Original Broadcaster Captioning (Enhanced). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:01PARTNERS. AMERICA 250. OVER A YEAR OF HISTORIC MOMENTS.
00:00:06C-SPAN, OFFICIAL MEDIA PARTNER OF AMERICA 250.
00:00:07>> SUNDAY ON C-SPAN'S Q AND A,
00:00:14TOWARD THE NEW YORK CITY OFFICE AND HOME LIBRARY OF PULITZER
00:00:17PRIZE WINNING BEST-SELLING BIOGRAPHER ROBERT CARO WHO IS
00:00:21CURRENTLY WORKING ON THE FINAL
00:00:22VOLUME OF HIS FIVE VOLUME BIOGRAPHY OF LYNDON JOHNSON.
00:00:26HE TALKS ABOUT HIS RESEARCH AND WRITING PROCESS ON THE LBJ SERIES.
00:00:29>> VOTING RIGHTS ACT, THE CIVIL
00:00:34RIGHTS ACT, IMMIGRATION REFORM. HE DID IT ALL.
00:00:37AND THEN HE DID VIETNAM WHICH
00:00:41WAS JUST HORRIBLE.
00:00:45>> IS VIETNAM THE HARDEST PART TO WRITE?
00:00:49>> GOOD QUESTION.
00:00:53YES.
00:00:58I'M WRITING IT NOW AND IT'S VERY
00:01:08, REALLY DEPRESSING.
00:01:08>> PULITZER PRIZE WINNING
00:01:13BEST-SELLING BIOGRAPHER ROBERT CARO ON C-SPAN'S Q AND A.
00:01:16LISTEN TO Q AND A AND ALL OF OUR PODCAST ON OUR FREE C-SPAN NOW
00:01:20APP OR WHEREVER YOU GET YOUR PODCASTS.
00:01:21>> WE BEGIN THIS MORNING WITH
00:01:25ANDREW LYTER, DISCUSSING HIS BOOK, GOING AMONG ENGLISH
00:01:31SAILORS, AMERICAN TARS ABOARD
00:01:36HMS BELVIDERA 1809 THROUGH 1814.
00:01:41A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS. WE HAVE A FEW HOUSEKEEPING NOTES.
00:01:48A BOOK FOR SALE IN THE LOBBY, A PRODUCTION OF THE PROCEEDS FOR
00:01:52EVERY BOOK HELPS TO FUND THIS
00:01:54FREE FESTIVAL AND EVERY PURCHASE
00:01:57GIVES YOU A TICKET GOOD FOR AN
00:01:59ADULT BEVERAGE AT OUR 5:00 P.M. SPIRITED DISCUSSION AS OUR THINKING.
00:02:03I KNOW IT IS EARLY TO BE THINKING ABOUT LUNCH TIME, BUT
00:02:07KEEP IN MIND IN ADDITION TO THE
00:02:10FINE EATERIES AROUND TOWN, FOOD TRUCKS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE
00:02:15ROWLANDS CENTER FROM 11:00 TO 2:00 WITH SEATING AT THE
00:02:18PAVILION AT THE LEWISTON PUBLIC
00:02:22-- LEWIS PUBLIC LIBRARY NEARBY. THERE WILL BE TIME FOR QUESTIONS FOR THE AUTHOR AT THE END OF HIS PRESENTATION. AND FINALLY, PLEASE TURN OFF ALL
00:02:26ELECTRONIC DEVICES RECORDINGS AND FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ARE NOT
00:02:29ALLOWED.
00:02:32AND NOW IT IS MY PLEASURE TO
00:02:36INTRODUCE ANDREW LYTER WHOSE , HOME IS THE SEA AND HISTORY, BOTH OF WHICH HE SHARES GENEROUSLY WITH THE REST OF US.
00:02:45THIS BOOK IS CASE IN POINT
00:02:47FORMED NOT ONLY BY YEARS OF
00:02:50SCHOLARSHIP, BUT ALSO BY ANDREW'S SERVICE ABOARD THE BRITISH BRIGANTINE LORD NELSON.
00:02:52THE STORY OFFERS A FRESH
00:02:57, IMMERSIVE PERSPECTIVE THAT
00:02:58BLENDS METICULOUS RESEARCH WITH PRACTICAL, LIVED EXPERIENCE TO
00:03:03BRING THIS CHAPTER OF HISTORY FULLY TO LIFE FOR US.
00:03:09THANK YOU, ANDREW. NOW PLEASE HELP ME WELCOME ANDREW TO THE STAGE.
00:03:13[APPLAUSE]
00:03:17ANDREW: THANK YOU.
00:03:24ALL RIGHT.
00:03:27CAN EVERYONE HEAR ME ALL RIGHT? LOOK AT THIS FANCY MICROPHONE.
00:03:31IT'S LIKE SUNDAY MORNING. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME HERE.
00:03:37GETTING OVER A SINUS INFECTION SO BEAR WITH MY NASALLY SOUND.
00:03:42THIS IS REALLY COOL. HISTORY BOOK FESTIVAL IS SO
00:03:45AMAZING, WE ARE IN OUR NINTH YEAR AND I'M HUMBLED TO BE A
00:03:49PART OF IT WITH MY SMALL CONTRIBUTION TO THIS SLATE OF
00:03:52ABSOLUTELY AMAZING AUTHORS. TODAY I'M HERE TO SHARE MY BOOK
00:03:57, "GOING AMONG ENGLISH SAILORS," RIGHT?
00:04:01HMS BELVIDERA, ALL TALKING ABOUT THE AMERICAN SAILORS THAT CREWED ON HER LOWER DECK. AS I WAS INTRODUCED AS A SAILOR, I'LL PROVIDE A LITTLE BIT OF
00:04:04CONTEXT BEHIND WHAT BROUGHT THIS BOOK TO FRUITION.
00:04:08OH, WRONG WAY. ALL RIGHT, THERE'S ME WITH A
00:04:12BEARD. INCREDIBLE.
00:04:15SO IN THE SUMMER OF 2019, I HAD
00:04:17THE PRIVILEGE TO CREW ABOARD A
00:04:20BRITISH BRIGANTINE, THE LORD NELSON, AS THE LONE AMERICAN CREW MEMBER.
00:04:24WE SAILED FROM POOLE, ENGLAND THROUGHOUT THE ENGLISH CHANNEL
00:04:28UP THE IRISH SEA, ENCOUNTERED A GALE AROUND SCOTLAND THROUGH THE NORTH SEA, AND THEN BACK INTO
00:04:31LEITH.
00:04:34MY WATCH INCLUDED SAILORS FROM ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, IRELAND, WALES, ALL THE OBVIOUS
00:04:37CANDIDATES.
00:04:42ONE FORMER MILITARY MAN FROM CROATIA WHO CHAIN SMOKED AND HAD A PEG LEG, LITERALLY. IT WAS AN INCREDIBLE, INCREDIBLY
00:04:45DIVERSE CREW.
00:04:52THIS IS OLD FISHERMEN FROM WHITBY. YOU HAD GAELIC SPEAKERS FROM SHETLAND.
00:04:56THERE WERE BOUGIE YACHTSMEN FROM LONDON.
00:04:58BUT THROUGHOUT ALL OF US WE REALLY BECAME CLOSE TO THIS VOYAGE, AND OUR COMMON LINK AS SHIPMATES AND OUR COMMON SHIPBOARD CULTURE KIND OF
00:05:02BROUGHT US TOGETHER.
00:05:05DESPITE OUR COMMON LINKS TO ONE ANOTHER, I STARTED TO WONDER WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE TO BE AN
00:05:09AMERICAN ON BOARD A BRITISH
00:05:12VESSEL HISTORICALLY, RIGHT? LET'S TAKE IT ONE STEP FURTHER.
00:05:16WHAT'S IT LIKE TO BE AN AMERICAN ON BOARD A BRITISH VESSEL IN A
00:05:18TIME OF WAR?
00:05:20BUILD ON THAT. WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE TO BE ON
00:05:24AN AMERICAN ON A BRITISH VESSEL IN A TIME OF WAR FIGHTING AGAINST YOUR OWN COUNTRY, MAYBE
00:05:27IN THE TOWN OF LEWIS PERCHANCE, OK.
00:05:31SO THIS ALL COINCIDED WITH ME WORKING ON MY MASTER'S PROGRAM
00:05:34OVER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
00:05:38PORTSMOUTH IN ENGLAND WHERE I WAS REALLY LOOKING AT THE LOWER DECK AND THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE IN BRITISH SERVICE, AS WELL AS WITH THE CURATION OF AN
00:05:42EXHIBITION AT THE CANNONBALL
00:05:42HOUSE.
00:05:52SO AS WE ALL KNOW, OR WE'LL QUICKLY LEARN. IN THE FALL OF 1812, THIS MAN ON THE SCREEN, COMMODORE JOHN POOH
00:05:55BERESFORD, WAS ORDERED TO ENACT
00:06:00A STRICT AND RIGOROUS BLOCKADE OF THE BAY AND RIVER DELAWARE, LARGELY TO STRANGLE THE MERCANTILE TRADE OF
00:06:03PHILADELPHIA.
00:06:14THIS BLOCKADE BROUGHT WAR TO
00:06:15DELAWARE SHORES.
00:06:19BY LATE MARCH 1813, THIS WAS IN FULL EFFECT WITH HIS FLAGSHIP,
00:06:24THE 74 GUN HMS THIS POITIERS, , THE SCHOONER PAZ, AND OUR VESSEL FOR TODAY, THE 36 GUN FRIGATE, THE HMS BELVIDERA.
00:06:28WE'RE ALL DEPLOYED TO THE MOUTH OF THE BAY ABOUT A MILE OFF THE
00:06:29COAST OF LEWIS. SO WITH THEIR PROVISIONS AND
00:06:33WATER RAPIDLY DEPLETING, BERGER
00:06:39-- BERESFORD WROTE A SERIES OF LETTERS TO THE COMMUNITY OF LEWIS, FIRST REQUESTING AND THEN DEMANDING SAID SUPPLIES.
