this is where the last casualties at appomattox -- the battles of appomattox take place. at the robertson house. the federal cavalry commander henry davies, right there facing off against tom's mad. and there are casualties in this fighting. what gets captured and taken to lynchburg. norm reynolds is wounded three times in this fight. he is a lieutenant. there are confederate casualties. many killed. these are the last man to die at appomattox courthouse. william parker. robert parker, second virginia cavalry. william price, first maryland cavalry. and there is the first maryland cavalry making their last charge down that road. some federal troops and officers received promotions for galyon service in this action. that is captain -- . federal troops actually send out white flags to stop that fighting. let mumford know that readily is going to meet with general grant and surrender his army. the confederate calvary, they don't surrender, they disband in lynchburg. dying has not collect -- quite come to an and. this guy much as all the way to appomattox, dies the next day ap

he is commanded his men at appomattox, april 9, 1865. he gets wounded at appomattox. captured. but he survives his wounds. there is a photo to prove that he did. taken well after the war. during this fighting, confederate artillery is firing to the west and shells are dropping down on the federal infantry. one of the shells goes through the pullman house. and ends up going through a, i believe, a cabin behind it where one of the slaves lives. and it strikes hannah reynolds. the coleman's had left. hannah was there with her husband. and the shell, you can see the path of the shell through the beams here, strikes her in the arm. makes a nasty wound. the federal surgeons tend to her, but they are not able to save her life. she dies two days later. she is kind of art anyway at appomattax. -- our jenny wade at appomattox. going to go through stuff fast here. about five minutes left to cover a bit. the 24th court advances. and here is an illustration of the confederate defenders, what is called fighting against fate. illustrating the fighting at appomattox. the 24th core pushes the c

they were highbridge, appomattox station, and appomattox courthouse. there was fighting afterwards. this is the last major. i was asked by my superiors in the park service to do a nomination and put it on the national register. i did the long nomination. somewhere along the line it got bumped up to national historic landmark. that is the highest-ranking estate can get. there is national significance. it is considered the largest surrender in the field of an army without terms. the men that surrendered at sailor's creek go off to prison camps and will not be released until also enforces cease firing , which is not until the end of may. the prisoners from sailor's creek will be in prison on johnson's island and ohio or point lookout maryland. those who surrender and appomattox are paroled and allowed to go home from that site. the hillsman fight was interesting in that it had a conglomerate of confederate sailors, marines, government employees w who were militia artillery men, they spent most of the war many the heavy artillery. upon leaving richmond on the retreat, they would be plac

-- debate spawned by appomattox. i will argue lee and grant represented distinct visions of what the honorable peace would look like. they were fundamentally incompatible, contrary to a myth. they represented fundamentally incompatible visions of what the peace would look like and why the war turned out the way it did. i also try to take us beyond lee and grant. as the drama unfolded, countrymen and women would crowd the scene and have their own agenda aspirations, and dreams. among those dreams was the dream of freedom itself. in the eyes of african-americans, lee's surrender was a freedom day, the day, the moment that the promise of emancipation was fulfilled. lee's vision emphasized confederate righteousness. grant's vision emphasized -- african americans would associate appomattox with liberation. let's start with lee and the confederates. lee and the men in his inner circle , even as this writer took shape, to turn military deceit into moral victory. in lee's view, the union victory was a victory of might overwr

appomattox. and again that news will filter down to the common soldiers in the camps. but unlike the men of the army of northern virginia who were harassed, the men of the army of tennessee at a very different and in many ways more frustrating experience because there was all of this uncertainty, waiting for long periods of time to get conflicting information. the war is off and on and off again. what we have over several days in april is mass desertion. several thousand men desert the army of tennessee. and they are taking weapons with them. so we will have armed men roaming the countryside. very dangerous. and here is the interior of the bennett farm -- very chaotic and very dangerous. and here is the interior of the bennett farm, it is a reconstruction on the original foundation. there is not much in greensboro but there is this nice marker downtown that talks about the army of tennessee surrendering their. the camps are surrounding the city. i like this monument because it summarizes the care

