Under the chestnut tree, the village chestnut stand. Times we some times call the good old days. But just how good were the good old days . The blacksmith of olden times, a mighty man he had to be. The tiller of the soil, the mighty man was he also and he had to be, he was the Food Industry toiling for the necessities of life. The woman in the home. Not often do you hear her grandchildren sigh for the good old days, not if they really know how she labors from dawn to dusk. We need to know from whence we have come, how we have advanced to appreciate what we have achieved and to have faith and opportunities to come through the american system. Founded upon liberty and freedom of initiative, we have created progress that is envied by other nations. Go back 50, 100 years and watch the system work, america marching forward. Forward on the road to the marvels of today and a more widespread distribution of the benefits of industry than any other nation the globe has ever seen. Liberty and freedom of enterprise were the gifts that stimulated Creative Minds in america. In those minds, ideas were taking shape and dreams were becoming reality, progress was being won and future wealth was being produced for all in new products, services and new jobs. What an inspiration to our forefathers, who toiled hard and long. If they could have seen beyond their horizons, but such vision is given to a few men. There have always been skeptics, people willing to call the world a finish job 50 years ago. The path for industrial progress has never been easy for those resolutely able to set their feet upon it. Witness. It is just a pen. It will never be practical. Suppose it rains. She wont run. She wont fly. Narrator as far back as 1830, there was a canned Food Industry in america. I work from 7 00 in the morning until 6 30 at night. Are the wages satisfactory . Oh, yes indeed, mr. Daggett. When can i start . You have started. Thank you, sir. Take your hat and coat over there. You will do all of this work even faster than you can think about it. It is a can making machine. Say, there is no future in this business if machines take our jobs away from us. There is no future anyhow. Who is going to eat canned stuff excepting for sailors . It cannot be done. It wont go. It wont fly. It wont work. We cannot do it. What is the use . Narrator and in spite of the dismal chorus that has ever been with us, america marches forward. Dear, that was a delicious soup we had tonight. You sure can cook. Im glad you think i can cook, dear. Narrator we have made progress. Inventive genius has brought us a long way from the toil and labor of the frontier homes. Far from the drudgery, tools are merely the extension of a mans arms. From the labors of the blacksmith, whose arms were like iron bands but whose back ached with the endless drudgery of daily tasks. Today, no spreading chestnut tree could cover the smithy. The mills that require many blacksmith to meet the need for modern steel. The maker of wheat now stretches out to far horizons because American Ingenuity has harnessed power and make it a servant to man. It is these new days and new methods of modern industry that have provided progress, jobs, human comfort and greater opportunities for more people than our forefathers ever dreamed of by producing more of the things that people want. Progress. Jobs. Human comfort. And more wealth for more people. These things have not just happened, science and industry have worked. Worked together to improve the old and create the new. And even today, new methods still at the Development Stage throughout the nations thousands of workshops will create new opportunities, new jobs, more wealth for all in the years to come. The test tube of science holds television, the wings of tomorrow, new types of housing, airconditioning, streamlined trains. Unnumbered things will be developed because of this nations imperishable heritage of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is this that is given us all of the industrial progress that we have achieved in the past and the certainty of progress in the future. A certainty as long as this great gift of liberty, individual liberty, to grow greater and better is valued and protected. You are descendents of pioneers but you are also pioneers. Opportunities still rise from every smokestack, every test tube, every laboratory, every workshop in the land. You have come a long way from the drudgery of the Blacksmith Shop and hand labor of that day. Your journey has just started because this is america. Where do we go from here . Straightahead and dont spare the horses. There are no more horses. My grandfather. I wonder what our grandparents would say if they could see the world as it is now. Great work, kid, carry on. Carryon what . The heritage they handed us freedom, individual initiative, opportunity. Narrator lets go america this is American History tv featuring events, interviews, archival films, and visits to college classrooms, museums and historic places. Exploring our nations past every weekend on cspan three. Next on history next on american on history bookshelf, alexander explains the numerous ways the declaration of independence has influenced politics, law, and society. Good afternoon, everyone. I would like to welcome you all to the mcallen theatre here at the National Archives. Oflso wish to welcome all our viewers watching at home on watching well as those online on the National Archives. Hannel the National Archives is celebrating the 200 25th anniversary of the u. S. Constitution this month