his information helped the colonists defeat england at the battle of yorktown.quote: "this negro spy properly acquitted himself with some important communications i gave him. his intelligence from the enemy's camp were industriously collected and more faithfully delivered." (marquis de lafayette) narrator: after eight long years of war, america had won its freedom. the ideals of the revolution were permanently enshrined in a national motto, "e pluribus unum" - "out of many, one." for some, that included blacks. quote: "holding fellow men in bondage and slavery is repugnant to the golden law of god and the inalienable right of mankind, as well as every principle of the late glorious revolution." (maryland plantation owner philip graham) narrator: southern political leaders disagreed, and in 1787 made their views known at philadelphia's constitutional convention. quote: "religion and humanity have nothing to do with this question. the true question at present is whether the southern states shall or shall not be parties to the union. if the northern states consult

in 1781, in the summer but before yorktown, lund washington writes a letter to george washington and says, i have to tell you what happened. this british man of war came up the river and anchored off of mount vernon. we presumed they had hostile intentions. so i sent a skiff out with presents and food to try to appease them. and avert the destruction of the plantation. the captain said to me, oh, we're just fishing. [laughter] probably didn't even know it was mount vernon. anyway, lund was proud he had made this effort. washington writes back to lund washington and he says, i am extremely disstressed at what you told me. if it happens again, let them burn it to the ground. lest you make any act -- commit any act that stains my honor. when in the declaration they say their lives, fortunes and sacred honor, this was not just rhetoric. washington took the war personally. he hated the british. they had denied him a commission, presumed they were his superiors, he believed he was their superior. this is not a man that lacked self-confidence. radiating out from that story within the book,

under general rochambeau, 5,000 french soldiers marched to join general washington at yorktown.inting shows the british surrender that ended the revolution. the americans are on the right, and the french on the left. in the early 1800s southern plantation owners came north to newport to build grand summer homes. not to be outdone, wealthy yankees began to build even bigger homes. that set off a race between the richest families in america to try and out-build one another. they hired the most famous architects of the day and had them design palatial estates. this was the gilded age, the time of the titans who industrialized america. with almost limitless resources, they built on a scale that would have humbled even european royalty. and with pretended indifference, they casually referred to their massive mansions simply as cottages. marble house was commissioned by one of the famous vanderbilts. he gave it to his wife as a birthday present. another vanderbilt built an even bigger cottage, "the breakers." entire rooms were built in europe, then shipped and re-assembled here. this

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watson research center in yorktown heights, new york... this is... back our contestants-- he has never been defeated, and his winnings of more than $3.2 million make him "jeopardy's!" all-time biggest money winner. from los angeles, california, here's... an ibm computer system able to rapidly understand and analyze natural language, including puns, riddles, and complex questions across a broad range of knowledge, please welcome... in 2004, he captivated america by winning 74 consecutive matches and $2.5 million on "jeopardy!" from seattle, washington, here's... and now here is the host of "jeopardy!"-- alex trebek! thank you, johnny, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome once again to "jeopardy! the ibm challenge." as i mentioned on yesterday's show, about three years ago, ibm came to us with an idea for their next grand challenge in computing. what exactly is a grand challenge? let's find out. this is ibm research, and we're supposed to be pushing the limits of science. i mean, that's our job-- to look for exploratory challenges that help us drive scien

watson research center in yorktown heights, new york... this is...ardy!" event. for the next three days, we're gonna be coming to you from this ibm research facility just outside of new york city. let me tell you why. a little over three years ago, the folks at ibm came to us with a proposal that they considered to be the next grand challenge in computing and that was designing a computer system that could understand the complexities of natural language well enough to compete against "jeopardy's!" best players. well, they think they've succeeded, and that's why we're here today. so you are about to witness what may prove to be an historic competition-- an exhibition match pitting an ibm computer system against the two most celebrated and successful players in "jeopardy!" history. sounds like a lot of fun doesn't it? so, johnny let's meet our contestants. in 2000, he became a 5-time champion and went on to win three of "jeopardy's!" most prestigious tournaments earning a record $3.2 million. ladies and gentlemen... (applause) and now our next player.

when i was a kid living next to yorktown or yorkville as it was called in those days, 86th street and 3rd avenue, there were movie houses. they were the whole series of german, but those were the old germans who lived here. they were not going to read the exile stuff, but there were enough refugees who could read it. >> also french? >> well, my father's books were done in french and german, and i'm sorry, german and english. there was a population that was sizable of imgrants here, and obviously, they wanted to know what was being written by whom. the difference was, of course, and as you all may or may not know, you know, there was a new school. a major french university and they set up a french university in exile here, a major intellectual center while most american universities didn't want to take on any of the exile professors because most of them were jewish. you know, when i started out in college in the 50s, it was one jewish professor at yale, one at harvard, one at princeton, two in columbia, because they made a concession. [laughter] the anti-semitism which we talked about