lectures in history. go behind the scenes at museums and historic sites on american artifacts. and the presidency looks at policies and legacies of past american presidents. view our complete schedule at c-span.o c-span.org/history and sign up to have it e-mailed to you by pressing the c-span alert button. >> an era of history surrounded this likeness of hamilton since the day unveiled in 1923. so claims author james m. good in his book on the outdoor sculpture of washington, d.c. in dedicating the ten-foot tall figure, the visitors to the treasury department building, president harden made reference to an anonymous donor. might it possibly been the gift of andrew melon who admirers in the '20 describe as the greatest secretary of the treasury since hamilton himself. sculpted by james earl frazier, protege of goddens, he wears a quizzical look on his handsome face. perhaps straining to recognize his surroundings p after all, his famous deal with congressional supports or of jefferson that led to federal assumption of state debts, in return for the capitol's removel from money mad new york to a new city, to be built on the banks of the potomac. the pedestal on which he stands makes no reference to hamilton's real estate transactions. it pays to his financial genius. he smoked the rock of the national resources, it reads, and abundant streams of revenue gushed forth. he up toed the dead corpse of the public credit and it sprang upon its feet. >> each week american history tv's american art facts takes viewers behind the scenes at archives, museums, historic sites. the 2600 estate of montpelier once home to the nation's fourth president, james madison and his wife dolly. it lies 90 miles south of the nation's capital in orange county, virginia. the national trust for historic preservation owns the property that is managed by the montpelier foundation. american tv visited the site for a tour with the president, michael quinn. >> welcome to the home of james and dolly madison. this house really tells madison's entire life story and the house as it appears now reflects his vision for his lifelong home. the core of the house was built by his father and madison moved in when he was only about 14 years old. in fact, later in life, he talks about walking from the old farmhouse over here carrying some of the lighter furniture. if you look at the house, you can pick out the original core built by his father. if you look at the doorway on the far left to the right of it, you will see a line in the brick where the brick was stitched together. that's the original corner of the house built by madison's father. the house stood like this for 30 years. and then james married the love of his life, dolly madison. after four years as a member of congress he decided to retire from congressional service and come home to montpelier. at that point he extended the main block of the house about 30 feet. he added this second door and two windows and also added the portico. in fact, he was an essential part and not an esthetic element and the functioning of the house. there was no interior hallway connecting the two houses on the first floor. james and dolly lived on the left side and his parents and other children on the right side. the way that the two called on each other was via the front doors and the shelter of the portico. the house remained in this configuration for about ten years and then madison was elected president of the united states. with that huge salary of $25,000 a year, he embarked on another renovation and expansion campaign of his home. he added the one-story wings on either side. the wing on this side, he created his private library. the wing on the other side, he designed as a private apartment for his mother. his father passed away by this time. and then he add the door, designed with the help of his good friend, tom mass jefferson as the real centerpiece welcoming you into montpelier. this home as it stands reflects james madison's vision for his home and also told his entire life story from the youth to his marriage to his ascension to the position of president of the united states of america. let's go in and learn about james and dolly. madison would have welcomed you into this room he created in that last remodeling. his drawing room. and it really was where every member of the public was welcomed. with virginia hospitality and madison's fame for his statesmanship in creating the nation, he was visited constantly. foreign visitors and rising politicians in america. andrew jackson came at one point about and also the merely curious. they would have been welcomed in the room. and plads created this room to make a powerful impression. visitor after visitor talked about the presidential splendor of this room. it really did reflect his entire career as a statesman, as a virginia planter, as a force in the creation of the american nation. they also talked about it as a real history lesson. madison intended it that way. for madison, the history of humanity was his laboratory. he studied past attempts at self-government, so he knew that what america today was founded on the past. this room tells you that history. in fact, a picture here kind of shocking, i'm sure, for many of his visitors, but in fact, that's a pan figure and a nymph. this is alluding to the ancient world. to ancient greece, rome, the birthplace of democracy, the foundation of the philosophy and ideas on which the american constitution was based. across from the painting is a huge depiction of the super at