high ground at appomattox. if we look at these reactions of confederate civilians, we see that echoed in the sediments -- sentiments of soldiers. civilians imagined the surrender scene as an enactment of lee's superiority to grant. one claim circulated through confederate newspapers in late april of 1865. it purported to be accurate, but was not accurate at all. in its, grant refuses to take it. according to the account, grant says, keep that. you have won it by your gallantry. you have been overpowered and i cannot receive it as a token of surrender from so brave a man. of course, rants never said any such thing to robert e. lee. the report seemed credible to confederates because it confirmed the right over might. it would be written that union officers cheered for lee as he left the mclean house. a yankees dared not utter a single insulting word to the defeated rebels. why were the yankees so reticent, even submissive, in victory? it is explained, they feared the lion even in chains. lee, the lion, still comm

appomattox. but that is really just the beginning because now this whole thing has to be put into motion and the surrender is going to take place over the next couple of days. here we have the mclean house the original photograph on the right the house was torn down later on. the house you see on the right is a reconstruction. the confederate soldiers are issued parole passes. these are very important because when lee surrenders, the war is not over, it is just lee surrendering the army of northern virginia. as the confederate soldiers go home they are entering other war zones, places where there are active fighting. they need proof that they have surrender and have permission to go home to protect themselves from union troops and also confederate soldiers might pick them up as deserters soviet union army is going to print parole passes for the confederates. this is the pattern that they use, it is called a check pattern, i think you can see why. they are important for a few other things as well.

it was called "to appomattox."

for the surrender at appomattox. in his capacity of editor of the union's paper in nashville, he rejoiced that the greatest army and general of the so-called confederacy had been defeated and scattered, made to surrender to grant upon grants own terms. but in the year after the surrender, this dominant union interpretation, with its emphasis on vindication of the north's way of war, vindication of free society, vindication of grants leadership, this dominant interpretation would come to interpretation the betrayal of the true spirit of grants magnanimity. we will see in the postwar period that political partisans will accuse their opponents of betraying the spirit of appomattox. in this case, for granted his followers, the arch betrayer of the truce in upham -- the true spirit of appomattox was andy johnson, lincoln successor. he comes to power after lincoln is assassinated, johnson very liberally pardons members of the x confederate elites, thousands of pardons to prominent confederates. under johnson's reconstructi

he had no friends or relatives when he moved to appomattox. he was episcopalian, and most of the inhabitants of the community were baptist and methodist. being a tradesman, he was close to the southside railroad. he could use this for commercial purposes, which had connections to petersburg and lynchburg and points south and north. general lee, when he arrived at the home, i said to be nine stairs, when across the porch into the central hall, and into the parlor, to the left of the central hall. he may have noticed above the fireplace a lithograph drawing. that lithograph drawing was the interview between george washington and -- why do we think general lee would have an interest in the drawing? simply because his wife, mary anna randolph, was the great-granddaughter of martha washington. lee would be related to the washingtons. he would find that he was related to the carter's, the fitzhugh's, the harrise's and the randolph's. many of the first families of virginia. robert's father was henry light horse lee, of revolutionary warfare fame and

by the time the army gets to appomattox they have been in constant contact. when they arrived at the courthouse, there is a final battle on the day of the surrender because nobody knew there would be a surrender that day on the morning of april. -- april 9. here we have sailors creek, the largest battle of the campaign with eight thousand confederate -- 8000 confederate soldiers captured on one day. as the army of northern virginia drifts into the courthouse, the union cavalry under general custer has gotten in front of the confederate army, blocking the road they intend to use. the goal all along for robert ulee's to get -- robert lee is to get the army down. lee cap makes the terms to the south because union forces keep blocking the way but the union armies -- can't make the turn to the south because union forces keep blocking the way. this map shows the final battle which takes place on the morning of april 9. confederates initially pushed a union back but as reinforcements arrived they realize they cannot break through and the confederate army is surround

it was called "to appomattox." i remember after reading it and studying it, i have a lot of questions as to where these events took place and how the army's got from here to there. this book set up my quest to learn more about these sites. when i worked at appomattox, i worked with a gem in a lot of you may know. his name was harold howard. he was the role of a former confederate soldier. i took the role of the union soldier. he and i were companions in trying to learn more about the events that took place on the retreat. one of the areas that i was interested in was the battle of sailor's creek. sailor's creek became a state park in 1936. efforts were made to purchase more land for the park and have it become a national park. something happened, world war ii came along and the impetus was lost. after the war when things started looking up, there was a congressman who was from appomattox county and guess who got the national park? appomattox. sailor's creek languished for the next couple of decades. finally in 2008

it was called "to appomattox." i remember after reading it and studying it, i have a lot of questions as to where these events took place and how the army's got from here to there. this book set up my quest to learn more about these sites. when i worked at appomattox, i worked with a gem in a lot of you may know. his name was harold howard. he was the role of a former confederate soldier. i took the role of the union soldier. he and i were companions in trying to learn more about the events that took place on the retreat. one of the areas that i was interested in was the battle of sailor's creek. sailor's creek became a state park in 1936. efforts were made to purchase more land for the park and have it become a national park. something happened, world war ii came along and the impetus was lost. after the war when things started looking up, there was a congressman who was from appomattox county and guess who got the national park? appomattox. sailor's creek languished for the next couple of decades. finally in 2008

