And Megan Phelps Roper recounts growing up as a member of the Westboro Baptist church. Watch our live coverage of the wisconsin book festival today starting at 11 30 a. M. Eastern. And be sure to catch the texas book festival in october and the Miami Book Fair in november on booktv on cspan2. Coming up in the next hour we will speak with local authors about the citys history and learn how it came to be known as a glass capital of the world. Later the toledo van band crash of 1931. We begin our special feature with the citys mayor. I think places like toledo are often taken for granted there is a such wonderful history here. They had built things. The first big break that this region got was when the glass pioneers moved from the east coast primarily boston. Drawn by rich reservoir natural gas. Brought his Glass Company to toledo and opened a plant on ash street in north toledo. Its on the same site today. The glass industry was big and important into in toledo once did that. As the economy changed and things evolved we started building other things also. About a hundred 20 years ago. They very quickly started doing that. The largest employer for a number of years they built and created and then built the worlds first suv. When they were looking for the vehicle that eisenhower that they felt they needed to switch the rocky roads. One the contract and created something that we now know as the jeep. That was the first author road vehicle ever. Its an important part of our history. Now, manufacturing is so crucial but we had diversified into healthcare and some other fields that are more white collar protectives. Frankly we should market ourselves as the water belt toledo and other cities in the great lake regions are sitting on 20 of the fresh water on planter earth. It is located in our back yard of the great lakes. If this region can hang on and look for creative ways to invent itself by the end of the century when water is a desperately sought commodity scarce not only in this country but across the globe. It wont be a bad thing. We can see a real growth that can kind of turn the tables and tilt the scales in our direction. Toledo ohio is known as the glass capital of the world. We learn about edward libby and his role in turning toledo into the glass city. The city of toledo has been called the glass capital of the world its referred to as the glass city and that is because of the influence of four major corporations all producing some aspect of glass. And that has been the case since 1888 when they brought the first Glass Factory to toledo. In 1868 scott who also owned much of what is downtown toledo he was a Real Estate Broker wrote an article for a magazine called hunt merchant magazine. It is the future great city of the world. This was really struggling. They have been founded in 1837. The state of ohio was created in 1803. There was like a 30 year time where nothing was going on. It was kind of an arrested development thing. So, scott came in and bought up lots of the real estate it was pretty cheap. And he decided he was cannot write this article which would define where the next future great city of the world would be located. It would be bigger than london and rome and new york. As can be it was can be the biggest city ever. Im not surprisingly mr. Scott decided that the future great city of the world was going to be toledo ohio where he just happened to own a great deal of real estate. They started looking for what is that magic bullet. What is that thing which is going to take the city. Which is struggling and make it the biggest city in the world. So in 1887. They found natural gas just south of toledo near finley ohio. And that was the way they said this is our destiny this cheap very available form of energy is gonna be the way we form our future. Businessman set up a Committee Call that toledo businessmans committee. And they started advertising this to all kinds of industries around the country. Kinda like an Economic Development proposal campaign. They targeted Glass Companies because glass requires a huge amount of energy you have to meld it 2400 degrees to make it malleable. So glass seem to be the kind of industry that could make use of this natural gas. They sent out promotional brochures. They contacted the glass industries. And one of the factories that they contacted was that new england Glass Company. And that company was owned and operated by a man named edward libby. He inherited at the company from his father and 1880s. Among other things really the brilliantly colored glass they have that color glass called amber arena. It was interesting because it was kind of gold and then slowly turned to bright red. So the bottom of the vessel that was really popular with the consumer they made tumblers. They made highend glassware products. In 1888 the businessman committee approached mister libby with this incredible offer. At a time when his company was struggling to try to deal with the class of energy. And his workers. And they said we will give you money we will give you land. You bring your company to toledo ohio. We welcome you with open arms. They closed the factory in cambridge loaded up the workers and all of its equipment. And came to toledo in august of 1888. And then things didnt go well. The Company Really struggled in the first couple years. Glass depends upon a