00:06:43IF REFUSED, HE THREATENED HE
00:06:46WOULD BE, AND I QUOTE, "UNDER
00:06:51THE UPMOST NECESSITY OF DESTROYING THE TOWN."
00:06:59NOW LEWISTOWNERS, I THINK WE PROBABLY HAVE A LOT OF LEWISTOWNERS HERE TODAY, ARE ALL INTIMATELY FAMILIAR WITH THE STORY OF THE CANNONBALL HOUSE.
00:07:03WE HAVE THAT CANNONBALL LODGED IN THE FOUNDATION, AGAIN, IT WAS STOLEN, BUT IT'S BACK.
00:07:05THIS IS A TRADITIONAL TALE OF AMERICAN DETERMINATION IN THE
00:07:09FACE OF ADVERSITY. TO DEFEAT A COMMON ENEMY, THE
00:07:11BRITISH.
00:07:15ON APRIL 6TH AND 7TH, THIS COMMUNITY WOULD ENDURE A 22 HOUR
00:07:17BOMBARDMENT BY THE ROYAL NAVY,
00:07:19AND THE VALIANT DEFENDERS OF
00:07:22LEWIS, LARGELY OUT OF WORK PILOTS AND WATERMEN, HAVE BEEN
00:07:26BRANDED AS THE PATRIOTIC HEROES
00:07:27THAT RESISTED THIS ATTACK.
00:07:33THANK YOU. BUT AS WE ALL KNOW, HISTORY IS NEVER AS BLACK AND WHITE AS WE WANT IT TO BE.
00:07:35WE ALL WANT TO HAVE A HERO AND A
00:07:40VILLAIN. THIS MAKES THINGS EASY FOR US AS WE READ THE PAST, BUT IT'S ALL A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE. SO WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THESE
00:07:44TRADITIONAL CHARACTERS DON'T
00:07:47STICK TO THEIR EXPECTED ROLES OR LOYALTIES AND THEY SERVE AGAINST THIS PROUD AMERICAN TOWN OF
00:07:50LEWIS?
00:07:55SO WHAT THIS TRADITIONAL NARRATIVE OF THE BOMBARDMENT LACKED WAS SHARING THE NUANCED ROLE PLAYED BY THESE AMERICANS SERVING AGAINST THEIR OWN
00:07:59REPUBLIC.
00:08:02AND THIS BOOK IS THE STORY OF 21
00:08:03AMERICAN MEN WHO WOULD DO JUST
00:08:07THAT ABOARD THE BELVIDERA.
00:08:1245 AMERICAN MEN WERE ON THIS DAY AND PARTICIPATED IN THE BOMBARDMENT OF LEWIS, BUT WE'RE
00:08:15GOING TO FOCUS ON 21 OF THEM
00:08:16THROUGH THIS PUBLICATION.
00:08:24IF YOU CAN'T READ THAT, THAT'S OK. I CAN'T EITHER. BUT THE HMS BELVIDERA WAS ONE OF THE THREE VESSELS BUT WAS REALLY THE WORKHORSE OF THE BOMBARDMENT.
00:08:28SHE WAS ABLE TO GET CLOSER TO THE COMMUNITY AND OVERSAW THE
00:08:30FIRING ON LEWIS.
00:08:41PART ONE OF THE BOOK WILL FOCUS ON HER SERVICE FROM 1809 TO 1814. AND THIS WILL REALLY SHARE THE WOODEN WORLD WHERE THESE AMERICAN SAILORS LIVED, WORKED,
00:08:45AND ALL OF THE CONFLICTS, BATTLES, YOU NAME IT, THAT THEY ENDURED DURING THE WAR OF 1812
00:08:48AND THE NAPOLEONIC WARS.
00:09:02PART TWO AND THREE STRIVES TO ANSWER, WHY DURING THE WAR OF 1812 WOULD AMERICAN SEAFARERS CONSIDER SAILING UNDER THE
00:09:08BRITISH FLAG? THAT'S WHY YOU'RE ALL HERE. WHAT SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS DROVE THESE MEN INTO FOREIGN SERVICE
00:09:13AGAINST THEIR OWN COUNTRY? AND MOST IMPORTANT TO ME, HOW
00:09:15DID THIS IMPACT THEIR LIVES AND
00:09:19IDENTITY AS AMERICAN MEN? THESE MEN DID NOT CONFORM TO THE
00:09:23TRADITIONAL NOTION OF WHAT IT MEANT TO BE A LOYAL AMERICAN.
00:09:27THEY PARTICIPATED IN AN INTERNATIONAL BOND AMONGST
00:09:30SAILORS BUILT ON COMMON EXPERIENCES AND A DISTINCT MARITIME CULTURE.
00:09:33AS SUCH, THEY PLACED THE NEED OF THEIR FRIGATE AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, THEIR SHIPMATES
00:09:36FIRST.
00:09:38BUT THEY HAD TO RECOGNIZE THEIR AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP AND WHEN WAR CAME TO THE SHORES OF THEIR
00:09:42HOME COUNTRY, THEY WERE FORCED TO DECIDE BETWEEN REMAINING LOYAL TO THEIR SHIPMATES OR TO
00:09:46THEIR NEW NATION.
00:09:51EXCUSE ME FOR A MOMENT.
00:09:59THANK YOU. SO IMPRESSMENT, RIGHT, WE ALL THINK IMPRESSMENT IMMEDIATELY. THIS IS WHY THESE FOLKS WERE IN THE ROYAL NAVY.
00:10:03IMPRESSMENT WAS WIDELY REGARDED AS A NECESSARY EVIL, BUT IT
00:10:06SERVED A CRUCIAL ROLE IN GREAT BRITAIN IN ENSURING THAT HIS MAJESTY'S VESSELS WERE
00:10:10ADEQUATELY MANNED, ESPECIALLY IN
00:10:14TIMES OF WAR.
00:10:18TRANSATLANTIC PORTS, ALL OF THE PORTS ON THE ATLANTIC SPHERE, WERE PLAGUED BY THIS PRACTICE
00:10:21WHERE SAILORS WERE FORCED TO
00:10:35SERVE IN THE ROYAL NAVY BUT ALSO FORCED TO SERVE IN THE AMERICAN NAVY AND ON PRIVATEERS, WHICH WE'LL UNPACK AT SOME POINT. CONTRARY TO POPULAR
00:10:39MISCONCEPTIONS, THE PRESS GANG, THE BODY THAT IMPRESSED MEN, DID NOT TARGET PAUPERS OR VAGRANTS OR LANDSMEN OR FARMERS OR DRUNKS
00:10:41IN TAVERNS. SOMETIMES.
00:10:47THE TARGET OF THIS WAS ABLE SEAMEN. WE WANTED CAREER SAILORS WHO KNEW THEIR WAY AROUND A VESSEL.
00:10:50JUST SO HAPPENED A LOT OF THESE
00:10:51GUYS WERE ON AMERICAN SHIPS.
00:10:57THIS WAS OBVIOUSLY A LEADING
00:10:59CAUSE OF THE WAR OF 1812, 1 OF
00:11:01THE BIG THREE THINGS THAT FORCED US TO DECLARE WAR ON GREAT BRITAIN.
00:11:05FOR AMERICA TO DECLARE WAR ON
00:11:09GREAT BRITAIN. WE NEED TO REMEMBER THAT, WE WERE THE BELLIGERENTS HERE DECLARING WAR ON GREAT BRITAIN.
00:11:13, SO IMPRESSMENT WAS REGARDED AS THAT LEADING CAUSE, BUT BOTH
00:11:22NATIONS DEFINED CITIZENSHIP IN DIFFERENT TERMS.
00:11:23GREAT BRITAIN DEEMED ALL
00:11:30ENGLISH-SPEAKING MEN AS BRITISH CITIZENS UNTIL THEY COULD PROVE OTHERWISE. THIS IS RIDICULOUS, RIGHT? AMERICANS IMAGINE CITIZENSHIP VARIOUSLY.
00:11:33THIS COULD BE FIXED AT BIRTH.
00:11:38BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP IF YOU WILL. CONFERRED BY THE STATE, OR
00:11:42CHOSEN FREELY BY THE INDIVIDUAL.
00:11:47BETWEEN 1797 AND THE DAWN OF THE
00:11:48WAR OF 1812, 9991 MEN WERE
00:11:53PRESSED INTO THE ROYAL NAVY.
00:11:56BUT DESPITE THESE STAGGERING
00:11:58FIGURES, THE BUILDER DARA -- BELVIDERA ONLY HAD 5 MEN PRESSED
00:12:04ONTO HER. ONLY FIVE OF THE 21 MEN. THESE FOLKS ARE JOHN EDWARDS, JAMES GIBSON, AND JOHN CHAMBERLAIN, ALL FROM NEW YORK CITY.
00:12:08JAMES MESERAL OF NEW JERSEY AND ISRAEL EATON OF MARBLEHEAD,
00:12:11MASSACHUSETTS.
00:12:1716 MEN WILLINGLY VOLUNTEERED TO
00:12:18SERVE IN THE ROYAL NAVY.
00:12:23SO LET'S LOOK AT THIS VESSEL AS
00:12:24A CASE STUDY.
00:12:28THREE QUARTERS OF THE AMERICANS ON THIS SHIP VOLUNTEERED TO DO SO. I'D LIKE TO BRIEFLY INTRODUCE
00:12:33ONE OF THESE MEN WHO IS FEATURED
00:12:35IN THE BOOK PROMINENTLY WHO I
00:12:38THINK HIS COMMITMENT TO A LIFE AT SEA SURPASSED ALL OTHER ALLEGIANCES TO HIS FAMILY, TO
00:12:41HIS NATION, TO HIS SHIPMATES.
00:12:49HE WANTED TO WORK AT SEA. BUT BEFORE I DO SO, I WANT TO QUICKLY RECOGNIZE THE WORLD IN
00:12:52WHICH THESE MEN SAILED.