-- debate spawned by appomattox. i will argue lee and grant represented distinct visions of what the honorable peace would look like. they were fundamentally incompatible, contrary to a myth. they represented fundamentally incompatible visions of what the peace would look like and why the war turned out the way it did. i also try to take us beyond lee and grant. as the drama unfolded, countrymen and women would crowd the scene and have their own agenda aspirations, and dreams. among those dreams was the dream of freedom itself. in the eyes of african-americans, lee's surrender was a freedom day, the day, the moment that the promise of emancipation was fulfilled. lee's vision emphasized confederate righteousness. grant's vision emphasized -- african americans would associate appomattox with liberation. let's start with lee and the confederates. lee and the men in his inner circle , even as this writer took shape, to turn military deceit into moral victory. in lee's view, the union victory was a victory of might overwr

[applause] >> ron wilson has a bow, "the appomattox paroles." this tells how the shoulders received parole passes, and actually gives an alphabetical list of soldiers given their parole at appomattox. you can get ron to find us today. we will break for lunch here just a minute. if you have not already picked up one of these magazines, this is free. it is the park service publication with articles pertaining to the spring of 1865. as i said last night, the best article starts on page 24 and concludes on page 27. there are other good articles in here, including one by our curator, and that is on page 30. that is free. take that up while you are here. you always do a great job at buying both in supporting this program. our friends group is set up. they are supporting us this year as well. we are going to meet back here after lunch at about 1:45 p.m. we will have a presentation on our friends group at about 1:30 p.m. we actually running a three day tour in may. if you have an interest in coming on that tour, i think it is very reasonably priced espe

also on the tables is the event schedule for the 150th anniversary of appomattox courthouse, april 8 through 12th. many of these are real-time programs. there is a brochure out there that has all of the events in the area, not just the national park the magazine, most of you have already picked it up and i have seen a lot of you looking through it. the ranger was supposed to bring over more copies this morning it is a little -- what is the word i am looking for here? it is an illusion out there. the boxes on top and bottom are empty, i just raised those four people with back problems. i have my cell phone to keep the time but we need to turn the volume down and the ringers off. we had some of those going off yesterday. we are all guilty of that at some point or another, i remember giving a talk in north carolina which we may touch on a little bit and mark bradley talked about yesterday. my wife never pays attention to my speaking schedule and i had my phone and it started ringing. i hit it and shut the ringer off so it would not bring any more and wouldn't you know it, within 30 seco

now they have to hammer out an agreement based on the appomattox terms. initially, johnston says he does not -- it does not offer his men enough will stop the soldiers are flooding to north carolina robyn, pillaging. they don't have enough to live on. my men have to have more than these terms. sherman brings along his second in command schofield ifa clever fellow. he makes a proposal. he says, for the authorities in washington, we give them the appomattox terms. then, we draft a second agreement that we send a few days later, a supplemental agreement, giving general johnston what he wants. that includes 1 in 7 confederates get to keep their weapons. they also get to keep their wagons and horses. and, confederates will also get river and relatives petition wherever possible -- rail transportation wherever possible. sherman also offers a johnston a quarter million russians from his warehouses. johnston replies that his generosity reconciles empty what he considers the great misfortune of his life, that of having to face him in the field. sherman and johnsto

the title of the essay is "alternatives to appomattox." i am sure many of them wished there had been an alternative. "some weeks after general robert e lee surrendered at mathematics courthouse in april 1865, -- appomattox courthouse in april 1865 a disgruntled leader put a rifle in his mouth. he chose not to live in the world the war had made. many confederates shared the grim revulsion few emulated his method of escape. most came to terms as best they could with the new order ushered in by the war and attempted to revive a broad and to establish a southern presence in many parts of the world. many of these exiles remained romantic rebels, haunted strangers in strange lands many others -- talented, dedicated, determined -- made contributions to their adopted country's. coincidentally deprived of their homeland of one of its most precious resources. still others dreamed dreams and schemed to escape the yoke of yankee domination." that line about depriving the south of resources, one other fact. people leaving are not leaving general robert