recipe it wasnt working in the system in toledo. They were struggling with quality issues. They were also struggling because the workers who lived near boston were suddenly stuck in this backwards town of toledo ohio with none of the culture and the things that they were used too. They got into some disagreements. It was really struggling. While the company was struggling he got this great idea that he is going to open the exposition at the world columbian exposition. Has board of directors at that this was the craziest thing and the world. The company was in debt at time. But they thought if there was success this would make a national browned for libby glass. And this would be the thing that propelled the company forward. And millions of people came to the fair. Many people went through the exhibit hall it was a brilliant marketing scheme. That exposition saved the glass. And made international brand. And libby came out of there with a hundred thousand dollars in products. That brought him back to toledo. And kind of cemented the company here and security here where as if it have failed he might have gone right bankrupt. I think that was really the thing that began to identify toledo as the glass capital of the world. It was the thing that saved libbys company. It set in motion a hold series of things that would lead to three other corporations with the roots in the company. First of all he have to replace the workers. There are a destiny did happen. Mister libby met a young man who have been working in the glass industry since he was ten years old. His name was Michael Owens. He have started out as at ten they worked two shifts a day. This was a life of the child worker in the glass industry at the time. He knew glass from the bottom up. He was a difficult person to get along with but he was very demanding so he offered to become superintendent of mister libbys factory in toledo. By his real interest was in automating ways to make bottles because the bottle industry which was what he is most familiar with with very laborintensive working in the hot unsafe conditions to make bottles. That one skilled glass blower. They would pick up at the glass on the blowpipe. The boy would stand at the bottom and put a mold around the hot molten glass and then the glassblower would blow into the mold and the boy would have to open up the mold. It was incredibly laborintensive. At that time its estimated that 24 of the employees in the bottle making industry were children. Almost a quarter of the people working were children. And these commissions or abominable. There was little chance to move up in the hierarchy of the industry. How it dash like having it known that life was very committed to trying to figure out how to automate the bottle so that these young boys didnt have to have this kind of life. And so, libby took some of the profits from exposition and gave it to owens. And exclusive Michael Owens was given his own company go forward. Work on this and automation. In design new technologies that will change the way glass is produced. Thats what mr. Owens did. The two of them teamed up to produce automatic bottle machine which is called the biggest improvement in the production of glass in 2000 years once they started making flat glass once they began experimenting with fibers of a glass in the 1930s and it spun off as corning. They shaped the city in ways that will always be a part of who we are. I say that toledo never succeeded. We all recognized that. Its a good joke. In some ways that vision of justice scott. In it is a perfect situated geography. They did fulfill that. The toledo war was an interesting boundary dispute between ohio and michigan. It really involved surveying the problem. Because there was different surveys as to where the Boundary Line would be. Would it be north of toledo or south of toledo obviously, michigan wanted to claimant south of toledo. The reason why it was such a prize in both states wanted it is if you think about the geographic location of it it was at the very western end of the lake and was the confluence that was here. The largest contributory. Toledo was seen strategically and economically. That was the genesis of this thing. And it percolated. It came into a crescendo. When michigan was there. What happened was that michigan got a little bit more aggressive and decided that we are going to start arresting people if they try to do anything and claim that it is in ohio. Has a formal militia as well. Thats when they decided we need to get the federal government to step in. We dont really want anyone to get hurt here. What happened was Andrew Jackson was president at the time. Never member this is an 1835. Injured jackson was looking for reelection. A while ohio had votes. It have none. So guess who won. Ohio was eventually given to toledo. This would have been in michigan had it not been 1835. We would have been sitting in michigan. But as it turned out ohio was given toledo in michigan was given the peninsula. It really wasnt over at that point. In fact, the ohio michigan war which really began and took place in 1835 and 36. It really wasnt settled until 1973. The reason for that was the boundary happened with the boundary of lake erie. As they eventually decided they took the Supreme Court to do. In 1973 they decided that it actually curbed. There is a little tiny