Explore Our Nation's Past
Discover the people and events that help document the American story.
Programming Note
American History TV will kick off the holiday weekend with an additional full day of programming on Friday. Tune in on C-SPAN3.
Declaration of Independence Global LegacyWatch it: 10 am ET Saturday |
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The Smithsonian Associates hosts University of Maryland history professor Richard Bell, who talks about the Declaration of Independence — its origins, purpose, and global significance during and after the American Revolution. |
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| “On its own, Congress' proclamation could not make the colonies free and independent. But maybe with France's help, they could. This is why the delegates had their declaration translated into French immediately. It's why they sent copies addressed to King Louis XVI of France and King Carlos (III) of Spain on the first ship bound for Europe four days later on July the eighth. It's why they have them published in European newspapers.” —RICHARD BELL
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Museum of the American Revolution on American Artifacts®Watch it: 6 pm and 10 pm ET Sunday |
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American History TV toured the galleries in Philadelphia's Museum of the American Revolution in 2017, the year it opened. Director of Collections Scott Stephenson uses artifacts and interactive exhibits to tell the story of the Revolution from 1760 protests in Boston to the opening shots at Lexington and Concord, and from the signing of the Declaration of Independence to the suffering at Valley Forge. President and CEO Michael Quinn also talks about the museum's history and design, and shows us what he calls the museum's crown jewel: George Washington's camp tent.
 “Fresh Colors” (1970)
on Reel America®
Watch it: 10 pm ET Saturday and 4 pm ET Sunday
Czech political refugee and animator Paul Fierlinger's first job upon arriving in the United States was to create a U.S. Information Agency film about the American flag. Using his own narration, animation and archival footage, the filmmaker honors his new country and laments the Soviet crushing of a 1968 student uprising in his homeland. Mr. Fierlinger went on to receive an Academy Award and has created animations for several PBS programs, including Sesame Street.
 1960 Lunch Counter Sit-Ins
Watch it: 7 pm ET Friday
In 1960, four African American students sat down at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, launching a civil rights movement that would spread to other cities throughout the country. University of Massachusetts, Amherst professor Traci Parker joined American History TV and Washington Journal to take viewer questions about protests against desegregation during that time. She's the author of Department Stores and the Black Freedom Movement: Workers, Consumers, and Civil Rights from the 1930s to the 1980s.
Watch American History TV in Prime TimeJoin us next week as we air the final programs in the C-SPAN series First Ladies: Influence and Image. Tune in each night at 8 pm ET on C-SPAN3. Monday — Lady Bird Johnson and Pat Nixon
Tuesday — Betty Ford and Rosalynn Carter
Wednesday — Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush
Wednesday — Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush
Friday — Michelle Obama
Learn more about the series here, including where to buy the series' accompanying book, First Ladies: Presidential Historians on the Lives of 45 Iconic American Women.
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