appomattox. sailor's creek languished for the next couple of decades. finally in 2008, sailor's creek which had been a satellite to a recreational park called twin like sailor's creekake, i was fortunate enough even though i was working for the national park service to be asked to be on a planning team for sailor's creek and later here at highbridge. i was familiar with the goals of the park service as to what they wanted. thanks to a bond referendum, $3.2 million was raised to develop sailor's creek. that's where i came in. i was offered this job. the first year we restored the house which had structural problems and opened it to the public. we built a visitor center the next year. after that, we put a museum in it. currently, we are doing landscape restoration and those who have been out there before know that the hillsman house is on high ground overlooking sailor's creek. the battle took place on the opposite side of the creek. you could never see one for the other. you look down with the creek is an all you could see was trees. now you can see both

the big thing for us to promote is our tour of the appomattox campaign. it will feature three days of touring the sites from petersburg to appomattox may 15-17 with chris, myself and ron wilson. it is all online at the website. there are paper copies out here with the group. thank you for coming. you are a great group of people to come to these programs. i will let david wrap it up and i will see you tomorrow. one quick thing. we up everybody will be here tomorrow but if you are not and you're not on a bill in with, please sign up. there is a sheet there on one of the smaller tables. if you changed your address, we don't have the exact date yet of next year's session. it depends on the speakers and availability. if you have any suggestions on topics please get with patrick or myself all stop -- myself. that isn't. -- is it. thank you. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> if -- tomorrow, we will be back for the final day o

we have been focusing on the campaigns in virginia and appomattox. mark bradley will be speaking about what were the final military operations in the surrender in north carolina. obviously, appomattox wasn't the very end, but things continued on for a month and a half after that. dr. bradley is a historian who works the u.s. army center for military history in washington currently. he is working on a book on the vietnam war. he has moved a little far field from civil war activities. he has a phd from the university of north carolina, which i think beat uva yesterday, so don't gloat great people like that here. -- people won't like that here. he is received numerous awards, and two of his major works, and this astounding close, the road to bennett place, last stand in the carolinas, the battle of bentonville. he has written a number of book reviews for various journals, as well as different articles and books. his topic today is fort fisher to the bennett place, closing operations in north carolina. dr. bradley. [applause] >> thank you, david. can eve

appomattox seemed to capture the simplicity of the whole thing. into the story. all of these things are ingrained deeply in our culture in our memory, some of them appear in school curriculums across our land. if you will, think for a minute about the memories of your own life, our memories are also -- always far simpler than the lives were as we live them. they are neatly organized, far more organized than our expense actually was. the same is true for our national memories. we compile it into distinct periods of time with distinct characteristics characterized by ideas or fax -- facts simplicities that become conventional wisdom. more than that, these nuggets of conventional wisdom that run through our history, through our culture, often become over time governed by rigid rules. especially when there are people who have a personal stake in the history that we are talking about. now, what happens to violators of those conventions? those who acknowledge complexities rather than simplicities? or worse, deny the simplicities altogether? what happens to them? they a

we hope to see you at appomattox and i year. thank you. [applause] >> that concludes our life coverage from farmville, virginia. their closing of the civil war seminar, cohosted by the appomattox court house. i want to remind you that all of today's coverage will re-air again tonight at 6:30 p.m. on c-span 3. you will find out a lot more civil war seminar coverage on c-span.org\history. tomorrow, we will be live at the fords theater on an all day symposium of the life, career, and legacy of abraham lincoln. a series of speakers will be hosted at fords, where abraham lincoln was shot nearly 150 years ago. that is live on saturday march way first. >> next, on "american history tv speakers discussed the rosenbergs's devotion to the communist cause. this 90 minute event took place at the national archives in washington dc. >> good evening ladies and gentlemen. i will get us going. i am the senior adviser of the pulitzer center. a harvard professor emeritus i'm happy to add, and a former journalist for cbs and nbc. our program focuses on the ro