island. It had been half of michigan and half in ohio. That is a story anyway. Fort my anise was built in 1794 by british troops in what was then considered the northwest territory. When people hear in a combination of him. His name is everywhere. We ride his big highway into the city. If you stopped people what did he do. The only thing they probably can say was that he was mad. Thats kind of my inspiration to begin writing this book into bring those in a way that they havent done before. Anthony wayne was born in pennsylvania. He joined the American Revolution for politicians. And then in 1775. He joined the controversial army. Hes enthusiastic isnt he. He was there. He fought at the washington site. As a general he have to learn to be a general. Most men had absolutely no experience and more. In more. The only thing they knew about war is what Julius Caesar has done. If we do this and do that it will be just like caesar. We will beat the british and it never quite worked. It came to attention. Almost never lost its cool. Washington needed a lot. Hit a complete physical and mental breakdown there. He kinda have a kind have a ruined life after that. He have a plantation in georgia. That was a failure almost bankrupted his family. Complete disgrace have been thrown out of congress for having his friends a stuffed ballot boxes. And this was 1791. His life was ruined his family no longer felt anything for him. He was desperate for a general. Against the wishes of the cabinet. See mac we had one of the 13 original colonies on the atlantic. With the appellations to the mississippi river. The indians had signed for major treaties allowing the americans to cross the ohio americans would settle for this. The indians would remain to the north. George washington said if we dont cross the appellations. If we dont Start Building a nation with opportunity especially economic opportunity. How will we ever survive. We are not surrounded by the british. His plan was simple. We will cross the mountains and negotiate with the indians. We recognize that we own the land. Not just once but every year. We will set up a trading post. And eventually we will be one happy people. The United States of america. I did not sign any of these treaties. And puts together this massive confederate session. He told washingtons administration you sent your young men. And they were able to defeat to armies. He does not give up on his policy. He will hold it in check. And if they failed that army has to move against them. He has a list of the 16 generals who were still aligned from the American Revolution. These men are all sick, old and tired. He could not remember anything that he have done on the battlefield. The mutiny of his men. Taking two mini chances in virginia. Wayne is a womanizer. He drinks too much. Hes sick. He is lost hes lost almost all of his money. You need a gentleman pick lee pick me. They have to go through its own mind. He was devoted to me. He wrote me letters before every battle cheering me on when i lost. We are going to win. He has been advocating for me to be president of the United States. He wrote letters to everyone we need a washington ive got that. And he also said he loves his country. With a combination of things. Also wanting the job and begging for that. They ignored the cabinet. He was given a job in the spring of 1772. He is told we are going to give you 5,000 soldiers the Previous Army had been slaughtered he was told you must train these men coming your way. All of the offices of the army are pretty much dead. You must raise up the officers and he sent it first outside pittsburgh. Finally he sent north. About a 120 miles north. He is been told train your men perfectly in this new strange organization henry knox came up with. Gifted train for separate armies. If washington says go, you go and when. But you cant to be so aggressive in your training that you frighten the indians. He waits until from the spring of 1792. He is now ordered finally appear until the spring of 17. The battle comes apart with the battle. He even offers the ohio river. They still say no, that is some great hostility. Stay out of our country forever. What really sets him off is this place. When he still negotiates with the indians. They come here and they build fort miamis here. The remnant of their forte. They come down here. I mean they will protect detroit. They are coming down here to arm the indians. All right. Negotiations have failed. Anthony wayne take your army and begin marching. And dont go towards kick younger. Somewhere between greenville and the fort. And you must win. You have to win decisively. And keep marching to that fort. He was given quite an assignment. Wayne it keeps sending out a runner. Come and make a deal. We dont have to fight. And finally they are marching all the way appear. Its only a few miles. They get up to the bluff about 4 miles from here. And they see the gorgeous rapids down to the river. And a young kid is the aide to wayne rides up to wayne and says i think you can get so excited. Youre gonna forget to going to forget to give me the orders. Its the old saying from the American Revolution. In that very moment i shot rings out. A thousand lawyers had lined up about half a mile. And wayne was astounded. He panicked at first he trained his men at the first sign of attack a lineup