00:12:57EVERYONE'S ABLE TO READ THAT UP THERE. THEY SAILED IN A WORLD FRAUGHT WITH WAR AND REVOLUTIONS.
00:13:00THIS WAS THE AGE OF ATLANTIC REVOLUTIONS. THE ATLANTIC SPHERE, ALL OF
00:13:04THESE COUNTRIES KIND OF SURROUNDING THE ATLANTIC OCEAN, WERE IN A STATE OF CONSTANT
00:13:07FLUX.
00:13:13NEW REPUBLICS WERE BUILT AND
00:13:18MONARCHIES WERE CRUMBLED, AND THESE MEN ONLY KNEW WARFARE, RIGHT? THIS IS THE ENTIRE WORLD THAT THEY EXISTED IN.
00:13:21SO THE FELLOW I'D LIKE TO FOCUS ON WHO I FEEL TRULY EMBODIES THE
00:13:24NATIONAL AMBIVALENCE OF
00:13:30SEAFARERS OF THIS ERA AND HIS
00:13:32STEADFAST COMMITMENT TO LIFE AT SEA IS JOHN THOMPSON OF
00:13:36PHILADELPHIA.
00:13:40JOHN THOMPSON WAS BORN IN PHILADELPHIA AT A TIME THAT THE CITY WAS THE LARGEST CITY AND
00:13:44PORT IN THE ENTIRE NATION, WELL, IN THE ENTIRE COLONIES IF YOU
00:13:45WILL.
00:13:51IN 1770, PHILADELPHIA HAD SURPASSED BOSTON AND NEW YORK.
00:13:55THIS IS THE 4TH LARGEST CITY IN THE BRITISH EMPIRE BEHIND ONLY
00:13:56LONDON, EDINBURGH, AND DUBLIN. BUT THIS BEAUTIFUL MARITIME
00:14:00TRADE CAME TO A SCREECHING HALT ON THE 27TH OF SEPTEMBER 1777.
00:14:04AND THIS WOULD BE WITH THE
00:14:05BRITISH OCCUPATION OF THE CITY.
00:14:1418,000 BRITISH SOLDIERS MARCHED INTO THE CITY, WITH PATRIOT LEADERS AND 2/3 OF THE
00:14:17POPULATION FLEEING.
00:14:27AND THE BRITISH WOULD REMAIN IN THE CITY UNTIL JUNE OF 1778. THIS WOULD FOLLOW WITH A SUBSEQUENT BLOCKADE OF THE BAY AND RIVER DELAWARE, WHERE THE
00:14:30ROYAL NAVY WOULD STRANGLE PHILADELPHIA ECONOMY FURTHER, BRINGING IT TO A COMPLETE
00:14:32STANDSTILL.
00:14:41SO THIS IS THE WORLD THAT JOHN THOMPSON WAS BORN INTO. ON THE 8TH OF NOVEMBER 1777, HE WAS BORN IN OCCUPIED PHILADELPHIA TO JAMES AND ELIZABETH THOMPSON.
00:14:45HE WAS BAPTIZED FOLLOWING THE BRITISH DEPARTURE ON THE 19TH OF JULY 1779, THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN
00:14:48PHILADELPHIA.
00:15:04I REALLY WANT TO EMPHASIZE THAT HIS ENTIRE CHILDHOOD, HIS EARLY
00:15:08YEARS FROM ONE TO SIX WERE SPENT LIVING IN A WAR-TORN CITY.
00:15:13I ALSO WANT TO TAKE A MOMENT TO CONSIDER THIS DOCUMENT THAT'S AT THE BOTTOM. THIS IS HIS BAPTISMAL RECORD FROM THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
00:15:17WILL WE BE QUICK TO LABEL JOHN THOMPSON AND HIS AMERICAN SHIPMATES AS TORIES OR LOYALISTS
00:15:21, OR DARE I SAY TRADERS, HEAR
00:15:27THIS MAN IS A TWO-YEAR-OLD BOY
00:15:29-- DARE I SAY TRAITORS,
00:15:36HERE THIS MAN IS A TWO-YEAR-OLD BOY. HE'S LISTED AS THE ONLY SON OF JAMES AND ELIZABETH THOMPSON. HE WAS THEIR PRIDE AND JOY.
00:15:40HE WAS JUST THEIR LITTLE SON. HE'S A HUMAN, RIGHT? HE'S A FALLIBLE HUMAN, AND HE'S SOMEONE THAT I REALLY FEEL WE
00:15:43SHOULD ALL RELATE TO AS WE
00:15:46CONTINUE TO STUDY THESE PEOPLE. I ALWAYS COME BACK TO THIS DOCUMENT, EVEN WHEN JOHN THOMPSON DOES SOME MILDLY DODGY
00:15:50ACTS AND HIS SERVICE IS QUESTIONABLE.
00:15:53HE'S JUST A HUMAN. HE WAS SOMEONE'S BOY, AND HE WAS A YOUNG MAN WHEN HE WENT TO SEA, SO JUST KEEP THAT IN MIND,
00:15:56PLEASE.
00:16:01PHILADELPHIA FOLLOWING THE
00:16:01TREATY OF PARIS IN 1783,
00:16:05MERCANTILE TRADE RESUMED AND THEY WERE A BOOMING CITY AGAIN.
00:16:10BETWEEN 1793 AND 1810, THE
00:16:11POPULATION DOUBLED WITH 55,000
00:16:16INHABITANTS TO 111,000 PEOPLE BY 1810. AND 20% OF THAT LABOR FORCE WERE
00:16:18SAILORS.
00:16:23SO THIS RAPID MARITIME GROWTH MET UNPRECEDENTED OPPORTUNITIES FOR ASPIRING YOUNG SAILORS SUCH
00:16:26AS JOHN THOMPSON.
00:16:32ALL RIGHT, THIS IS TOUGH TO SEE, BUT IT'S ALL IN THE BOOK AND IT'S ONE OF MY FAVORITE PARTS,
00:16:35SO BEAR WITH ME.
00:16:37USING EXTANT HISTORICAL RECORDS,
00:16:42WE'RE ABLE TO PINPOINT EXACTLY WHEN JOHN THOMPSON OFFICIALLY OR LEGALLY JOINED THE MARITIME
00:16:44LABOR FORCE OF PHILADELPHIA.
00:16:50AND THAT'S ON NOVEMBER 16TH, 1805, HE ACQUIRED HIS SEAMEN'S PROTECTION CERTIFICATE.
00:16:54HAS ANYONE HEARD OF THESE BEFORE?
00:16:57I SEE A HAND OF THOSE THAT HAVE. ALL RIGHT, A FEW THAT I EXPECTED.
00:17:00GOOD.
00:17:05SO 1796, THERE WAS AN ACT FOR THE PROTECTION OF AMERICAN SEAMEN. THIS WAS PASSED IN OUR CONGRESS SOLELY TO COMBAT IMPRESSMENT,
00:17:09RIGHT?
00:17:18THIS ACT CREATED PROCEDURES FOR AMERICAN MEN TO PROCURE TANGIBLE PROOF OF THEIR CITIZENSHIP.
00:17:21THINK OF A PASSPORT OF SORTS.
00:17:25THIS ALSO ENSURED THE ASSISTANCE OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT AT HOME AND ABROAD SHOULD THEY
00:17:28BECOME IMPRESSED.
00:17:33SO YOU COULD GO TO THE CONSUL, PROVIDE YOUR SIEMEN'S PROTECTION
00:17:38-- SEAMEN'S PROTECTION
00:17:41CERTIFICATE, AND PROVE THAT YOU'RE AN AMERICAN. AND AMERICAN SEAFARERS NEEDED THIS DOCUMENT TO GO TO SEA BEFORE THEY COULD LEAVE AND
00:17:45CLEAR A PORT FOR AN INTERNATIONAL VOYAGE, THE
00:17:48CAPTAIN HAD TO PROVE THAT ALL MEMBERS OF THE CREW HAD SEAMEN'S PROTECTION CERTIFICATES.
00:17:51AND THESE DOCUMENTS EXIST TODAY
00:17:54, AND THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY AMAZING.
00:17:56I WILL GET INTO THAT SHORTLY, BUT I'D LIKE TO BRIEFLY READ AN
00:18:00EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK TO KIND OF SHARE WHAT I CALL JOHN THOMPSON'S WALK.
00:18:03THIS IS HIM TRAVELING FROM HIS HOME, HIS MODEST HOME ON THE
00:18:05NORTH RIGHT SIDE OF THE SCREEN,
00:18:09GODDARD'S ALLEY, DOWN ALONG THE WATERFRONT, 5 CITY BLOCKS TO GET
00:18:11TO THE NOTARY PUBLIC OFFICE OF
00:18:14CLEMENT BIDDLE.
00:18:17IF ANYONE HAS A BOOK AND CARES
00:18:21TO FOLLOW ALONG, IT IS ON PAGE 80. WE'RE GOING TO BE STARTING THE LAST PARAGRAPH.
00:18:24ON THIS CRISP AUTUMN MORNING, JOHN THOMPSON WITNESSED THE WARS OF THE YOUNG AMERICAN CAPITAL
00:18:28ALIVE WITH NEWS BEING SHARED IN
00:18:29A CACOPHONY OF LANGUAGES BY A
00:18:32DIVERSE CREW OF SAILORS FROM THE
00:18:37U.S., JAMES MONROE WAS RECOMMENDING TO PRESIDENT JEFFERSON AN IMMEDIATE DECLARATION OF WAR WITH SPAIN
00:18:40OVER FLORIDA.
00:18:44MEANWHILE, FROM ACROSS THE ATLANTIC, REPORTS OF NELSON'S HEROIC VICTORY OVER THE FRENCH FLEET AND HIS DEATH AT THE
00:18:48BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR WERE NOW
00:18:49MAKING THEIR WAY TO
00:18:55PHILADELPHIA'S DOCKS. LOCALLY, THE STANDING MILITIA WAS PREPARING TO DRILL WITH THE
00:18:58FIRST TROOP OF LIGHT HORSE SET TO PARADE THAT AFTERNOON NEAR A PERMANENT BRIDGE AT MARKET STREET.