tracy is a native of appomattox. he has worked for the national park service. he has been at petersburg national battlefield since 1997. he is the author of one of the volumes and the howard, virginia regimental history series. he is also passed president of the lynchburg civil war roundtable. and the appomattox county historical society. his talk today will be on the fall of petersburg. please welcome tracy chernault. [applause] tracy chernault: good evening. i'm a big baseball guy. when he asked me to speak as the leadoff man, that was a first for me. most of you can tell by my size, i never hit leadoff because i require somebody speeding. being the leadoff man is something new for me. i was surprised when pat pointed out that the magazine contains his article, because you get to this article, you have to read through my article. which i think should have been the end of the magazine. [laughter] please pick up one of those and read my article. it is always a pleasure to speak about petersburg, because most of you in this room having heard stories of petersbur

of course will surrender almost 30,000 at appomattox courthouse. melting away from the army to get supplies from home. all of that factors in. i don't have an exact figure. >> i appreciate it. thank you all for being here. [applause] >> great questions. >> american history tv visited long bill university and far more to, virginia, for a seminar on the closing of the civil war -- tv visited longwood university in virginia for a seminar on the closing of the civil war. his talk is just under one hour. >> our next's speaker, is michael gordon. he did a great presentation. amazing photographs. you will see more of them today. he grew up in richmond. working for the national park service.

the program was cohosted by the university and appomattox court house national historic park. the part director talks about the long standoff between lee and grant and the entrenchments in 1864 in the final battle of 1865. he discusses the importance of supply lines to both armies and disparity between the union and confederatefood and a munition. this talk is about an hour. >> i want to get started and introduce our first speaking -- first speaker of the evening. tracy chernault. we have programs out there, you can pick up the program. i

after the war he leaves appomattox, goes back to richmond and has a vision that he will get a bottom land and farm if the union authorities allow him to do that. the most unexpected things happen. you have been elected president of washington college. washington college actually had a real connection to george washington. it had been doubt in its history by george washington. the college had been destroyed during the civil war. soldiers had run all over the campus, smashed the facilities and it was in very bad shape. most people thought this was beneath robert e. b.. and he takes different attitude. he says for four years i have met the young man of the south in war. .. >> he's asked all kinds of questions, and they really want him to speak for virginia and he really doesn't want to do that at this point but he does answer questions. and he says i don't even read newspapers anymore which isn't completely true because he still has a very firm understanding of what's happening in the country. so he is slightly pulling a fast one. and he does, in his private correspondence actually rema

topics include the battle of sailor's creek and the surrender and legacy of appomattox. live next saturday and sunday, march 14 and 15, at longwood university in virginia on american history tv on c-span 3. announcer: each week american history's reel america brings you films that tell the story of the 20th century. on bloody sunday, march 7, 1955, 600 civil rights activists were attacked with clubs in selma alabama. images of the members of the voting rights movement gained attention around the world. 8 days later on march 15 president lyndon johnson spoke to a joint session of congress asking for the introduction and passage of a voting rights la appealing for equal rights for all americansw and. now here is president johnson's entire 48 minute speech. president johnson: -- man: mr. speaker the president of the united states. [applause] [applause continues] [gavel pounds] president johnson: members of the congress i have the great pleasure the highest privilege and the distinguished and i might also say personal honor of presenting to you the president of the united st

that's more than a month after appomattox, that's more than a month after lincoln had been assassinated. texas and the trans-mississippi department still had not surrendered. texas was still officially part of the confederacy, was still officially part of the war. and the blockade was still active here. and so as late as the final, last week of may of 1865 we still had blockade runners trying to get into the port and leaving. the lark was actually the last blockade runner to enter and clear a confederate port. i talk about in the book it's sort of a rough ending to blockade running, because lark on the morning of the 24th tied up at central whatever which, in fact was -- wharf which, in fact, was right here where we are now. tied up at central wharf, and they were doing all the things they normally did to get the ship ready to be unloaded and tying up at the wharf and putting gangplanks down and stuff like that, and a confederate courier on horseback came pounding out along the pier yelling, "get your ship cast off, cast off, get your ship out into the harbor away from the dock." and be

sorry, appomattox folks. we win. it is right in here, can we bring down the lights? how do we make these images? there we go. back then, almost all photographs made during the civil war were made in 3-d. the process, you have seen them. they are called stereo views. remember these? you are geeks, too. when you look in those coming can see in 3-d. first, you have two explosions -- to expose the plate. that is what the actual negative looks like. two images, slight variations. your left eye versus your right eye. a little bit more over here. slightly different images. they are going to take that, develop it print it, and mounted on the stereo card which is how it would be sold. this with right here -- width right here is three inches. that is how you would have seen them in 1865. small. tiny. you would see it in 3-d, which is cool. some day, i will have to come back and do my 3-d show. we will use these as documents themselves. by blowing them up and seeing what the photographer saw. this is about as close as we will get to a time machine. yeah, this is a staged photog