parallel to the army and they had lined up across the halfmile front. The battle did not last long. The indians came first on the american right and left. And they tried up the middle. They push the indians back through the Fallen Timbers from a tornado and push them back all the way back to fort mega sis. The indians flood the battlefield. And they run to the fort. It will allow them to come into the fort and instead of close the doors they close the door. And they say we dont have any problems with the United States of america. The aftermath of the battle is at least half a year. He doesnt think he has succeeded. He goes back to fort defiance. It was the capital of Little Turtles confederation. The anxiety is almost overwhelming. You know everything hes feeling. His walking back and forth saying i can do this again. I cant face another enemy. We beat them once and we will never beat them again, where are they. Finally blue jacket he is the true leader and little Little Turtle doesnt run this battle. He comes into fort greenville and says its over, you had one. We have turned our backs on the british. We can accept the line. We will be on the other side. We will trade with you. The fighting is over. In the summer of 1795. He negotiates this treaty at greenville. For wayne that was his victory. Ive got to bring peace and ive got to get my people to cello dash mike settle across the ohio. He thought also. There would be peace with the indians. What does it do for us in america it kicks open the door. Across the ohio river. The poorest of the poor. They come up from the virginia many people in virginia finally free the slaves and africanamericans come and live along the western part of the state. Poor southerners come from the back come dash my country. It is the beginning of this huge migration. What he has one is really ten years of peace. And in ten years ohio will enter the union Union America will start looking west but in ten years the last young man who runs away from that battlefield. He says were to try again. Working to put together the biggest confederation of history. In 1805 who is can have to defeat him. William henry harrison. Ten years of peace before the war of 1812. Its finally settled this country belongs to america in the british let go and the indians let go. Hes giving us time to build our nation. There is still at the commander of the army finally, its november and december. He wants to cut across the lake. Get back to pittsburgh. That would be his headquarters and he says he had been a surveyor in his youth. There is a giant triangle between pittsburgh, cincinnati and detroit. If anything goes wrong my nation needs me. He thought he would be general for at least another year. Coming across the lake he gets an attack of gout. He has been suffering from malaria and all kinds of diseases. The gout goes through him and he dies in december 1796 what is interesting is again its not like the nation says oh how sad we are. Anthony wayne in many ways was the path in the revolution. He opened the door to the left but it will all be forgotten in the coming battle first of the war of 1812. And the out west. It is can it take gonna take a while to remember that this country was hardfought. And we did not when it inevitably. See back they used to be that side of the plant. The part manufactures that were located here. The significance of why this part is here. Is that this part represents a crescendo in the great labor movement. In 1934 what happened was there was a strike a lot of the unions were trying to organize and get resolutions. A part of the afl. And a thousand workers went on strike. They want to better better wages and working conditions. This is set in the middle of the depression. So we had thousands and thousands maybe one out of three workers out at work in the city. There is a lot of tension and pressure. Back in those days because there was no union there was nothing to stop that. Except the strikers themselves. They would come out and in this case but with the other plant they would amass at the gates and they would try to stop the strike lakers from going in. We have some very difficult and tense days. And then, it kept getting worse. The strike lingered on and it started in april of 1934 and lingered on while intimate. Towards the end of may i got to the point and without getting too deep into the weeds of who did what thousands of people turned out here to join and sympathy with the striker. Thousands, thousands of Unemployed People turned out on the street to basically protest into battle the police that were sent here in the political piece. They were in sympathy with the strikers. Many of them involved with the factory. Did not want the police there. Finally the National Guard was called in. They have to call them and in from other parts of the state. To try to keep the calm here. It was very difficult. There was an incredible amount of violence going on. There was vomit bombs. For three days this continued. They 2000 people that came out here. They got another 2000. As many as six to 10,000 people showed up. It became a scene of mass confusion it was very difficult and finally the National Guard was given orders. They open on the strikers. Two people were killed. In that gunfire and as many as 15 or wounded minimart hundreds that were injured in the mainly that