The casemate is nothing more than ewald inside the fo than a vault inside the fort wall. We will walk you through the museum and talk to you about the history that occurred here. Thousands of years ago, the natives of this land started to migrate, starting as far west as mexico. Asy migrated as far south south america. Migrated to port comfort where fort monroe is located today. Day were gatherers and live prosperous life there. Come07, the english had and by that time they learned the art of cultivation. 20 and odd negroes arrived here. They were traded for goods. After that we see the laws and rules and regulations that would start to manage the africanamerican population here in hampton. 1812 we look at the war of and find why this report is in existence and how it came about. In is the largest stone fort the United States here today . The war of 1812 as a backdrop to that story. British invaded the United States. They were stopped at a place. Alled baltimore after the war of 1812, James Madison said, we need to establish fortifications up and down the eastern seaboard. Simonecruited general engineer,he french who helped us establish the system we use today. Its an example of the largest and best of all of those ports. Was decided was decided that pt was the location for fort monroe. It wasnt finished until 1834. The model that we see today is exactly what it would look like in 1834 when the first soldiers began to populate this fortification. Simon bchman, general an intelligent engineer. He made it one of the strongest strongholds in the United States. He had several angles on the fort. As the energy enemy approach the individual walls, they could be cross fired from different angles. It has a moat. This moat was originally movened to allow them to materials around the fort to help with construction. After it was completed, the moat made another level of defense for fort monroe. The largest stone fort in the United States even today. 1819. Rted construction in 1834 to take them till complete construction. The original intention was to ferry shipsths to entering the chesapeake bay. It has water exposure and did not worry much about defense of the land behind it. At a 32pound artillery tube. We know this tube was built in 1846. Every casemate would have one of these beasts inside of it to fire out the ports window at the approaching enemy, usually naval vessels. It would take anywhere from nine to 11 men to load and fire a 32pounder. Workhorse of the the military during the war of 1812, all the way up to the American Civil War. 32pounder, firee a you would need a crew of 911 individuals. Let me point out some of the positions. Number one and number two man. Their responsibility was to make sure that the firing mechanism was in place. They would punch the powder bag, set the fuse, and run the lanyard to fire the gun. At the front, the men would load the projectiles. One would be responsible for cleaning the tube, ramming the projectile into the back, but also was there to help load the ammunition from the men carrying the projectiles and powder up from their supply. Two in the back, two in the front. You would have a gunner would be responsible for pointing the gun toward whatever the military objective might be. Sometimes you would have another Commanding Officer to be responsible for the series of guns being fired at the same time. From onetake anywhere minute to 75 seconds to load. Are looking at today were the workhorse for the United States military all the way through the American Civil War. Fort monroe was one of the largest strongholds of the United States military. It never fell into the confederate hands. Make sure that this fort was secure on the very eve of the American Civil War. What you should know about these 32pounders and fort monroe is that these guns were never fired in anger and this fort was never attacked. Strength andto its how imposing it is to the enemy. Was it like before the American Civil War . Slaves were used primarily for agriculture. This map gives us a clear indication of where that agriculture takes place. They were growing things like tobacco and cultivating cotton. You can see how populous the slave people were here in va at the time. Lets go through georgia. They were growing rice and Different Things here. A concentration of enslaved individuals. The Mississippi River valley is the same thing. The other cash crops that allow whites to capitalize on that. Look at the concentration of enslaved people. In the bay of 1861, there was a perfect storm. Several things came together to create what we call today the contraband decision. The first thing is that Abraham Lincoln promoted and assigned Major GeneralWilliam Butler to take command of fort monroe. On the heels of that, the commonwealth of virginia was. Itting on the fence they would form a new confederate government and invite the National Capital to be removed to the city of richmond, virginia. Butler takes command and virginia leaves the union. During this, three brave calson,als baker, mallory, would steal a ship, go across the chesapeake bay, and say, were runaway slaves seeking to be refugees and protected. The next day, butler interviewed the three individuals and he found out that these individuals were being used for the Confederate Army to build trenches and to do chores around the confederate camp. Oft same day, the owners these individual slaves came to retrieve them citing the fugitive slave act, which was the law of the land in the United States which said, if you had a runaway slave, you had to return them to their owners. Benjamin butler being the lawyer that he was in his former life said this, so, youre quoting United States law. My understanding is that the state of virginia has left the union. United states law no longer applies to you. If you want to swear allegiance to the United States, you can have your slaves back, but if not i will sees them as contraband of war because you are using them against my soldiers in the United States army. I will sees them and keep them and you can no longer have your slaves. This would create a mass of folks coming to fort monroe to seek freedom. What started out as three became 10,000 by the end of the war in four short years. Jefferson davis is a contradiction. Jefferson davis, in his early life, was a graduate of the United States military academy. He served in the frontier with the added states army. He was secretary of war under president appears. President pierce. St and his wife were the ho during James Buchanans administration in washington, d. C. When the south formed their own government, they invited Jefferson Davis to become their first and only president. Jefferson davis would accept that invitation and become president of the United States o Confederate States of america. We are standing in the cell where Jefferson Davis was held at the conclusion of the civil war. General received word from robert ely that they no longer could hold robert e. Lee that they could no longer hold the army back from richmond. With that news, Jefferson Davis adjourned his cabinet and sent his family on the road for protection. Jefferson davis would soon follow. He would not only catch up with his family right above the Florida State line. It is here where a federal mounted unit was able to capture him and his family. Jefferson davis was placed on a boat and moved back to fort monroe and incarcerated in this very cell. Some people ask why. The main reason is that Jefferson Davis was indicted on three federal charges. 1, treason. Two, complicit in the assassination of abraham likened. Three, the mistreatment of federal soldiers in prison by the Confederate States army. In order to answer to those charges in federal court, he had to be in the place where his last residency occurred, which would be richmond, the white house of the confederacy. It was here he would stay incarcerated for almost two years. He would never see his day in court. He would never be acquitted. He would retire, write his memoirs and live to the age of 80. With the understanding that Jefferson Davis was charged with three federal indictments, many folks in the United States, men of wealth and influence, decided that was not going to be the best way to heal the nation. And theefferson davis fear that he might be acquitted would cast a shadow on 3. 2 Million People going to war and lives. 0,000 losing their at the conclusion, the priority of our congress and the president was to reunite the country. Strong union. Many confederate officers would not be charged with treason. Many of those officers actually have roles and occupied positions within your leasees s grants ulysses s administration. This flag is from the American Civil War. This flag was outside his cell on a daily basis to remind him of the crimes he had committed. Gainst his government it is behind this very door that he would look out and realize that the American Civil War was over and that the confederacy was no longer part of the historic narrative of the United States. Tour all the way through the civil war but there is so much more to see. In the early 20th century, fort monroe becomes an important Training Ground for the military. It is here that a most every artillerist was trained. It would become a defensive position for the chesapeake bay, showing some of the most modern weapons of our time. Later, fort monroe would become the center of training and command for the United States army. The rest of the history talks about not only the military history but the social aspects of port comfort here at fort monroe. Sociallearn how the aspects of virginia merged with the military aspects of fort monroe. This is a living and breathing and Viable Community and would stay until its closure in 2011. You can watch this and other american artifacts programs by visiting our website, cspan. Org history. American history tv is on cspan3 every weekend and all of the programs are archived on our website. Lectures and College Classrooms and see our schedule of upcoming programs at cspan. Org history. The cspan cities tour travels the country exploring the american story. Ce 2011 we have been more been to more than 200 communities across the nation. Next we have a look at one of our cities tour visits