and after the war he leaves appomattox he goes back to richmond, and he sort of has this vision that maybe he'll try to get a not of land and farm. -- a plot of land and farm if the union authorities will allow him to do that. but then the most unexpected thing happens. a small college in the shenandoah valley sends a messenger to lee and says you've been elected president of washington college. now, washington college actually had a very real connection to george washington. it was, had been b endowed very early in its history by george washington. but the college had been destroyed during the civil war union soldiers had run all over the campus they had smashed the facilities, and it was in very bad shape. and most people thought this offer was very beneath robert e. lee. and, but lee takes a different attitude. he says for four years i've led the young men of the south in war, and now i have a responsibility to help prepare them for peace and to help them rebuild the country. and so he accepts the offer. he goes out to lexington, virginia, and he becomes president of washington co

actually, a little bit more than that, but about a month until we surrendered at appomattox. but it was fairly clear that the union was going to win. you would expect someone to have more of a triumphant address. but actually, what you see an lincoln's second inaugural is just over 700 words, the second shortest inaugural address, and instead, he says essentially the war was caused by slavery, but it was a national sin. god is the one determining how much longer this war is going to continue. when every drop of blood from the lash is compensated by one from the sword, then in gods time he will determine when this war is over. it finishes up with, after explaining what the war is, it is up into god's hands, he ends with that famous line, with malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as god gives us to see the right. essentially it starts with what was the past, what cause the war, where are we in the present, which is this war will continue until god determines otherwise, or that that punishment has been levied, and then it works to the future with

afterglow of appomattox he remarked to a group of well-wishers, always thought quickly one of the best to ever heard and our adversaries for the way attempted to appropriate it. i presented it to the attorney general and he gave it as his legal opinion that it is our lawful prize. here to play lincoln and liberty and dixie is bobby and music historian and great friend of our national parks. he has successfully combined with love of history and is love of music. i'm pleased to introduce you bobby horton. [applause] >> hello, everyone. actually, the melody was an old irish tune called right in the vote and a fellow named jesse hutchison who was of the hutchison family serenaded the president a number of times. ♪ ♪ hurrah for the choice of the nation our chieftain so brave and so true we'll go for the great reformation for lincoln and liberty, too we'll go for the son of kentucky the hero of hoosierdom through the pride of the suckers, so lucky for lincoln and liberty, too they'll find what by felling and mauling our rail-maker statesman can do for the people are everywhere calling fo

this is just a few days after the surrender to grant at appomattox, effectively ending the civil war. lakin is at the play, and shot in the back of the head by john looks boost by a small -- john wilkes booth by a small lead bullet. apple is acting on display here. the bullet was recovered the next day and an autopsy performed at the white house. in the hours just shortly after lincoln's shot, the surgeon general response to the president. this is that peterson's house directly across the street from fords theatre. he calls for something called a probe, and we have noted that on the back here in display. the idea is that it would be threaded into the wound and depending on how far the probe would go, it might identify where the fragment of the bullet was. they were able to do so. the bullet, they found later was large behind lincoln's eye. the probe was retained and eventually made its way to the museum holdings, and is part of the display. the surgeon general, and army medical staff john woodward, and another surgeon named edward curtis were at the present bedside in the hours before

appomattox. gettysburg. others are sites that symbolize the daring of america's character. independence hall and seneca falls. kitty hawk and cape canaveral. selma is such a place. one afternoon 50 years ago so much of our turbulent history. the state of slavery and anguish of civil war. the yoke of segregation and tyranny of jim crow. the death of four little girls in birmingham and the dream of a baptist preacher. all that history met on this bridge. it was not a clash of armies but a clash of wills. a contest to determine the true meaning of america. and because of men and women like john lewis joseph flowers, jose williams, amelia boynton diane nash, ralph abernathy andrew young fred shuttlesworth. dr. plant martin -- dr. martin luther king jr. the idea of a just america and fair america and inclusive america and generous america that idea ultimately triumphed. as is true across the landscape of american history we can not examine this moment in isolation. the march on selma was part of a broad are campaign that spanned generations generations. the leaders that day part