ensued. They were able to team down the violence and the tensions that have ensued. The violence of that day and believe it was may 25 of 1934. Sort of stopped everybody in their tracks. There has to be a better way. Eventually, the plant recognized that. And eventually they got the bargaining rights. They recognized the union and it was a win for the labor movement. Thats what this represented. This is probably one of the most important strikes in labor Union History in america because it really opened the door. To begin unionizing. A great strike against chevrolet. This have a significant impact. On the power and the strength of labor unions. And what happened here. Join us the first and third weekend of each month as we take a book tv and American History tv on the road. Follow us on twitter. Exploring the american story see make the cities to her is in toledo ohio. There is so much meant dash myth and mystery. The history books all say that it was the man who took it out. They came up with a slogan for him. The First Official president ial Campaign Slogan of the day. They have a lot of variety. When they were considered. It was around chillicothe ohio. They were here in 1974. As a result of that battle. The greenville treaty was signed. They ended up giving away to the americans. Ironically the northwest corner. They did not sign the treaty. And about a dozen other tribes. They did not believe in the sale of land. Other tribes were selling huge blocks of what became in indiana. When he thought they didnt have the authority to do so. That is when he started building this coalition and through those years until 1813 he had been successful. To take up this fight. We are currently standing in the middle of fort knight. It was built in the winter of 1813. This time it was in the context of the war of 1812. They were being held by henry proctor. They made it to attacks on this fortress. After the second attempt they went over to about 40 miles south of here. There was a small fortress there called fort stevenson. And they shouldve easily taken that fortress from us. There were only two there. And we only had one cannon. Even other were probably 1500 british and Indian Forces together. They kind of have to hang their heads and go back to their base. This is to come see him proctor to what was called fort malden. In canada which today is just south of windsor ontario. They were in full retreat. I kind of runs parallel. It took five days at but harrison finally caught up with them. That is where the battle took place. We dont know for sure weve a hundred 50 different versions of what happened. He certainly was killed. They commented along the way. Three weeks later he shut up. You have to understand that there were only harrison had met with them a few times over the years. To try to reflect with them. When they were younger. The key person that was a guy named anthony shane. He was kidnapped by the indians. When he was young they were best friends as teenagers they brought alongside each other at the battle of Fallen Timbers. And worked as an interpreter. With the americans for a long time. When they were killed. They were called on him and harrison. Most of these reports say that we pointed out that body. And the conflict then becomes that that body he pointed out was shot. He was my wearing blue ligands. Whatever the case may be all of these reports. Even where they were located on the battlefield change. Its kind of a study in human psychology really because some of the people looking at it with different interpretations. The ultimate significance of it is that the Indian Coalition died with him no one came up or stepped up to take his place in the tribes dissipated. They started arguing amongst themselves again. Lets just acquiesce the american lifestyle. And others just moved on as they would. Trying to get the red silk revelation today. He may have kept the coalition together. He was trying to keep the land that has culture had had he did it legitimately at first. He was not afraid to do so. Where we are sitting right now is actually the sight of site of what was probably the oldest automobile plants in america. While over a hundred years this was the site of an automobile factory that produced many different models of cars but most importantly and most famously this was the home of jeep. This is where the jeep started and rolled off the Assembly Line to help america win world war ii. The u. S. Government wanted to have a Utility Vehicle is a actually what they did. Theyd went to three different auto companies. They said here are the specs. Give us a vehicle that you think with the allpurpose Utility Vehicle. They came back with fort have some good ideas. Not only a good idea they have to go a devil engine which was very powerful little engine and they also had a great design at a pennsylvania. The government essentially this became an automobile by committee and jeep was born. They used a lot of the ford design. And they used much of the mechanical and engine design. At that point willys became birthplace of jeep. They were turned out here by the thousands. Hundreds of thousands of jeeps were built here. The jeeps then turned to a civilian use. It remained a viable factory. Pretty much any jeep that ever came through here. They were all built in this time. The overland factory. And the smokestack