a mass. for madison that picture talks about the next epic in human history, after christ's lifetime. and then finally the third chapter of human history is told on this wall. the presidents of the united states. of course he focuses on the presidents because it also emphasizes one of the great inventions of the american constitution which is the peaceful transfer of power from leader to leader. he followed a typical standard depiction of the presidents. george washington is hung the highest. below him should be the next three presidents. john adams, ii, thomas jefferson, the third, but where his picture should be hung, as the fourth president, madison hangs the picture of the fifth president, james monroe. visitors note that. why doesn't he put his own portrait here? and as they look around the room, they discover that madison has hung his own portraits, as one visitor said, in the corner behind the door, showing his modesty but he's hung his portrait next to his beloved dolly. he's telling you not a lot about himself, the important thing in his life. over this portrait of himself, he hung a picture of his best friend, thomas jefferson and next to it, a 54 trade of mary magdelinp family tradition is that that was a gift to madison from jefferson. i thought they hung it next at jefferson's portrait to poke fun at his close friend. you see other features of the room that impressed visitors. the bust, these are notable people of american history from george washington to the lafayette. this room really made a powerful impression. it was a functional room and served tea and welcomed their guests. i said they had many visitors. while every visitor had access to this room and would be welcomed by madison or dolly or another member of the family, madison also used this room to control all of that public interest and to give himself some privacy. because unless you knew him or had a letter of introduction, you wouldn't see any more of the house than this room. you would be welcomed here grar grar graciously, served punch and then on your way. you only went into the other rooms of the house and the family or a friend. now let's go ith apartments of madison's mother. we pass through the entry hall of the house and really understand how this function, this big wide space with doors either side, throw them open for a cooling cross breeze in the summer but this is also where people would have carried out activities. but this is the older part of the house. this later became mother madison's room. however, visitors to mother madison said they would find her on the sofa with her knitting and prayer book. she lived to be 98 years old. she was only 20 when madison was born. she was always a part of the madison household. this is the home in which madison moved at a young age. in this exhibit we're showing you that move. madison is shown on the left and a young slave by the name of somy, born almost the same time as madison, is helping him move. eremained at montpelier his entire life. in fact, he accompanied madison when he was sent to college at princeton. while at this point in their lives, there are many similarities, as they aged, their life experiences were much, much different. and of course it could be no other way given the reality of slavery in america at the time. madison's parents realized his incredible ability and they sent him to princeton, then called the college of new jersey. prior to that, that prepared him and placed him with a private tutor by the name of donald robertson. madison studied with robertson for five years. he was a scottsman who is from edinburgh. he was part of the scottish enlight enlightenment, a presbyterian minister. later in life, madison was to write everything i became i owed to that man. it was the rigorous training and inspiration by an amazing teacher that prepared him to take on a strong role in building the american nation. we are going to go to the dining room and take a look at how james and dolly entertain their guests. we are now entering the madison's dining room. this is in a part of the house that madison had in his marriage to dolly. this was his first expansion of the home. madison and dolly entertained constantly. they brought to montpelier the style of entertaining that they first developed during madison's presidency at the white house. in fact, we created a table with ghosts of the famous visitors who came calling from andrew jackson, here, to the marquee delafayette, jefferson, james monroe. what starts bringing this room together is the wall paper. we know from our research that james and dolly strongly preferred french influence in decor and in their style. this paper is a replica of one made by a frenchman who relocated to philadelphia and was introducing french-inspired papers to america. we know the madisons ordered wall paper from him and this is a replica of one of the ones he produced that the time. it creates a feeling of attempt in this room. that makes the corners dissolve away. it creates an intimate and spacious feel from the guest. but the thing every visitor noted about this is that madison was not seated at the head of the table he seated himself on the side of the table. and it was his wife, dolly, who stood at the head. who is seated. and that men she was running the dinner. she was calling for the service, pouring the soup or asking them to pour the wine and conducting the conversation. they developed this form of entertaining while madison was president and it shocked them at first. that was not the role