00:19:01AS THOMPSON NAVIGATED THIS COMMOTION, HE TURNED ONTO WALNUT STREET AND WALKED TWO BLOCKS TO
00:19:05THE OFFICE OF CLEMENT BIDDLE, LOCATED AT 41 AND 43 WALNUT
00:19:08STREET.
00:19:13I'M GOING TO JUMP AHEAD OF PARAGRAPH. JOHN THOMPSON'S DISTINCT APPEARANCE AS HE SWAGGERED INTO BIDDLE'S OFFICE SUGGESTED PRIOR
00:19:17EXPERIENCE AT SEA.
00:19:235 FT 7 1/2 INCHES TALL. THE DARK-HAIRED THOMPSON WAS SLIGHTLY TALLER THAN THE AVERAGE SAILOR OF HIS PERIOD.
00:19:27HE HAD SURVIVED THE YELLOW FEVER EPIDEMIC OF 1793 UNSCATHED,
00:19:30WHICH WAS PITTED VERY MUCH WITH
00:19:31SMALLPOX IN THE FACE.
00:19:40LIKE MANY FROM PHILADELPHIA'S LABORING CLASS, JUMP AHEAD AGAIN. IN ADDITION TO HIS POCK-MARKED COMPLEXION, THOMPSON'S TATTOOED
00:19:43BODY SET HIM APART, EXPRESSING HIS PERSONAL BELIEFS AND
00:19:45ANNOUNCING PRIDE IN HIS MARITIME
00:19:51VOCATION. ACCORDING TO THE CITIZENSHIP DOCUMENT, HE PROCURED AT
00:19:54BIDDLE'S OFFICE, HE HAD, AND I
00:19:59QUOTE, "THE FIGURE OF A SPREAD EAGLE, STARS, AND FLAG IN
00:20:02LETTERS IT 1801 ON HIS LEFT ARM
00:20:05IN INDIA INK, ALSO SEVERAL OTHER
00:20:11FIGURES ON HIS RIGHT ARM."
00:20:14THESE TATTOOS REPRESENTED HIS MEMBERSHIP IN A SEA FRAMING FRATERNITY IN AN EMBLEMATIC OF A
00:20:17GROUP IDENTITY SHARED BY
00:20:27SAILORS. SO WHEN JOHN THOMPSON STEPPED OUT OF BIDDLE'S OFFICE ONTO FRONT STREET, HIS AMERICAN IDENTITY SEEMED UNASSAILABLE, AND HE WAS READY TO GO TO SEA.
00:20:30HERE IS HIS SURVIVING SEAMEN'S PROTECTION CERTIFICATE ON THE SCREEN.
00:20:33A CLEMENT BIDDLE WAS ONE OF OVER
00:20:3620 DIFFERENT NOTARY PUBLICS IN
00:20:39THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA WHO COULD FURNISH SAILORS WITH
00:20:43SEAMEN'S PROTECTION CERTIFICATES. HE COULD PROVIDE THEM WITH THESE
00:20:45GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS. THIS PROCESS WAS VERY WELL REGULATED IN THEORY, BUT IF YOU
00:20:49WENT IN WITH A BUDDY TO THE
00:20:51NOTARY PUBLIC'S OFFICE AND HE COULD VOUCH THAT YOU WERE BORN
00:20:55IN THIS COUNTRY AND YOU WERE
00:20:59BORN IN SAID CITY OF
00:21:01PHILADELPHIA AND ACT AS YOUR
00:21:05LEGAL WITNESS, YOU COULD BE PROVIDED WITH ONE OF THESE DOCUMENTS. DIDN'T REALLY MATTER WHERE YOU
00:21:09WERE BORN. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WAS SORT OF ABUSED AT TIMES, AND SOME SAILORS WOULD COLLECT THESE DOCUMENTS WITH DIFFERENT NAMES AS WELL.
00:21:12THERE IS A NORSE BORN SAILOR WHO
00:21:14WAS ON THE BELVIDERA WHO HAD
00:21:18PROTECTION CERTIFICATES FROM THREE DIFFERENT PORTS IN THIS COUNTRY AS WELL AS ONE FROM
00:21:23SWEDEN AND ONE FROM DENMARK. BUT HE GREW UP IN LONDON.
00:21:27IT'S RIDICULOUS, THE WORLD WAS
00:21:30VERY SMALL.
00:21:31GOING FORWARD, ALL AMERICAN MEN
00:21:34ARMED WITH DOCUMENTS WITH DON'T HAVE IRREFUTABLE PROOF OF THEIR
00:21:37NATIONALITY -- WOULD NOW HAVE
00:21:45IRREFUTABLE PROOF OF THEIR NATIONALITY. THIS WAS LEGALLY SUPPOSED TO BE
00:21:48ACKNOWLEDGED BY BRITISH NAVAL OFFICERS, AND IT LARGELY WAS. AND THEY WOULD NOW HAVE THE FULL SUPPORT OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BEHIND THEM, ACKNOWLEDGING, DOCUMENTING, AND
00:21:52PROTECTING THEIR TENUOUS STATUS AS AMERICAN CITIZENS. NOW, GENERALLY SAILORS LIKE
00:21:54THOMPSON WOULD GET ONE OF THESE
00:21:58DOCUMENTS DAYS TO MAYBE A WEEK
00:22:02PRIOR TO GOING TO SEA RIGHT BEFORE THEY GET ON A VESSEL ON AN OUTBOUND VOYAGE. THEY NORMALLY GO ALONG WITH A SHIPMATE.
00:22:06AND TO THIS DAY, I MEAN, THESE ARE THE BEST RESOURCE FOR DETAILS INTO THE INDIVIDUAL
00:22:10SAILOR.
00:22:16I MEAN, LOOKING AT THIS DOCUMENT, JOHN THOMPSON PROCURED
00:22:18THIS IN EARLY NOVEMBER 1805.
00:22:22SO MY NEXT STEP ONCE I FIND THIS
00:22:23DOCUMENT IS TO GO TO THE PORT
00:22:27RECORDS OF PHILADELPHIA AND LOOK FOR OUTBOUND VOYAGES GIVEN
00:22:31WITHIN A MONTH'S SPAN REALLY OF
00:22:33WHEN HE GOT THIS DOCUMENT AND LOOK FOR HIS NAME ON THE ROLLS,
00:22:36AND THERE'S DESCRIPTIONS COMING
00:22:37WITH HIS NAME.
00:22:41AND I COULD LOOK AT OTHER SAILORS WHO GOT PROTECTION CERTIFICATES AROUND THAT DATE AND ASSUME THAT THEY MIGHT BE
00:22:44HIS SHIPMATES AND FLESH THEM OUT FURTHER. SO THESE ARE ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. I MEAN THROUGH THIS DOCUMENT
00:22:47WE'RE ABLE TO LEARN THAT JOHN
00:22:49THOMPSON WAS FIVE FOOT SEVEN AND
00:22:55A HALF INCHES TALL, HE WAS DARK-HAIRED HE WAS PITTED WITH , SMALLPOX. HE HAD A BIG MOLE ON HIS RIGHT THIGH AND HE WAS HIGHLY
00:22:59TATTOOED. I MEAN, THESE ARE DETAILS INTO THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF THESE MEN THAT SPEAK.
00:23:03SO LOUDLY AS TO WHO THEY WERE AS
00:23:09PEOPLE AND CAN KIND OF HELP US CREATE A HUMAN THAT'S A BIT MORE
00:23:12RELATABLE THAT WE CAN ALMOST PICTURE AS WE READ, RIGHT?
00:23:14SO THE CAREERS OF THESE MEN LIKE
00:23:18JOHN THOMPSON PRIOR TO JOINING THE BELVIDERA WERE JUST AS DIVERSE AS THEIR BACKGROUNDS.
00:23:22THESE MEN HAD EXPERIENCE IN THE MERCHANT SERVICE.
00:23:26THEY WERE IN THE U.S. NAVY. THEY SERVED ABOARD FRENCH PRIVATEERS, BRITISH PRIVATEERS,
00:23:29SPANISH PRIVATEERS.
00:23:34AND THEN THEY JOINED THE ROYAL
00:23:39NAVY BY VARIOUS MEANS. TWO DAYS AFTER ACQUIRING HIS
00:23:42PROTECTION CERTIFICATE, JOHN THOMPSON WOULD JOIN THE CREW OF
00:23:47THE BRIG NANCY. THIS IS A MERCHANT VESSEL OUT OF
00:23:49PHILADELPHIA, AND SHE SAILED FOR
00:23:54ST. CHRISTOPHER, RETURNING WITH A CARGO OF THE GREATEST EXPORT OF THE INDIES AT THIS TIME, AND
00:23:57MOLASSES, MARCH OF 1806. FROM THAT TIME UNTIL 1807, JOHN THOMPSON WOULD CONTINUE TO HAVE
00:24:01A HOME IN PHILADELPHIA UP ON
00:24:02GODDARD VALLEY.
00:24:06THIS WAS A SMALL WORKING CLASS COMMUNITY.
00:24:08UNTIL 1807 WHEN HE DISAPPEARS
00:24:11FROM PHILADELPHIA RECORDS, HE NO LONGER HAS HIS HOME AND HE
00:24:15LEAVES THE CITY. THIS IS WHERE WE START
00:24:18SCRATCHING OUR CHIN TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHERE DOES HE GO, AND
00:24:25FOR MOST SAILORS, YOU WILL NEVER KNOW. THIS IS THE END.
00:24:28BUT OVER THE FOLLOWING TWO YEARS, JOHN THOMPSON WOULD SERVE ABOARD A FRENCH PRIVATEER.
