Battle of rhode island, about the battle for rhode island, and the revolutionary period in general. It is in a number of ways, from the most humble, which is a small piece of fabric, to the most elaborate, which is an extraordinary sword. They all tell a story if youre able to read them. We can start with this one, which is a piece of the flag of the first rhode island regiment. This is the first integrated regiment. This is part of the flag carried by that regimen during the battle of rhode island on august 28 and 29, 1778. We know that because this particular note, which is that, in 1878, almost a hundred years after the battle, pieces of flag at the battle of rhode island, it is modest, humble, just a small piece of fabric, but tells an extraordinary story about the people fighting for their freedom and in a war in the name of that freedom. Then we have perhaps one of the pieces of evidence about the worst side of the conflict, which is the violence. This is a cannonball. It is a solid shot found on a field, not very far from here. This is solid iron which can cause an extraordinary amount of damage. While it is attributed to the battle of rhode island, we are not positive that it actually was part of the battle. It is really large. It comes from the kind of canon that the americans do not have at the time, even though the americans engaged in a massive bombardment of the city as a way of covering the retreat on august 29. This is coming from the kind of canon that are on ships that the americans really need to support their land operations. But this is a reminder of the kind of damage that can be done to people and structures during the violence of the conflict. Then we get to a more refined side of the conflict. We get to friendships, to sentimentality, some real beauty. This is a piece that obviously is meant for conflict. It is a sword, but it is extraordinary in terms of its beauty and frankly its mystery. What we know about it is that it is a french sword made in the 1760s. It is made in the northwest corner of france. This kind of basket piercing is extraordinary and almost 18thcentury silver work. Then in the 1880s, the state of rhode island uses it as one of centerpieces of the rhode island pavilion in chicago. As being a sword given to daniel of newport by the marquis of lafayette himself. It certainly is possible. This is the kind of thing that lafayette would value, and certainly the kind of thing he would use to reflect an important, personal relationship. The family story is that it was a sword given to daniel wyman by lafayette right here in newport after a reading of the declaration of independence in order to show the important contribution that Daniel Weinman had made inman cementing the frenchamerican alliance. This is one of our prized possessions. Again, it is from the most monday mundane. Learn more about newport at cspan. Org citiestour. You are watching American History tv all weekend, every announcer next weekend, cities tour takes you to arkansas. With the help of our communication partners, we will tour the literary scene and history of fayetteville. Watch cspan cities tour city tour on cspan2 book tv. They at 2 00 p. M. On American History tv on cspan3. Working with cable affiliates as we explore america. Steve you are watching American History tv on cspan3. Joining us is david lubin. He is the author of grand illusions american art the First World War. Published by Oxford University press last year. Researching this book, what surprised you the most . Mr. Lubin what surprised me was how much impact the First World War had on american artists. The common view has been the received wisdom that the war had very little impact. It had a huge impact on cubism