceded grant's awkward ways but saw the man within. he's a remarkable man. he handles those around him so quietly and well. he has a faculty of disposing of work. and managing men. president lincoln recognized grant's skills, but especially admired his persistentsy sissistencey of purpose. he has the grit of a bulldog. another officer put it in even more colorful terms. he habitually wears an expression as if he is determined to drive his head through a brick wall and was about to do it. general grant attached himself to the army of the potomac in 1864 and promptly set about taking the initiative from robert e. lee. with a determination that matched lee's and with an army larger than the army of northern virginia, grant thundered through

grant and robert e lee. general grant is portrayed by kurt field and general lee by thomas jesse. you want to invite you to be part of the conversation. here's how to do that -- call us at the numbers on your screen. send us a tweet at c-span history and you can also join us on facebook. this moment our viewers just saw on american history tv, gentlemen, what were you thinking as general lee wrote away? guest: sadness. i knew how much they were suffering with the surrender after they had fought so hard for four long years. i felt it was almost anti-climactic. one of the things i noted was the silence. there were no guns, no candidate in, no shouts, no battle sounds. the silence was a sound we had not heard for four years and it approached the eerie. host: general lee, as we watched that site just moments ago, you seemed to pause for a moment before mounting traveler. what was going through your mind? guest: at that particular moment, i was concerned for my horse. we were putting the bridle on and i removed the forelock from under the bridle but what was going on in my mind for mos

>> stonewall, robert e lee. jennifer murray: robert e lee, stonewall jackson jefferson davis, arthur ash, who has created all sorts of controversy, putting a tennis player there. this is a dedication for robert e lee memorial in richmond. so the lost cause, then, which you identified earlier as a psychological means to cope with defeat. you see the evolution of the lost cause in the latter part of the 19th century. what was once created as a means to explain to fee, but then -- explain defeat, a psychological explanation of what they lost four, then it transitions into something that is celebratory. and we start to celebrate the south. and we celebrate people like robert e lee, confederate soldiers. look at the image -- the monument itself is grandiose and incredibly spectacular, but what strikes you about the picture? >> do we have a number on how many are there? jennifer murray: there is estimated to be over 100,000 people who attended the dedication of the lee monument. >> 100,000 people? jennifer murray: 100,

so the connection is pocahontas -- jamestown pocahontas pocahontas, robert e. lee, ira aldridge both born in 1807. both men, again, knew exactly what they wanted to do, lee being a soldiers aldridge being an actor next month we're going to look at -- we're going to follow the african-american heritage a little more and we'll look at everett dirkson. he made the cover of "time" magazine a number of times and the r magazine has the collection and we have a coverage of everett dirkson on display. and we'll look at dirkson. senator dirkson basically was the catalyst of moving the historic civil rights legislation through the senate and congress in january -- just this time in january/february, the winter of 1964 that legislation would eventually be signed by president johnson on july 2 of 1964. and that's, of course, the historic civil rights act of 1964. so it took another hundred years from the time -- the end of the civil war to really begin to see some of the social equity and the civil rights for blacks that whites had enjoyed since the beginning. so ira aldridge

robert e. lee, for instance, was famous for four years and a few years after the war. most people have a much smaller time span of celebrity. 50 years you have got to maintain an image pretty robustly. so, i can't really answer that. i know she was vain. she dyed her hair. susan b anthony taught her to dye her hair. she dyed her hair, rubbed this stuff, lanolin on her face and apparently looked years younger than her age, but she was very conscious of her appearance and maybe that's the reason. >> the national park service has the following headline, ms. clara bart opinion organized the expedition to andersonville identified the graves and established andersonville national cemetery. second, did clara barton make any reference to the union prisoners at andersonville who were taken advantage robbing, even murdering and then themselves were tried and hung at andersonville? these were union officers mistreating union men? did she address that? >> i'm not familiar with the latter parts. i don't think she did mention it. i don't know why the park service has that on. she wa