00:24:32IT WAS ON A FRENCH PRIVATEER.
00:24:37NOW THIS IS A TIME WHEN FRANCE WAS ENGAGED IN WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN, BUT WE HAD A REALLY
00:24:40LOOSE PEACE AT THIS TIME WITH
00:24:41THESE TWO NATIONS, VERY LOOSE,
00:24:44BUT ON THIS PRIVATEER HE JOINED
00:24:47IN 1808 FOLLOWING JEFFERSON'S
00:24:50DISASTROUS, AND THIS IS MY OPINION, BUT I THINK YOU COULD ALL SHARE THIS OPINION,
00:24:54DISASTROUS EMBARGO ACT.
00:24:58WITH NON-IMPORTATION AGAINST THE BRITISH AND AGAINST THE FRENCH
00:25:00AND THEN AGAINST THE BRITISH AGAIN FAILING, JEFFERSON ASKED
00:25:04CONGRESS FOR AN EMBARGO ACT IN
00:25:05DECEMBER OF 1807.
00:25:09AND THIS ACT HAD DRASTIC RAMIFICATIONS ON THE SEAFARING
00:25:11POPULATION. HIS GOAL WAS TO PROTECT AMERICAN
00:25:15SAILORS AND COERCE THE BRITISH, BUT IT PROVED TO BE A MASSIVE
00:25:16DISASTER.
00:25:27AND HAD A REALLY DRAMATIC IMPACT ON THAT SEAFARING POPULATION. PHILADELPHIA'S SHIPPING WAS
00:25:30REDUCED TO 20% OF ITS PRE-EMBARGO ACT LEVELS.
00:25:34ROUGHLY 8700 SOLDIERS WERE OUT OF WORK. THESE GUYS BEGAN TO SEEK OUT
00:25:37OPPORTUNITIES ABROAD. THERE'S NEWSPAPER ARTICLES FROM
00:25:41PHILADELPHIA, FROM NEW YORK CITY, FROM BOSTON OF SAILORS LEAVING IN DROVES FOR CANADA, FOR THE INDIES, AND ACROSS THE
00:25:45ATLANTIC.
00:25:53THIS DROVE SEAMEN INTO FOREIGN SERVICE. I DON'T THINK IT'S A COINCIDENCE
00:26:00THAT THIS COINCIDED WITH THE TIME THOMPSON LEFT THE CITY. HE DID NOT HAVE THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT HE ONCE HAD IN THIS BOOMING AMERICAN CITY,
00:26:04AND HE LOOKED FOR IT ELSEWHERE. HE WANTED TO CONTINUE TO WORK IN HIS VOCATION, EVEN IF THAT MEANT
00:26:06ON A FRENCH PRIVATEER.
00:26:11FOLLOWING HIS TIME ABOARD THIS
00:26:14FRENCH PRIVATEER, AND UNFORTUNATELY I'VE NOT BEEN ABLE TO FLESH OUT ANY OF THE DETAILS
00:26:18OF WHAT THIS WAS LIKE, BUT I WILL FIND THIS BECAUSE IT WILL
00:26:21KEEP ME UP AT NIGHT, HE WOULD BRIEFLY SERVE ABOARD THE HMS MERCURY.
00:26:26THIS IS HIS FIRST BRITISH VESSEL HE SERVED ABOARD.
00:26:29HE VOLUNTEERED AT THIS TIME TO
00:26:32SERVE ON THE MERCURY, AND HE DID SO AND WAS RATED AS AN ABLE SEAMAN, SO HE HAD THE TOP RATING
00:26:35OF THE LOWER DECK.
00:26:38SO THE CAPTAIN OF THIS VESSEL RECOGNIZED HIS MARITIME
00:26:42PROFICIENCY, HIS PAST SKILL SET, AND WANTED TO ACKNOWLEDGE HIM
00:26:44ACCORDINGLY. SO HE WAS GIVEN A GOOD BERTH ON
00:26:48THIS SHIP, A DECENT PAY, AND HAD A FAIRLY DECENT EXISTENCE, I
00:26:50WOULD GATHER.
00:26:53SO AFTER A VERY SHORT TIME ON THE MERCURY, JOHN THOMPSON WOULD
00:26:57VOLUNTEER, ONCE AGAIN VOLUNTEER TO JOIN THE HMS BELVIDERA, OUR
00:26:5936 GUN FRIGATE.
00:27:04AND HE WOULD SERVE ON THE BELVIDERA THROUGHOUT HER ENTIRE
00:27:08SERVICE ON THE WAR OF 1812'S NORTH AMERICAN STATION.
00:27:12SO THE VESSEL ARRIVED OVER HERE
00:27:13IN 1811 AND LEFT IN 1814.
00:27:18JOHN THOMPSON WAS ON THIS SHIP
00:27:24AS AN ABLE SEAMAN FOR EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE ENGAGEMENTS. SO PRIOR TO LEAVING GREAT
00:27:27BRITAIN, IT ENGAGED IN A BATTLE OF SILDA. THIS IS OFF THE COAST OF NORWAY,
00:27:30WHERE HE HELPED CAPTURE TWO PRIVATEERS, TWO DANISH PRIVATEERS, THE BALDUR AND THE
00:27:34THOR. SHE CAME ACROSS THE ATLANTIC
00:27:37CARRYING THE NEW ADMIRAL FOR THE NORTH AMERICAN STATION TO BERMUDA.
00:27:41THEY HUNTED FRENCH PRIVATEERS UP AND DOWN THE COAST.
00:27:45HE WAS ENGAGED IN THE FIRST
00:27:46ENGAGEMENT OF THE WAR OF 1812
00:27:50WHEN THE USS PRESIDENT WAS ATTACKING THE BELVEDERE AND SHE ESCAPED INTO HALIFAX.
00:27:54HE'D LATER PURSUE OLD IRONSIDES,
00:27:57THE USS CONSTITUTION, TRYING TO CAPTURE HER, AND THEN IN 1813,
00:28:01FEBRUARY OF 1813, HE WOULD LEAVE THE CHESAPEAKE AND COME TO THE
00:28:03DELAWARE BAY.
00:28:05WHERE HE WOULD BE A PART OF THE
00:28:09BLOCKADING FORCE AND LATER BE
00:28:15BEHIND THE GUNS FIRING TO 800 500 SHOTS ON THE COMMUNITY OF LEWIS.
00:28:21JOHN THOMPSON, AFTER RETURNING
00:28:27TO ENGLAND, BEING PAID OFF, SO HE RECEIVED HIS MONEY AND WAS FREE TO LEAVE THE BELVEDERE, WOULD BRIEFLY JOIN THE HMS
00:28:30PRINCE. ABOARD THE PRINCE, HE WAS
00:28:32PROMPTLY DISCHARGED.
00:28:36FROM THE ROYAL NAVY ON THE 3RD OF DECEMBER 1814, AND THE ONLY
00:28:40LINE OF THIS SAYS HE WAS
00:28:40UNSERVICEABLE.
00:28:45THE SURGEON'S LOGS, SURGEON'S
00:28:46JOURNALS PROVIDE A BIT MORE ON
00:28:53EACH VESSEL WAS REQUIRED TO KEEP ONE OF THESE.
00:28:57AT THIS POINT IN HIS LIFE, HE
00:28:59WAS DEEMED TO BROKEN OR WORN OUT.
00:29:03THEY GOT WHAT THEY NEEDED FROM HIM AND THREW HIM BACK IN SOCIETY AT THE RIPE OLD AGE OF
00:29:0738 YEARS OLD.
00:29:11JOHN THOMPSON COMPLETELY DISAPPEARS FROM THE HISTORICAL
00:29:13RECORD IN GREAT AND THE UNITED
00:29:17STATES, JUST LIKE THOUSANDS OF SAILORS THAT CAME BEFORE HIM AND WOULD COME AFTER HIM.
00:29:22OVER THE COURSE OF WRITING THIS
00:29:26BOOK, THIS IS A LONG TOUCH AND GO PROCESS, FIVE YEARS HERE AND THERE.
00:29:32OVER THE COURSE OF THIS, I BECOME INTIMATELY FAMILIAR WITH
00:29:34ALL OF THESE AMERICAN MEN THAT
00:29:39SERVED ON THE BELVEDERE AND REFERRED TO THEM AS SHIPMATES.
00:29:42THIS IS A TERM OF ENDEARMENT FOR
00:29:45PEOPLE YOU ARE WILLING TO GO TO
00:29:49WAR WITH. I REFER TO THEM IN THIS REGARD.
00:29:59THESE MEN OF THE BELVEDERE'S
00:30:02LOWER DECK ARE OFTEN LOST TO HISTORY, BUT AS I GOT TO KNOW THEM, I FELT IT MY OBLIGATION
00:30:05AND PRIVILEGE TO BRING THEIR
00:30:09STORIES TO LIFE, PROVIDE A SOCIAL HISTORY OF THESE MEN THAT
00:30:11WENT AMONG THE ENGLISH SAILORS, TO HELP US UNDERSTAND THE
00:30:15COMPLEXITY OF THE WAR OF 1812
00:30:16AND ADDRESS QUESTIONS OF
00:30:20NATIONAL AGENTS. THIS BOOK IS NOT HER STORY. REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR TIME TODAY.
00:30:24-- THIS BOOK IS THEIR STORY.
00:30:29REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR TIME TODAY. [APPLAUSE]
00:30:38>> THANK YOU FOR THAT RIVETING DISCUSSION.
00:30:42NOW, WE WILL PROCEED WITH OUR QUESTION-AND-ANSWER PERIOD.
00:30:45WE ASK IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND, AND WE
00:30:50HAVE MICROPHONES. WE HAVE ASSISTANTS WHO WILL COME
00:30:53AROUND AND ANSWER QUESTIONS FOR YOU, AND I ALSO ASKED, WHEN YOU
00:30:57ASK YOUR QUESTION, I KINDLY REQUEST IF YOU SPEAK LOUDLY INTO
00:31:01THE MICROPHONE SO ALL OF US CAN HEAR YOU AS WELL AS OUR FRIENDS
00:31:04VIA C-SPAN WHO WILL BE WATCHING THIS PRESENTATION LATER ON.
