Feldman analysts is artistic portrayals of the American Revolution and civil war. She talks about the influence of paintings, sculptures, in memorials on how history is remembered. The Smithsonian Associates host to this event. Today we are going to look at the American Revolution and civil war, in particular, but a little beyond that. Controversies about the stories we tell. I am going to focus, because it is impossible to cover such an amount of material in one top. Im going to focus in particular on the nations capital, and the public buildings on the mall, which is after all, the centerpiece of american political culture, and our public culture, where people come from all around the world, and the country to participate in government, to learn about government, to understand our heritage. So i thought what is it we say to those people when they come to washington . What have been some of the controversies . What are some of the issues we should be aware of . And what is missing . S
They gavel it is session saturday morning and ten eastern. Watch the debate live on cspan good evening. Every saturday night throughout the summer, book tv is putting on several hours of a wellknown author. Kind of hard twisted on binge watching. Tonight teacherg author is historian David Mccullough for it is author of a dozen books including bestselling histories, on the american revolutions, and the invention of mans spacefligh for some ofe Northwest Territory in the creation of the brooklyn bridge. Hes a two time winner about Pulitzer Prize and the National Book of board and his appearance he over 75 times. And coming up over the next several hours, we will show you some of those programs. S. First up in 1992, they appear on cspans program to talk about his biography of president harry truman. The book won thepr pulitzer prie biography would have changed the view on the truman presidency. Here is David Mccullough from 1992. You start out by saying im a as far back as nearly as he co
Of the museum at the corner of third and Chestnut Street in old city philadelphia. Philadelphia was the headquarters of the revolution. This is where delegates came. This is where the protest against british oppression first mounted. This is where the declaration of independence was written. So this really is the most central element of the American Revolution, the birth of our nation, which is why this museum is located here. Just down the street from me is the first bank of the states. Alexander hamiltons branch bank when he launched our nations banking system. It is also the first building constructed by the United States of america. So we, truly, are where the nation began, and it is the right place to tell the entire story of the American Revolution. It is our mission in this museum. Behind me, you see cannons from the era. These are part of the city of philadelphias collection. Every one of these canons is old enough that it could have been used to fight the revolution. Behind me
How did the revolution survive its darkest hour . Because, of course, while all of this lofty language about liberty and rights and creating constitutions and remember the ladies is going on, the Largest Overseas expedition in european history is headed towards new york. So the mural that you see beside me here is an eyewitness depiction, which weve blown up as a mural, showing 5000 british warships and about 6,000 british and hessian troops in landing boats about to land on manhattan baynd in kept bay kips on september 15, 1776. At the time, one of the soldiers saw the ships gathering in new york harbor and later said i thought all london was afloat. So, it was one thing to declare independence, to tear down the king, to declare that you are now living in the American Revolution, but to actually achieve american independence was going to be an effort of many, many more years of struggle. And the first thing americans had to do was just survive the onslaught that was coming in the form
To learn about government, understand our heritage, so i thought, what is it we say to those people when they come to washington . What have been some of the controversies . What are some of the issues we should be aware of and what is missing . That is going to be my focus with the Capital Building here, rotunda, and of course the mall which stretches all the way back , down to the Lincoln Memorial. Building Capitol Building with its great paintings by John Trumbull of the American Revolution and at the opposite end of the mall, the Lincoln Memorial commemorating the civil war and Abraham Lincolns role. Also up at the capital and is another littleknown memorial. There was an oped in the Washington Post a couple days ago about this memorial, the ulysses s. Grant memorial, which is there at the foot of the Capitol Building. It and the Lincoln Memorial were dedicated in 1922, the same year, yet they represent two different approaches to telling the story of america and the civil war. Of