though the bearing he could not have been more different than robert e. lee. e time the armies arrived at appomattox, he might have been only slightly less famous than his opponent. certainly, he had become a central to his nation's aspirations as lee was to the confederacy. charles francis adams jr., a grandson of presidents conceded grant's awkward ways but saw the man within. he's a remarkable man. he handles those around him so quietly and well. he has a faculty of disposing of work. and managing men. president lincoln recognized grant's skills, but especially admired his persistentsy sissistencey of purpose. he has the grit of a bulldog. another officer put it in even more colorful terms. he habitually wears an expression as if he is determined to drive his head through a brick wall and was about to do it. general grant attached himself to the army of the potomac in 1864 and promptly set about taking the initiative from robert e. lee. with a determination that matched lee's and with an army larger than the army of northern virginia, grant thundered through

robert e. lee, for instance, was famous for four years and a few years after the war. most people have a much smaller time span of celebrity. 50 years you have got to maintain an image pretty robustly. so, i can't really answer that. i know she was vain. she dyed her hair. susan b anthony taught her to dye her hair. she dyed her hair, rubbed this stuff, lanolin on her face and apparently looked years younger than her age, but she was very conscious of her appearance and maybe that's the reason. >> the national park service has the following headline, ms. clara bart opinion organized the expedition to andersonville identified the graves and established andersonville national cemetery. second, did clara barton make any reference to the union prisoners at andersonville who were taken advantage robbing, even murdering and then themselves were tried and hung at andersonville? these were union officers mistreating union men? did she address that? >> i'm not familiar with the latter parts. i don't think she did mention it. i don't know why the park service has that on. she wa

grant and robert e lee. general grant is portrayed by kurt field and general lee by thomas jesse. you want to invite you to be part of the conversation. here's how to do that -- call us at the numbers on your screen. send us a tweet at c-span history and you can also join us on facebook. this moment our viewers just saw on american history tv gentlemen, what were you thinking as general lee wrote away? guest: sadness. i knew how much they were suffering with the surrender after they had fought so hard for four long years. i felt it was almost anti-climactic. one of the things i noted was the silence. there were no guns, no candidate in, no shouts, no battle sounds. the silence was a sound we had not heard for four years and it approached the eerie. host: general lee, as we watched that site just moments ago, you seemed to pause for a moment before mounting traveler. what was going through your mind? guest: at that particular moment, i was concerned for my horse. we were putting the bridle on and i removed the forelock from under the bridle but what was going on in my mind for most

i'm representing robert e. lee. and we can just vote now and all go home. [ laughter ] before the snow hits. it's not often that we venerate a loser. especially someone who lost a war. but robert e. lee stands out as an example of an american hero best known for presiding over the total and unequivocal defeat. although lee lost battles in each of the five years of the -- five calendar years of the civil war, there can be no doubt that his worst defeat the ultimate defeat that resulted in the surrender of his army, and the practical end of the liability of his would-be nation, occurred in the series of engagements in march and april of 1865. yet, i think there are at least six distinct reasons while in the midst of this abject failure, and its painful aftermath, that we should consider robert edward lee as the most outstanding person of 1865. so, first, let's consider lee as the symbol of confederate hope for his army, and his people. as the calendar year turned to 1865, any objective observer would conclude that the

though the bearing he could not have been more different than robert e. lee. armies arrived at appomattox, he might have been only slightly less famous than his opponent. certainly, he had become a central to his nation's aspirations as lee was to the confederacy. charles francis adams jr., a grandson of presidents conceded grant's awkward ways but saw the man within. he's a remarkable man. he handles those around him so quietly and well. he has a faculty of disposing of work. and managing men. president lincoln recognized grant's skills, but especially admired his persistentsy sissistencey of purpose. he has the grit of a bulldog. another officer put it in even more colorful terms. he habitually wears an expression as if he is determined to drive his head through a brick wall and was about to do it. general grant attached himself to the army of the potomac in 1864 and promptly set about taking the initiative from robert e. lee. with a determination that matched lee's and with an army larger than the army of northern virginia, grant thundered through virginia t