00:31:13>> THAT WAS VERY INTERESTING.
00:31:14HOW MANY OR WHAT PERCENTAGE
00:31:18WOULD YOU SAY OF THE TOTAL MEN ON BOARD THESE BRITISH SHIPS
00:31:24WERE FOREIGN PRESSMAN?
00:31:29ANDREW: GREAT QUESTION. BELVEDERE HAD A CREW OF 231 SAILORS.
00:31:33AROUND 37 OF THESE MEN, SO WE
00:31:38COULD SAY ON AVERAGE, 25% OF THE
00:31:40CREW HAS BEEN IMPRESSED.
00:31:42LARGELY, THESE MEN PRESSED TO
00:31:46SERVE ARE EITHER AMERICAN OR IRISH.
00:31:49THE IRISH WERE THE TARGET OF THE BRITISH THROUGHOUT THIS PERIOD.
00:31:51THEY WERE EASY TARGETS TO DRAG
00:31:54ON THEIR SHIP, LOOSELY CLAIM
00:31:59THEY ARE BRITISH CITIZENS. ALL THESE VESSELS BEFORE THEY
00:32:03CAME TO A STATION THAT THEY COULD BE AT WAR WITH.
00:32:07BEFORE THEY CAME TO THE NORTH
00:32:09AMERICAN STATION, CAPTAINS GAVE
00:32:12THEIR CREW THE OPTION TO BE
00:32:16TRANSFERRED TO ANOTHER VESSEL RATHER THAN SERVE AGAINST THEIR OWN COUNTRY. THE GUYS THAT STAYED REALLY WERE
00:32:19NOT BOTHERED BY FIGHTING AGAINST THEIR OWN NATION.
00:32:23THERE ARE SAILORS FEATURED IN THIS BOOK WHO ARE INVOLVED IN
00:32:27THE FIRST ENGAGEMENT AND THEN SAID, I CANNOT DO THIS.
00:32:31I NEED TO BE DISCHARGED.
00:32:32AND THEY BECAME PRISONERS OF
00:32:36WAR. YOU SEE A LARGE CONTINGENT OF AMERICAN MEN AND IRISH MEN
00:32:40PRESSED ALONG WITH BRITISH ABLE SEAMAN.
00:32:44I WOULD SAY ROUGHLY ABOUT A
00:32:46QUARTER OF THE SAILORS ON BOARD
00:32:48AN AVERAGE REDDISH VESSEL OF
00:32:52THIS SIZE WERE PRESSED.
00:32:56>> IT IS NOTED IN THAT DEPICTION
00:33:00THAT IT IS MULTIRACIAL.
00:33:03AS I UNDERSTAND IT, ENGLAND DID NOT GET RID OF SLAVERY UNTIL
00:33:071831. BEFORE THEN, WERE THESE MEN SLAVES ON BOARD?
00:33:12ANDREW: NEVER. >> WHERE THEY IMPRESSED? DID THEY VOLUNTEER?
00:33:20ANDREW: THE TRADE ITSELF WAS
00:33:22ABOLISHED PRIOR TO THAT, BUT
00:33:24DURING THE WAR OF 1812 AND DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION,
00:33:28DUNMORE'S PROCLAMATION DURING
00:33:30THE REVOLUTION -- LORD DUNMORE
00:33:33WAS THE ROYAL GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA. HE ISSUED A PROCLAMATION IN 1774
00:33:38ALLOWING ENSLAVED PEOPLE TO COME TO THE BRITISH SERVICE, AND THEY
00:33:41WOULD BE FREED AND GIVEN AN
00:33:44OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE THE CROWN, AND YOU SEE DROVES OF ENSLAVED
00:33:48INDIVIDUALS FLOCKING TO THE CHESAPEAKE AT THAT TIME.
00:33:53EARL BATHURST HAD A DECLARATION,
00:33:54BRITISH EARL, A SIMILAR SORT OF
00:33:57CHALLENGE, AND YOU SEE FORMERLY
00:34:01ENSLAVED PEOPLE EVEN ON THE DELAWARE BAY FLEEING, SEIZING
00:34:04THEIR OWN FREEDOM BY JOINING THE BRITISH NAVY.
00:34:08THEY ARE RATED ON BOARD THESE
00:34:15VESSELS JUST LIKE ANY OTHER SAILOR, ABLE SEEMEN -- ABLE
00:34:19SEAMEN.
00:34:23YOU DO NOT SEAMAN'S RACE REALLY DISCUSSED, EVEN AFRICAN-AMERICAN SAILORS.
00:34:30I NEVER KNEW THAT THERE WERE PEOPLE OF COLOR UNTIL I FOUND A
00:34:34PRISON RECORD THAT DESCRIBED THEM.
00:34:39YOUR SOURCE FOR THE CREW, THEY ARE LARGELY COLORBLIND AT THIS POINT.
00:34:43YOU ARE NOT GOING TO SEE ANYONE'S RACE. YOU'RE GOING TO SEE AMERICA,
00:34:47BALTIMORE. THAT'S IT. THAT'S ALL I HAVE. AS FAR AS INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
00:34:51SEARCHING FOR BRITISH VESSELS,
00:34:54YOU DO SEE SOME, BUT AGAIN, THESE FOLKS ARE NOT DESCRIBED IN
00:34:58DEPTH. THERE WAS A -- GOD, I CANNOT REMEMBER THE SHIP.
00:35:021794, THERE WAS A SERIES OF PAINTINGS.
00:35:05IF YOU LOOK ON THE SCREEN, YOU
00:35:07SEE -- YEAH, IT'S ON THE
00:35:10LEFT-HAND SIDE. THE FELLOW IN THE MIDDLE THERE.
00:35:14HE SERVED ON A BRITISH VESSEL,
00:35:16AND THAT PAINTING IS A MAN FROM
00:35:20VIRGINIA. HE IS DESCRIBED IN AMERICAN DOCUMENTS AS HAVING A YELLOW
00:35:23COMPLEXION, WHICH COULD MEAN A
00:35:26MILANO INDIVIDUAL -- WHICH COULD
00:35:30MEAN A MULATTO INDIVIDUAL,
00:35:35AFRICAN-AMERICAN. THERE'S HENCE LIKE THAT, BUT IT'S NOT REALLY BROADCAST
00:35:39ANYWHERE.
00:35:46>> COULD YOU BRIEFLY EXPLAIN THE REALITY OF HOW IMPRESSMENT
00:35:50WORKED AS OPPOSED TO THE IMAGE I HAVE IN MY MIND FROM MOVIES?
00:35:57ANDREW: OF COURSE. IMPRESSMENT 80% OF THE TIME
00:36:00HAPPENED AT SEA.
00:36:01LET'S SAY I'M ON A BRITISH PRESS TENDER.
00:36:04A SMALLER VESSEL DEPLOYED BY A
00:36:08BIGGER SHIP.
00:36:12I WILL SEE AN AMERICAN MERCHANT SHIP COMING BY, MAY BE SAILING
00:36:15INTO THE THAMES, AND I'M GOING
00:36:16TO STOP HER, AND I WILL DEPLOY A
00:36:21CREW OF 12 LOYAL SAILORS ONTO
00:36:25THIS AMERICAN VESSEL AND ASKED TO SEE THEIR PROTECTION CERTIFICATES.
00:36:32THEY DON'T HAVE ANY, THEY MUST BE RICH.
00:36:35I WILL BRING THEM TO A HOLD FOR LARGER TENDER IN LONDON AND PUT
00:36:39THEM ON ANOTHER VESSEL WHERE THEY ARE GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY TO VOLUNTEER.
00:36:43YOU VOLUNTEER, YOU WILL GET
00:36:47WAGES. YOU MIGHT GET A BONUS, AND YOU MIGHT BE ACKNOWLEDGED FOR YOUR
00:36:51EXPERIENCE AT SEA. IF YOU FIGHT THAT, YOU ARE A STUBBORN INDIVIDUAL.
00:36:55THEN YOU ARE PRESSED, AND YOU
00:36:57WILL BE INSULTED AS A LANDSMAN
00:37:02WITH NO MONEY, NO WAGES, BUT
00:37:04THESE LARGELY HAPPENED AT SEA.
00:37:08YOU DID HAVE THE IMPRESSED SURFACE ACT THAT ESTABLISHED 21
00:37:10PRESSING PORTS, SO I THINK MAJOR
00:37:14PORT CITIES, THIS ARRAY OF PORT
00:37:21CITIES WHERE YOU HAVE A
00:37:23RENDEZVOUS, SO THINK OF A TAVERN
00:37:26WHERE THEY WOULD HANG OUT AND TRY TO GET VOLUNTEERS, BUT WHEN THEY COULD NOT REACH THEIR
00:37:32QUOTAS, THEY COULD GO INTO SAID
00:37:33TAVERN AND FIND THEN THEY USED
00:37:36THE SEA, BUT IT'S NOT
00:37:41NECESSARILY BREAKING DOWN THE WALLS.
00:37:47IT WAS NORMALLY DONE AT SEA AND
00:37:50WAS JUST TARGETING PROFICIENCY.
00:37:54HERE WE GO.
00:38:00IT IS PROBLEMATIC, OF COURSE,
00:38:05WHEN YOU HAVE AN IMPRESSED WHO ALREADY HAVE PROTECTION
00:38:09CERTIFICATES AND THEY ARE LOST OR DISCARDED OR THEY HAVE COPIES
00:38:12AT CUSTOMS HOUSES, SO THEY CAN
00:38:15PROVE THAT THEY ACTUALLY HAVE ONE. LONG ANSWER. I APOLOGIZE.
00:38:22>> IF A BRITISH SHIP WAS CAPTURED BY THE AMERICANS, HOW
00:38:26WERE THE AMERICANS SERVING ON BOARD TREATED?