the women took on in a household. that was the man's role. dolly was so good at it, everyone fell in love with it. they all realized that madison was so busy with the witty affairs of government he couldn't be bothered who sat where or the course of the conversation. it tells you a lot about the relationship between james and dolly. they were complementary. she was 17 years younger and even though she was raised a quaker, she had a flair putting people at ease for really knowing them as people and caring for them. and she loved the limelight. between the two of them, madison gave that role to her and he continued to focus on the weighty work of government and politics. from this room, we will go to the adjoining room which is madison's library. we are entering madison's library and for madison this is one of the most important rooms in the house. he added this on to the house when they became president, and created a very spacious place to hold his books and provide the area he wanted to work. as this room was being built, we have a letter from his builders and he said if i put a window next to the fireplace, it will give you a view of the temple he planned to build as well. densmore went tonight assure him there will still be plenty of spaces for all of the books. we know that madison okayed that idea because the window was there. madison used this area in the years after his presidency because he set for himself an amazing project, which is to create an archive of the united states constitutional convention. as you look around, you see the work and the thought you put into that. he had taken careful note at the constitutional convention and he went back over those notes. they expanded them and wrote them out carefully and add an notation in one or two cases. he also went to other delegates, he wrote to other delegates or their families asking if they still had a copy of the speech that was given at the convention. by the end of his life, madison put together a thorough record of the constitutional convention that filled almost 1,000 pages. for him this was an important part of the legacy of the founding of america. when he had been preparing for that convention, he carried out a great deal of research to find out how other attempts at self-government, at confederations, had been created, and what was the intentions of those creators, it had come up blank. there were no records. madison wrote an introduction to this and described his goal as providing a record for those who in other places or at a later time might be striving for liberty and could learn from the example of the decisions and the debates of the american founders. he had a real sense of history and a sense of legacy. it also tells you that he still wasn't entirely certain about the outcome of the constitution. even at the end of his life in effect for 40-some years he did not know it would survive. the library also tells you a lot about madison's intellectual life. it's filled with globes, maps, he followed current events. he subscribed to newspapers. he welcomed visitors to discuss political issues before the nation. he weighed in on topics like nullifications and cessation by writing the equivalent of editorials published in the paper. these books are identical edition of books and the same titles that madison owned and many of them may be madison's. sadly his library that totalled 4,000 volumes by the end of his life was lost after his death. in his will he provided that that his library should go not ute of virginia. but unfortunately, the estate, montpelier estate, dolly placed it in the hands of her son from her first marriage and he seems nebber to have carried out that provision of the will. from here we're going to a nearby room. this room became james madison's study at the end of his life. it's very close to his library, and therefore he didn't have to move very far. in his old age and he lived to be 85, he suffered terribly and even walking was difficult and his hands became crippled. in this room we show a bust made of madison when he just passed 80 years of age. this copy of the original is made from a life mask. in other words, the plaster was put on his face to really capture the structure of his face, the lines and the sense of time that has passed. he was the last surviving member of the constitutional convention. he died on june 28, 1836 at the age of 85. he died in this room. we have an account of his death that is provided by a man, paul jennings, who was a slave, a personal assistant to madison in his final years. >> i was always with mr. madison until he died, and shaves him every other day for 16 years. six months before his death he was not able to walk and spent most of his time reclined on the couch, but his mind was bright. with his visitors he talked with as much animation and strength of voice as ever i heard him in his best days. i was present when he died. that morning they brought him breakfast as usual and he could not swallow. his niece, mrs. willis said, what is the matter, uncle james? nothing more than a change of mind, my dear. his head instantly dropped and he ceased breathing. as quietly as the snuff of a candle goes out. >> after his death, they found something he had written and he titled it advice to my country and intended it to remain private until after he died. but it contained what he thought was the most important words he could convey to his fellow americans and he wrote, the advice nearest to my heart and deepest in my convictions is that the union