elizabeth burst on the scene with a book on robert e lee and his private letters. the book i think receives every prize in the world. our jefferson davis award, the richard b. harwell book award and the richard slatten award for excellence in virginia biography. i personally had the opportunity to read aloud an expert from an uncorrected proof of that book standing at this podium during the introduction of our 2007 symposium about robert e. lee. as is often true, there is a story behind elizabeth's emergence as a major civil war historian. she earned an m.a. in history from the university of pennsylvania studying with the now president of harvard university and i must tell a story about drew. when she was made the president of harvard, people were saying, isn't this unbelievable, she is the first female to be the president of harvard. and i commented to her, i thought it was more remarkable that she was the first friend of the museum of the confederacy to be the first president of harvard. [laughter] elizabeth embarked on a career as a historian for the national pa

so i thought he was going to ask me to speak about robert e. lee or maybe abraham lincoln, and i was a little dishart neartened, because i didn't think i could f th legitimately make the case for either of those or maybe even should make the case for them for person of the year in 1865. i thought their laurels should plea come in different years. but i was extremely pleased when he asked me to talk about deserv someone elsees and it's the person i think deserves to win for 1865. job i think my colleagues did an excellent job, but this is the person i think deserves the on designation. not only for what this person did in 1865, but for how those deeds changed the world, and a deed affected the life of every person in this room. now you recall that on may 23 and it24 1865, union soldiers of every rank flanked the president and had a mighty victory display, but someone was absent from that parade. raerson was prominent enough that aides in the white house went out onto the portico to see if they had missed the moment, if they could see this person in

i'm representing robert e. lee. and we can just vote now and all go home. [ laughter ] before the snow hits. it's not often that we venerate a loser. especially someone who lost a war. but robert e. lee stands out as an example of an american hero best known for presiding over the total and unequivocal defeat. although lee lost battles in each of the five years of the -- five calendar years of the civil war, there can be no doubt that his worst defeat the ultimate defeat that resulted in the surrender of his army, and the practical end of the liability of his would-be nation, occurred in the series of engagements in march and april of 1865. yet, i think there are at least six distinct reasons while in the midst of this abject failure, and its painful aftermath, that we should consider robert edward lee as the most outstanding person of 1865. so, first, let's consider lee as the symbol of confederate hope for his army, and his people. as the calendar year turned to 1865, any objective observer would conclude that the

grant portrayed by kurt fields and general robert e lee coat -- portrayed by thon c-span3. ♪

when one r of robert e. lee's untere staffd officers encountered him on the dirt streets of the village at appomattox court house. >> robert e. lee, likely in april of 1865, robert e. lee was1865 the most famous man not just in america but perhaps in the come world. his name has cop tos us in simple terms as a man of marvel, ct effective simplicity, unaffected dignity and incredible boldness.t ther but there was more to lee than that. was he was deeply analytical and sawtions the implications of his acts even more clearly and even most of his ardent admirers did. he became unshakably chitsed toeably committed to the success of the confederacy. and hean did perhaps more than anyone else to make that happen. in the sidmiddle of 1862 he had stunning military successes, unma perhaps unmatched in our nation's history.ignif every one of them spectacular against significant odds.rought the victories brought him fame . but more importantly, they brought the confederacy hope. while lee won victories in virginia, around hip

in april of 1865, confederate general robert e lee met union village ulysses s. grant and surrendered his army of northern virginia, effectively ending the civil war. we will be live from the national historical park in virginia on both april 9 and 12 as historians reflect on the last battles and explore the aftermath and legacy of appomattox. we will also bring you reenactments of some of the key moments from 150 years ago and open our phone lines to take your calls for the authors. the surrender appomattox, live april 9 and 12 here on american history tv on cspan3. >> all weekend, american history tv is featuring tulsa oklahoma. referred to as black wall street i booker t. washington, the greenwood district in tulsa was the center of black commerce in the early 1900s. together with our cox cable partners, the c-span staff recently visited many sites exploring tulsa's rich history. learn more about tulsa all weekend here on american history tv. woody guthrie: i got started in oklahoma. that is where i was born. the population is one third indian, one third negro