00:38:31ANDREW: THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
00:38:34OFTENTIMES, YOU WOULD SEE
00:38:38BRITISH VESSELS GETTING CAPTURED BY AMERICAN SHIPS. THESE MEN WOULD NORMALLY BE
00:38:43PRISONERS FOR A BRIEF TIME BUT THEN DISCHARGE AT A LOCAL PORT.
00:38:45IT WAS NOT WORTH THE TROUBLE, REALLY.
00:38:50AMERICAN VESSELS ARE NOT LOOKING TO DRIVE HOME A STRONG MESSAGE.
00:38:57IT IS ALL A MATTER OF HAVING
00:39:02ENOUGH BODIES TO CREW THESE SHIPS.
00:39:05THAT WAS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM BETWEEN BOTH SIDES.
00:39:08I HATE TO SAY IT, AMERICAN VESSELS PRESSED MEN, TOO.
00:39:13I HAVE A COLLEAGUE WHO IS WORKING ON A MASSIVE STUDY OF
00:39:16JACOB JONES, WHO WAS ONE OF
00:39:19LEWIS' HOMETOWN HEROES. GREAT HERO OF THE WAR OF 1812.
00:39:26HIS FAMOUS BATTLE WAS THE WASP AND FROLIC ENGAGEMENT.
00:39:29HE PRESSED MEN IN NORFOLK,
00:39:31VIRGINIA, TO JOIN HIS CREW.
00:39:34I FOUND THIS DOCUMENT LIKE, OH, NO, OUR HEROES, BUT IT'S
00:39:37EVERYWHERE, YOU KNOW?
00:39:41>> DURING YOUR RESEARCH, EITHER
00:39:43ON THIS SHIP OR ANOTHER, DID YOU COME ACROSS ANYBODY THAT WAS
00:39:47WITH EITHER THE MERCHANT MARINES
00:39:51AND/OR THE MERCENARIES?
00:39:54AND WHY OR WHY NOT? ANDREW: THE MERCHANT MARINE
00:39:58CONCEPT, JOHN THOMPSON WAS THAT. OUR MODERN-DAY MERCHANT SERVICE
00:40:01AS WE SEE IT TODAY JUST EVOLVED
00:40:05FROM MEN SERVING ON MERCHANT SHIPS, SO YOU SEE A LOT OF MEN
00:40:07WHO HAD MERCHANT SERVICE, YES.
00:40:11AS FAR AS MERCENARIES GO, I THINK YOU CAN CALL MOST OF THESE
00:40:14GUYS MERCENARIES.
00:40:17THEY WANT TO WORK IN THEIR
00:40:21VOCATION MORE THAN ANYTHING.
00:40:23THE PRIVILEGE TO HAVE AN OPINION ON WHAT FLAG HANGS ON THE
00:40:29QUARTERDECK DOES NOT SEEM TO CONCERN THE MUCH AS LONG AS THEY HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO SUPPORT
00:40:32THEMSELVES, SUPPORT THEIR FAMILIES, OR THEY ARE ABLE TO
00:40:37WORK IN THE ONLY VOCATION THEY HAVE EVER KNOWN, SO I THINK THE
00:40:41TERM MERCENARY COULD LOOSELY BE
00:40:43USED TWO KIND OF APPLY TO MOST OF THESE INDIVIDUALS.
00:40:47YOU HAVE SOME REALLY DEVOUT,
00:40:49PATRIOTIC FOLKS -- I'M TALKING
00:40:51TO PERCENT OF THESE SAILORS --
00:40:54AND YOU CAN TELL THROUGHOUT THEIR ENTIRE LIVES THAT THEY ARE STEADFASTLY DETERMINED TO FIGHT
00:40:59FOR THEIR COUNTRY, AND ONE OF THEM IS FEATURED IN THE BOOK.
00:41:02HE WAS PRESSED INTO THE ROYAL NAVY, AND THIS LIT A FIRE.
00:41:09>> YOU USE THE PHRASE "SEAMEN OF
00:41:16THE LOWER DECK" A COUPLE OF TIMES. FOR THOSE OF US UNFAMILIAR WITH
00:41:19WHAT SHIPS WERE LIKE IN THESE DAYS, COULD YOU GIVE US A FEEL
00:41:22FOR WHAT THE SHIPS WERE LIKE AND WHAT THE LIFE WAS LIKE?
00:41:26ANDREW: CERTAINLY. THE LOWER DECK -- LET ME FIND A
00:41:30PICTURE HERE.
00:41:32I CAN GET ONE OF THE BELVEDERE.
00:41:35YOU CAN SEE IT ON THE LEFT-HAND SIDE, IT IS BEING CHASED AWAY.
00:41:38WHEN YOU HEAR THE "LOWER DECK, THIS IS A TERM USED TO DESCRIBE
00:41:43YOUR AVERAGE SAILORS, NON-OFFICERS.
00:41:46YOU WILL OFTEN SEE THE TERM FOR
00:41:50CASTLEMAN OR FALK TILLMAN USED AS WELL.
00:41:57WHEN THAT SLEEP OR LIVE IN FRONT
00:41:58OF THE FOUR MASKED ARE -- OF THE
00:42:10FOREMAST ARE FORECASTLEMEN,
00:42:23FOXHOLEMEN. YOU MIGHT BE USED TO HELP HOLD LINES AND MEDIAL TASKS.
00:42:26YOU ARE AN ORDINARY SEE A MAN --
00:42:31SEAMAN.
00:42:37THE LOWER DECK WAS THE VAST MAJORITY OF THESE SAILORS, A
00:42:40QUICK GLIMPSE INTO THEIR LIVES. YOUR ENTIRE EXISTENCE REVOLVED
00:42:43AROUND YOUR WATCH.
00:42:46YOU ARE NORMALLY ON FOR ON, FOR
00:42:50OFF WATCH CYCLE, SO HALF THE
00:42:51CREW WOULD BE ASLEEP, THE OTHER HALF WORKING THE SHIP, SAILING
00:42:55THE VESSEL, AND WITHIN THOSE WATCHES, THEY ARE BROKEN UP INTO
00:42:59SMALLER MESSES, AND YOUR MESS IS
00:43:02NORMALLY ABOUT EIGHT MEN. THIS IS THE CREW THAT WILL SERVE
00:43:06THE GUN TOGETHER.
00:43:08THEY WILL HAVE HAMMOCKS IN A SIMILAR LOCATION.
00:43:10THEY WILL EAT EVERY MEAL TOGETHER. THEY WILL OFTEN TRAVEL FROM SHIP
00:43:14TO SHIP TOGETHER. THAT IS NOT UNCOMMON.
00:43:18WE HAVE THREE PRESSED MEN, CURIOUSLY.
00:43:24ALL NEW YORKERS. THREE OF THEM HAVE BEEN ON THREE
00:43:28DIFFERENT VESSELS TOGETHER, SO THESE FELLOWS -- I WAS ABLE TO FIND WHERE THEY LIVED IN NEW
00:43:32YORK. THEY WORK IN THE MERCHANT
00:43:35SERVICE TOGETHER AND TRAVELED TO DIFFERENT SHIPS TOGETHER.
00:43:38THEY HAVE THAT TYPE -- TYPE
00:43:43BOND. THAT REALLY DROVE THESE
00:43:46LOYALTIES MORE THAN ANYTHING. THE MODERN SAYING, AND I BRING
00:43:48IT UP HERE, IS SHIP, SHIPMATE,
00:43:53SELF PEER YOUR LOYALTY AND DEVOTION IS TO YOUR VESSEL,
00:43:56ENSURING THE SAFETY, NEXT TO YOUR SHIPMATE, AND LAST,
00:44:01YOURSELF, AND THAT IS HOW THESE MEN REALLY APPLIED EVEN IN THE 18TH AND 19TH CENTURY.
00:44:05YES? >> I'M CURIOUS ABOUT YOUR
00:44:09SERVICE OR YOUR TIME ABOARD THE SHIP.
00:44:12OBVIOUSLY, IT WAS A LEARNING
00:44:16EXPERIENCE. DID YOU HAVE TO MAKE A CONTRIBUTION TO DO THAT OR WERE YOU PAID DURING THAT TIME?
00:44:21ANDREW: THIS WHEN I WAS ABLE TO SERVE AS A BOATSWAIN'S MATE.
00:44:25I WAS ABLE TO WORK IN A CAPACITY ASSISTING THE SHIP.
00:44:29THIS WAS NOT WHAT I HAD TO PAY FOR. YOU HAVE GUESSED CREW
00:44:31OPPORTUNITIES WHERE YOU CAN PAY. YOU HAVE SOME VOYAGES WHERE YOU
00:44:35CAN GET PAID, AND LARGELY ON TALL SHIPS TODAY, YOU ARE A
00:44:39VOLUNTEER.
00:44:42YOUR TIGHT CREW, YOUR TIGHT OFFICER CORPS, THESE FOLKS ARE
00:44:44NORMALLY PAID FOLKS, BUT THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE CREW IS
00:44:48VOLUNTEERING TO BE THERE AND IN DOING SO WILL FOLLOW A TRAINING
00:44:51REGIME, AND I VOLUNTEERED TO DIP
00:44:55MY TOE INTO THIS WORLD, BUT IT
00:44:59WAS A REALLY NEAT PROGRAM, PART OF THE SAILING TRUST OUT OF
00:45:03BRITAIN AND ALSO IN NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA WHERE THEY HELPED
00:45:08TEACH DISABLED FOLKS HOW TO SAIL
00:45:11, AND THEY WERE SET UP SO PEOPLE WOULD HAVE THAT EXPERIENCE WHO
00:45:14NORMALLY WOULD NOT, HENCE MY
00:45:17CROATIAN SHIPMATE HAVING THAT EXPERIENCE AS A CREW MEMBER.
00:45:20IT WAS PRETTY AMAZING. HE WAS A PRODUCT OF THIS PROGRAM.