you see a behind us. Its well over a hundred years old. That is where we are today the jeep is so made in toledo. A different location not far away. We are also about to make a jeep pickup truck. And still very much the pride of the city and this is where it started right at the spot where they were standing. They are on the road exploring the american story. A visit to toledo ohio continues as we take a look at a book that documents the worst baking crash the Great Depression. In the 1920s in some ways it was like the Silicon Valley of today. As a result the Manufacturing Base was just going gangbusters. In toledo seem to be one of the brightest academic spots on the whole american map it was a decade of prosperity. And then in 1931 the entire house of cards collapsed in five of the six largest banks all failed at the same time which made it the largest banking failure of the Great Depression. The Banking Industry here was perhaps more corrupt than other places and that contributed to the catastrophic collapse. The 27th largest city in america. And its economy was rather diversified for a city of its size. It was an upandcoming major producer of automobiles had one of the largest automobile companies. It was a city that have a large Manufacturing Base in the glass industry. Probably the most Glass Production of any city in the country its companies owned all of the important patents to glass technologies. Any bottle and windowpane that was made in the world some of those royalties came back to toledo. The Banking System in toledo is similar to the Banking System through ohio. Theyre mostly chartered by the State Government and not the federal government. That means the federal government did not regulate or inspect them. Instead of the inspections and the regulations were all done by the state of ohio. That unfortunately allowed banks to pretty much pursue the wild west atmosphere of investing. They really didnt have many constraints on the type of loans that they give out. Didnt have many constraints on any Business Decisions that they made. What eventually happened was that the banks pretty much escaped even state regulation we know this because just on the eve of all of these banks collapsing the state inspectors certified them all as being healthy the bank that is right next Door Security home bank was put on the honor roll of ohio banks even though i hadnt made a profit in over a year. They were short on their accounting. And they have given themselves dividends illegally. They still put it on the honor roll of we are standing in the trust building which was the only bank that survived that time and it largely survived because it was part of the Federal Reserve system and in it was federally inspected which meant it have to have good accounting and was not able to escape the regulations that were put upon it. And when the bank crisis occurred this bank could call upon the Federal Reserve of cleveland and have an armored truck filled up with 11 million of cash. In so fast in fact that he it got into an accident. It starts to put the depositors at ease. The problem is all of the banks in the city were owned by local investors and controlled by local directors and the major problem that leads to the bank failure is at the owners were also involved in other companies. They were often time the owners of the Big Manufacturing Companies in town. They would be directors and two or three banks at a time. They were heavily invested in Real Estate Companies because one of the primary contributors to the bank crisis here in toledo in the 1930s just as it was in america and 2007 was the overinvestment in real estate real estate speculation reached a mindboggling rate in the 1920s for example, by 1925 there were 435 Real Estate Companies in this small city and they developed 67 subdivisions which could hold over a million people. For a city of a quarter million people. Clearly overleveraged and over invested. And the reason they could do that is because they were owned by the directors of the banks who by loaning the money were able to give themselves money. And the in the inter locking director. There were all of these incentives for bankers to give out loans. By 1931 that overhang of bad loans finally the bill came due and on june 6, 1931. They begin swirling around the city. And they began depositing it. Little did they know that when they lined up outside the doors. The people inside the bank. Were already removing their money ahead of the depositors. So after the bank crisis of 31 went from being a city in a recession to be a city in a catastrophe. By the winter of 32. As many as half of all the workers in toledo were laid off. Things got so bad that the city of toledo could not afford to buy new lightbulbs. So every day every day it got a little darker and darker. It could not afford to replace the fire trucks. It increased every increase every year through the Great Depression. By 19341 out of six people in the city or on federal relief. Its the minimum number of calories needed to maintain life and thats what allocated individuals. The city was very much closed. Toledo was very much in the state of economic catastrophe through most of the Great Depression. It wasnt until 1935 or 1936. That the programs of the new deal began to have an effect. Its a very high proportion of the work force. They were