but of course grant never said such a thing to robert e. lee but the report was credible because it confirmed the fight over right interpretation. emma holmes would write of the surrender scene that union officers cheered for lee as he left the mclean house and the rank and file yankees dare not utter a single word to the rebels. why were they so submissive in victory. she wrote they feared the lion in chains, still commanding the deference and respect of northerners and fear. in the year after the war, confederates not only again and guenin volked the overwhelming numbers interpretation of their defeat, they invoked the appomattox terms and particularly the remain undushed clause on the paroles an the pashes and they invoked it as a shield against social change and a in a weapon over black civil rights. republican efforts to give the freed people a measure of quality and opportunity and reflection were met by confident protests that such a radical agenda was a betrayal of the appomattox terms and the prospect of black citizenship as one newspa

robert e. -- robert e lee's eventual endorsement to get the congress to move on this measure. by then it was surely too late to gain any military or perhaps more importantly, diplomatic benefit from this move. now that i've raised the obvious comparison between lincoln and davis, i want to raise what my students always propose to me about what made lincoln different, not just from davis but from all his northern contemporaries. in answering the question of lincoln compared to davis, i tend to agree with the ideas presented by brian dirk, lincoln and davis, imagining america 1809-1865. he contends in order to understand how they acted as presidents, we need toe recognize the differing world views in which they grew up. he uses german phrases to describe these. one described as community and suggests a mind-set in which individuals place great importance on the common on mores about what constitutes responsibility of members of the collective group and each other. those who emphasize this place strong emphasis on personal relationships, vopg families and -- strong families and c

grant has squared off against robert e lee. grant has come to virginia and against robert e lee.has it his mission to destroy the army of northern virginia. on may 11, he is going to send a message to washington, "i propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer." after that they moved out of richmond to the coal harbor area. after another stalemate, grant is then going to set his sights to the south of the james river on the city of petersburg. petersburg, virginia, in the mid-19th century, is truly a magnificent gem of the city. you are talking about a city that grew up on the fall line of the appomattox river. at its heart is industry harnessing that waterpower. the people of petersburg live a cosmopolitan lifestyle. they have running water in the downtown area. they have a gas works. cosmopolitan lifestyle. the streets are lit by gas lighting. the houses have gas lights inside. petersburg, the city of 18,000 people, is truly a magnificent city. if you read accounts of petersburg prior to the war, you are going t

appomattox, when the two generals met general grant was dirty and disheveled and the honorable robert e leen traveler in a new suit. general grant happened to ask general lee, may i see your sort. generally most graciously let him see the sword and grant took it as surrender. that is a true story of what we call the surrender. so the south did not surrender. host: thank you for sharing. elizabeth: there are many stories connected with the surrender that don't stand up to scrutiny, the less to say. the idea lee offered grant the sword and greg refused to take it is one of them. what you allude to there is the appearance of the two men -- grant, disheveled, muddy frockcoat, lee dressed very handsomely in a dress uniform. the people present in the courthouse read a lot into the appearance of those two men symbolic of those. he had more that she had molded them into a formal army and they were proud of grandpa's disheveled appearance. the confederates saw them -- they were proud of lee's appearance. every detail of the settings -- of the setting here was highly symbolic and americans read a gre

on april 9, 18 65, confederate general robert e lee met union general ulysses s grant in the villagef appomattox courthouse and surrendered his army of

on the 11th day of may in 1864, grabt has squared off against robert e. lee in northern virginia. and grant has just come here in virginia and made it his mission to destroy lee and the army of northern virginia. and on the 11th of may, he's going to send a message back to washington and i quote, i propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer." and shortly after that they move right outside of richmond to the cole harbor area where the two great armies battle yet again. and after another stalemate there, grant is then going to set sights to the south of the jam river on the it is yif of petersburg. now petersburg, virginia in the mid 19th century, is truly a magnificent gem of a city. you're talking about a city that grew up on the fall line of the river. and so at its heart is industry. having harnessed that water power. the people of petersburg live a cosmopolitan lifestyle. they have running water coming into their downtown area. they have a gas works. the streets are lit by gas lighting. the houses have gas lights inside of them. to petersburg, a city of 18,000 p