00:45:26GRIFFIN, WELCOME HOME. GREAT SEEING YOU.
00:45:31>> YOU TALK ABOUT THE FRATERNAL
00:45:32CULTURE ON VESSELS AND HOW
00:45:35PEOPLE OF THE CN PEOPLE OF THE
00:45:37BOAT AND PEOPLE OF THE NATION LESS SO.
00:45:41WHEN WOULD YOU ARGUE THAT BEGINS TO APPEAR WITHIN THE CULTURE OF
00:45:45SAILING? IS THAT AN OLD IDEA THAT HAS
00:45:49CARRIED ON INTO THE MODERN DAY
00:45:52IN THIS SENSE OR SOMETHING DEVELOPING WITHIN THIS COLONIAL
00:45:561700S ERA?
00:45:59ANDREW: GREAT QUESTION.
00:46:00I THINK YOU SEE IN THIS 18TH
00:46:05CENTURY, 19TH CENTURY AS NAVIES START TO FORMALIZE A LITTLE MORE.
00:46:08IN THIS COUNTRY, OUR MARITIME TRADE HAS BEEN THE FOUNDATION OF
00:46:13THIS COUNTRY SINCE ITS INCEPTION, SO YOU DO HAVE A
00:46:16DISTINCT, SHARED CULTURE AMONGST SEAFARERS, THAT SEAFARING
00:46:20FRATERNITY I TALKED ABOUT,
00:46:21LOOKING AT A LEVEL OF RESPECT
00:46:25FOR FOLKS THAT WORK IN A SIMILAR
00:46:27VOCATION, YOU KNOW, THE MODERN
00:46:30RING KNOCKER, IDIOM OF ACADEMY
00:46:33GRADS, HAVE A BOND AMONGST ONE ANOTHER.
00:46:38YOU SEE THAT KIND OF THROUGH LINE DOES NOT MATTER WHAT NATION YOU ARE SERVING WITH.
00:46:43THERE'S A LEVEL OF RESPECT AND UNDERSTANDING.
00:46:44I THINK SAILING LARGELY AT THIS
00:46:48TIME IS AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE. I CANNOT REMEMBER THE NAME OF
00:46:51THE SAILOR, BUT HE TALKED ABOUT
00:46:53JUST ALL OF THE DIVERSE
00:46:58LANGUAGES SPOKEN ON THE LOWER
00:46:58DECK AND HOW YOU COULD
00:47:04UNDERSTAND SOME SAILORS, AND
00:47:07SOME SPOKE ONLY IRISH GAELIC, SOME ONLY SPANISH, BUT THEIR
00:47:10COMMON LANGUAGE WAS THE FUNCTION OF SAILING A SHIP AND THEY HAD
00:47:13THAT LEVEL OF RESPECT, SO KIND OF AN INCLUSIVE FRATERNITY OF
00:47:17FELLOW SAILORS.
00:47:24I DO KNOW THAT ANSWERED, BUT I HOPE.
00:47:28>> LIKE THERE'S THREE PEOPLE -- EDWARDS, GIBSON, CHAMBERLAIN,
00:47:32SAILED ON MANY BRITISH SHIPS BUT
00:47:34WERE FROM NEW YORK.
00:47:37WERE THEY ABLE AT THE END OF
00:47:39THEIR LIVES FOR THE END OF THEIR
00:47:44SEAFARING DAYS TO COME BACK TO THE UNITED STATES AND PICK UP THEIR CITIZENSHIP OR WERE THERE ANY QUESTIONS?
00:47:49ANDREW: YEAH, THEY WERE.
00:47:51THEY HAD NO PROBLEMS DOING THAT. YOU WOULD THINK THEY WOULD BE
00:47:55BRANDED ANY OTHER TIME AS A TRAITOR, BUT THE LINES BETWEEN
00:47:58SERVICES WERE SO THIN, AND SO
00:48:02MANY SAILORS HOPPED ABOARD
00:48:05DIFFERENT VESSELS AND DIFFERENT
00:48:07NATIONS' FLAGS, ANOTHER FELLOW WHO IS FEATURED IN THE BOOK,
00:48:11ELIAS HUTCHINS, FROM MODERN-DAY KENNEBUNKPORT IN MAINE.
00:48:15HE SERVED OVER THE COURSE OF HIS
00:48:18LIFE ON 48 DIFFERENT SHIPS.
00:48:19HE WAS IN THE BRITISH NAVY,
00:48:22UNITED STATES NAVY, PART -- PRIVATEERS, MERCHANT SHIPS, AND
00:48:26HE WENT BACK HOME AFTER ALL OF THIS.
00:48:28EVERYBODY THOUGHT HE WAS DEAD. HIS MOTHER DID NOT RECOGNIZE HIM.
00:48:32HE DID NOT HAVE A DOLLAR TO HIS NAME, BUT HE WAS ABLE TO COME
00:48:36BACK HOME AFTER ALL OF THAT. I DON'T KNOW IF IT NECESSARILY
00:48:38GET LOST IN THE WEEDS, BUT THESE
00:48:41PEOPLE ARE THE LOWER SORT, THE
00:48:45LABORING PEOPLE, NOT REALLY THE
00:48:46TARGET OF A FEDERAL AGENDA TO
00:48:52EXCLUDE FROM RETURNING AND RE-ACCLIMATING TO SOCIETY
00:48:54FOLLOWING THE WAR.
00:49:00>> THANK YOU.
00:49:08I JUST WANTED TO TAKE AN
00:49:11OPPORTUNITY TO THANK YOU ALL FOR ATTENDING THIS MORNING AND FOR
00:49:15YOUR VERY INSIGHTFUL QUESTIONS.
00:49:17IF YOU HAVE A MOMENT, WE REQUEST THAT YOU PLEASE TAKE OUR SURVEY.
00:49:21YOU CAN FIND THE SURVEY ELECTRONICALLY IN THE PROGRAM
00:49:25GUIDE IF YOU FOLLOW THE QR CODE
00:49:27OR THERE IS ACTUALLY A PAPER INSERT THAT YOU CAN FILL OUT AND
00:49:31HAND IT IN AS YOU EXIT.
00:49:33ANDREW WILL KINDLY SIGN BOOKS.
00:49:37PLEASE SUPPORT OUR LOCAL BOOKSTORES.
00:49:44COPIES OF HIS BOOK AND OTHERS ARE AVAILABLE OUTSIDE IN THE
00:49:47HALLWAY WHICH, AGAIN, ANDREW BE SIGNING MOMENTARILY.
00:49:51PLEASE JOIN US AT 10:34 OUR NEXT SESSION BETWEEN JOSEPH WITH HIS
00:49:54BOOK "NOTHING MORE OF THIS LAND:
00:49:58COMMUNITY, POWER, AND THE SEARCH FOR INDIGENOUS IDENTITY.
00:50:01PLEASE REMEMBER TO TAKE ALL OF YOUR BELONGINGS WHEN YOU EXIT
00:50:04AND DISPOSE OF YOUR TRASH. PLEASE JOIN ME IN THANKING
00:50:08ANDREW FOR HIS VERY INSIGHTFUL PRESENTATION.
00:50:12>> FRIDAY, A BIPARTISAN DISCUSSION ON THE MIDTERM
00:50:15ELECTIONS FEATURING FORMER
00:50:19COLORADO DEMOCRATIC SENATOR TIM WIRTH AND OR CONNECTICUT REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN CHRIS
00:50:22SHAYS, JOINED BY DASHA BURNS.
00:50:27THEY WILL ALSO DISCUSS THE CURRENT STATE OF CONGRESS AND
00:50:29THE IMPACT OF MONEY IN POLITICS. WATCH FRIDAY AT 7:00 P.M. AND
00:50:3410:00 P.M. EASTERN AND PACIFIC ONLY ON C-SPAN.
00:50:42>> WATCH "AMERICA'S BOOK CLUB,"
00:50:45C-SPAN'S BOLD, ORIGINAL SERIES
00:50:47SUNDAY WITH OUR GUEST, NATIONAL JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR, LOIS ROMANO.
00:50:52HER BEST-SELLING BOOK ON MARY TODD LINCOLN REVEALS THE LIFE OF
00:50:56A FIRST LADY WHO NAVIGATED PERSONAL TURMOIL AND PUBLIC SCRUTINY DURING ONE OF THE MOST
00:51:00CONSEQUENTIAL MOMENTS IN U.S. HISTORY.
00:51:03LOIS ROMANO SERVED AS AN EDITOR,
00:51:05COLUMNIST, AND REPORTER FOR "THE
00:51:08WASHINGTON POST" AND POLITICO
00:51:10AND IS BEST KNOWN FOR HER IN-DEPTH COVERAGE OF AMERICAN POLITICAL CULTURE.
00:51:16SHE JOINS OUR HOST, RENOWNED AUTHOR AND CIVIC THEATER DAVID
00:51:19RUBENSTEIN AT THE HISTORIC
00:51:23FORD'S THEATRE IN WASHINGTON, D.C., FOR A LIVELY DISCUSSION ABOUT MISCONCEPTIONS OF MARY
00:51:28TODD LINCOLN AND THE PRESIDENCY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. DAVID: YOU DECIDED TO WRITE A
00:51:31BOOK ABOUT MARY TODD LINCOLN. WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO WRITE A
00:51:36BOOK, AND WHAT WAS YOUR CONCERN ABOUT HER REPUTATION THAT LED
00:51:38YOU TO WRITE THIS BOOK?
00:51:41>> HER BIOGRAPHY WAS NOT WELL-ROUNDED.
00:51:44SHE WAS JUDGED BY SOME OF HER FLAWS, AND NO ONE SHOULD BE
00:51:49JUDGED BY ONLY HER FLAWS. FROM THE BEGINNING, I FELT SUCH
00:51:52COMPASSION, AND BY THE END, I
00:51:56JUST FELT SO DEEPLY FOR HER. DURING THE COU H