Government and decide how it should function. This is an hour and a half recorded at the American Historical Association annual meeting held this year in washington. Hi, everybody, im Cokey Roberts and im here in my history hat as a writer of history and student of current history, but it is a thrill to have this panel on First Federal congress. It is such an incredibly important subject and one that these folks have mined asid uously for many, many years. The history project on the First Federal congress is really one of the most remarkable institutions and outputs that ive ever seen. Among other things, its complete, which you know, doesnt happen that often. I mean, the Founding Fathers papers will be you know, being published when were all dead. And so this fact that this group of people so marvelously put together 22 fabulous volumes and really tell the story of the founding of the country in a way that is incredibly important and one that i recommend to all, because you know, the
Next on American History tv, journalist Cokie Roberts mod races s moderates a discussion on the First Federal congress at the american historical Associations Annual meeting. The panel talks about the nations founders including James Madison and George Washington who met from 1789 to 1791 to determine the structure of the new federal government and decide how it should function. This is an hour and a half, recorded at the American Historical Association annual meeting held this year in washington. Hi, everybody. Im Cokie Roberts and i am here in my history hat as a writer of history and a student of current history, but it is a thrill to have this panel on the First Federal congress because it is such an incredibly important subject and one that these folks have mined assiduously for many, many years. The history project on the First Federal congress is really one of the most remarkable institutions and outputs that i have ever seen. Among other things, its complete which, you know, do
History and a student of current history. But it is a thrill to have this panel on the First Federal congress because it is such an incredibly important subject. And one that these folks have mined assiduously for many, many years. The history project on the First Federal congress is really one of the most remarkable institutions and outputs that i have ever seen. Among other things, its complete, which, you know, doesnt happen that often. I mean, the Founding Fathers papers will be, you know, being published when were all dead. And so this the fact that this group of people so marvelously put together 22 fabulous volumes, and really tell the story of the founding of the country in a way that is incredibly important, and one that i recommend to all. Because, you know, the guys got together and wrote the constitution pretty quickly. Given the fact that they had to, as bill clinton says, the constitution should be called lets make a deal. And but, you know, we and the press werent there
We have our George Washington leadership fellows here with us. You are 16 students here who are spending five weeks on the stage in a Leadership Program inspired by George Washingtons life and egacy. They are here through the generosity of david m rubenstein, who made a wonderful guest and helped us conceive of the idea to have this group of people here. I would like you all to stand so we can all recognize you. [applause] megan this is our second class of fellows. They have just arrived this week and have very busy schedules, but they are wonderful to speak ith. If you get a moment, i think you would enjoy it. I am honored to introduce onight speaker, fergus bordewich, and he holds degrees from columbia university. He is a frequent speaker and is also worked as a journalist, which allows him to travel the globe, writing on politics, economics, history, and ore. His articles have appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers, including the new york times, the wall street journal, and t
200year dream. And but it will go fast because im going to concentrate on what happened once the dream was realized. In 1607 john smith entered the sevenmile wide mouth of the Potomac River and headed north. Whether he got this far north we are actually not certain but the People Living here called the place petomek. It translates as a place to which something is brought, a trading place, a place to which tribute is brought. It was a beautiful area in which the tide water from the ocean stopped. The river narrowed and as you know north of georgetown its very different river. But here where georgetown was to rise there was a huge tidal marsh. And this is the origin of the swamp myth. Washington, d. C. Was not built in the swamp. It is an insult to George Washington to think that he would locate the capital of the United States in the swamp. Its a very well drained area of ancient Potomac River terraces. Think of the cathedrals coming down the columbia road where the river sat for many y