in april 1865, confederate general robert e lee met union general ulysses s grant in the village of appomattox courthouse and surrendered his army of northern virginia, effectively ending the civil war. we will be live from appomattox national historic courthouse as historians reflect on the last battles and explore the aftermath and legacy of appomattox. we will bring you reenactments of some of the key moments from 150 years ago and open our phone lines to take your calls for authors. that's live april ninth and 12th here on american history tv on c-span three. >> each week, american artifact takes viewers to archives museums, and historic sites around the country. on april 9 1865, confederate general robert e lee met union general ulysses s grant village of appomattox courthouse and surrendered his army of northern virginia. while confederate armies were still active in the field, the surrender of the southpaws most potent remaining fighting force effectively ended the civil war. next, we tour appomattox courthouse national historical park to learn more about the events surrounding that day

now there is no evidence that davis was cherished like robert e. lee. i make no such claim, yet, it's just at the same time just as obvious that most southerners considered him a man who had been devoted to his kaurks andcause and a man who had given all to his cause, even defeat. even defeat did not lead to his denigration denigration. confederate defeat was not blamed on him. it would be later by those two famous men johnston and beauregard. but in 1865 southerners did not blame jefferson davis for their defeat. but his imprisonment initiated a change in the way the white south viewed him. southerners did not believe that they deserved any kind of punishment. they believe that they had acted in secession in a legal and constitutional manner, that they had not forced any war on anybody. that military conflict had been forced upon them. and the jefferson davis, the only difference between them and jefferson davis was that he had been chosen to be their political and several leader. thus, he didn't deserve any punishment any more than he did. and if the

now there is no evidence that davis was cherished like robert e. lee. i make no such claim, yet, it's just at the same time just as obvious that most southerners considered him a man who had been devoted to his kaurks andcause and a man who had given all to his cause, even defeat. even defeat did not lead to his denigration denigration. confederate defeat was not blamed on him. it would be later by those two famous men johnston and beauregard. but in 1865 southerners did not blame jefferson davis for their defeat. but his imprisonment initiated a change in the way the white south viewed him. southerners did not believe that they deserved any kind of punishment. they believe that they had acted in secession in a legal and constitutional manner, that they had not forced any war on anybody. that military conflict had been forced upon them. and the jefferson davis, the only difference between them and jefferson davis was that he had been chosen to be their political and several leader. thus, he didn't deserve any punishment any more than he did. and if the

in april, 1865 robert e lee met as grant in -- ulysses s. grant, effectively ending the civil war. we explore the aftermath and legacy of appomattox. we also bring reenactments of some of the key moments from 150 years ago and open our phone lines to take your calls. the surrender at appomattox live april 9 and 12 here on american history tv on c-span3. >> in about 10 minutes, we'll hear from senator john mccain talking about his vietnam war experiences, including the more than live years he spent as a prisoner of war. he recorded his memories for the library of congress as part of their veterans history project. this month, american history tv will air a selection of the project loss interviews with members of congress who served in the military. now, a brief conversation about the project with director robert patrick and reference specialist megan harris. >> what is the idea behind the veterans history project? patrick: the project is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the wartime memories of veterans.

the obvious ones were jefferson davis and robert e. lee. they would write out long lists of cabinet members and confederate diplomats. quite sure that it had been more than booth. that was part of their belief thiswet whether or not these men were responsible had assassinate assassinated the president. thank you. sgr we hear a lot about this one. we hear as much about kennedy and very little about the other two. this may be off topic. it may not be your area of expertise. do you have any idea, would that consider cataclysmic in their time and why did he hear so little about those? >> garfield in 1881 rand m mckinley in 1901, the first reason that scholars give is that lincoln and kennedy died immediately or almost immediately. i follow this couple up through reconstruction till the end of their lives. i'm not sure i can explain this. she's devastated, ulttterly devastated. i followed her through the whole story. she wrote so much about lincoln. there's a sense of at the immediate moment i think garfield and mckinley were devastating events