of the states be cherished and perpetuated. but the open enemy to it be regarded as a pandora with her box open, and the disguised one as the ser pent creeping with his deadly wiles into paradise. this comment tells you so much about him. his long careful study of the american nation told him the most important thing was to keep the union together. we also see his deep training and understanding. he refers both to the classical world with his reference to pandora and his biblical world, with his reference to his serpent to the garden. we'll go upstairs and take a look at the bedrooms and what used to be madison's library. interestingly enough, james and dolly never had children, but this house was always filled with children and family members. madison came from a large family. in fact, on his 50th birthday, he noted that he had 50 nieces and nephews. most of them lived in this area so they were constantly visiting and all of the bedrooms on the second floor would have been filled. this room was james and dolly's private bedroom. it's one of the more elegant rooms on this floor of the house. we're in the process of furnishing this room. the bed you see has come to us from a family member. a collateral descendant of james madison with a strong family tradition of having been their bed here at montpelier. we have not yet begun to furnish this and dress this as it would have been when the madisons were here. the sofa is made by a washington, d.c., furnituremaker, william worthington. we know from surviving records that james and dolly purchased a sofa from this furnituremaker. it's gorgeous mantle here that madison installed later. it has touches that also show the feminine side of dolly's presence here. but this was one of the best rooms in the house, and the reason for it is the spectacular view out the windows of the blue ridge and the amount of light that filled this room. ten years later when he put the one-story wings on the mansion, he created the roofs of those as flat decks and le did that so that some of the bedrooms would have their own private tariffs. it's a glorious space. one visitor said i have the best bedroom in the house. i've got my own private porch. this is what he meant. a place to catch fresh air and have a spectacular view of the blue ridge mountains. the next room we're going to see is the old library, just across the hall. this is where the books were stored until madison put the 1810 addition on the home. we are now entering the old part of the house, and one door madison did put down when he first added that addition, when he came home with dolly, was this one. he did it because this was the library of the house and madison wanted access to his books. in fact, madison came home in 1786, the year before the constitutional convention, and his family said he barely emerged except to eat. because madison devoted himself to a study of hume. history. when he went to the constitutional convention he wasn't any more patriotic, but he was more prepared. madison studied every attempt at self-government at confederat n confederation, that he could find in human history. and from that study, he really discovered a record of failure. again and again, democracies, republics, confederations have fall an part and failed. but from all of the failures madison gained some new insights- one of the most powerful is he concluded that standard belief that democracy will work best in the small city city like athens is completely wrong because what his research told him is that, in that kind of environment, yes, everyone may know each other, but it's easy for a single individual charismatic individual to gain power or for a faction, those who own land, those who don't own land to gain power. the first thing they do is pass laws that oppress everyone else. it did not lead to freedom. madison concluded that a great protection of liberty is to create a large country. there so many factions and so many interest groups and so many people vying for leadership, no single one would be able to gain control. from this study he concluded that america needed to be nipped together, the 13 states needed to be knit together as a single nation a true union. the way to achieve that, he concluded, was for the new constitution to be ratified not by the state legislatures but to be ratified by the people of america. thus our constitution begins with the words "we the people of the united states." if you look at this wall, you learn much more about madison's insights and thinking. one of the delegates of the constitutional convention said, what makes him great is he is not only a philosopher, but a politician. what that meant is madison knew his stuff and knew human nature. after all, he spent the previous ten years in american politics, working at the virginia general assembly, working in the confederation congress. he knew that people would never be better than they really are. other thoughts he brought to framing our new constitution is make people's ambition counter other ambition. therefore he proposed separation of powers. these ideas he knit together in two research papers he wrote in this room. one titled vices of the political system of the united states. the others, an examination of ancient confederacies. these are his road map he used, guiding the discussions of the constitutional convention. when madison got there, he arrived early. the rest of the virginia delegation soon arrived and he caucused with them, and he put together a plan of action. he persuaded the governor of