actually federally employed. It was a federal new deal released. In of course as it is true throughout the country in the Great Depression in the coming of the war in the 1940s invigorated the economy. They retooled for the war. It became making the famous wartime jeep. Many of the hardware factories into munition factories. And the early 1940s toledo was essentially running on full employment again. The economy would never rebound the way it was in the 1920s. Even after the war in the 40s and 50s and 60s the rate of growth felt the hind the national average. And never really recovered from the Great Depression. Speemac the banking crisis of 31 has have a longterm effect. I think it converted a city which was on the way to being one of the economic powerhouses of this region into being an economy that is not very different from the rest of the region. The reason the realtors in the Real Estate Company were willing to invest such money in the city to the point that they over built the city by 400 percent. They were destroyed by the very investments that were being made. Where we are standing right now is the confluence of the mommy river just before it turns into the northern part of the city. Very close to lake erie. This area is sort of represents the maritime aspects of the city and fire all intensive purposes to relieve the oldest industry in toledo. The city started as a port city. The first settlers and pioneers. And the shipping industry grew from there. This was a significant waterway and when the first settlers came into this area they realized not only was this a good waterway but there were plenty of trees here. They set up sawmills and they started to make lumber and they started to build ships here. It could also become a major point for shipbuilding. It was a dream to be able to open up the lakeport to ocean traders. Eventually that happened. They were able to finally by 1959 develop the Saint Lawrence freeway. It allowed them to come in. Toledo at this time is still a major port city. We have a cargo terminals along the area. We have overseas terminals here. There is a lot that happens on this river in toledo ohio as a shipping port that many people arent even aware of. Even people who live here. You can kind of forget sometimes were really a port city. And were an important port city of the great lakes. It is on the road exploring the american story. Our visit continues as we next catch up with Samuel Nelson in the book on the politics of free speech. I think the biggest misconception about the First Amendment is that it applies in all situations across the board whether youre talking about private speech or public speech the First Amendment only applies to government Actions Congress shall make no law. Somehow or at the other the state has to be involved. There is definitely a difference between free speech and First Amendment speech. I think First Amendment speech is covered by the constitution. From laws passed by state in the federal government. A whole set of institutional and legal factors that tell us this is what the First Amendment does or i can make a claim. Against somebody or the government. Free speech is much more diffuse. I kid at home might make a freespeech claim. Mom its my free speech. The kid does definitely feel a grievance about not being able to sing at the supper table. Public universities are bound by the First Amendment because they are part of the state public universities cannot keep speakers off campus except in some relatively limited situations weve seen a number of controversies about controversial speakers and whether they will be allowed to speak on campus or not. And theyre able to raise First Amendment claims. Private university same speaker same kind of talk. Everything is a same except the same except its a private university. There is no way because you might have a speaker that is kicked off at this public campus and the next talk is at the private campus across town. One is a First Amendment claim and the other is not. Another example of the faulty First Amendment claim would be to say that facebook or twitter is censoring you they might be censoring you but not in a relevant way because twitter and facebook are not part of the government. Theyre not owned by the government. The First AmendmentFirst Amendment does not really apply there. There are lots of valid complaints to make. Those are freespeech claims that dont trigger First Amendment analysis. I think there are two main areas that the president s speech on twitter ways is raises. He is defending himself in court now because he has blocked a bunch of people on twitter and theyre claiming its a First Amendment violation. As a principal agent of the connecticut is restricting their ability to engage in debate with him that is one thing. Weve never seen that before. In the other thing is the consequences of his speech in terms of what it does. If i was to walk into class and just repeat some of the things that the president says im to be down in hr half an hour later really catching hell. Meeting held to a different standard than a lot of us. It is difficult to figure exactly. The present is always the center of attention for media and pretty much the president wants to get the message out. Part of what we are wrestling with. He is a very influential person. The effects of that speech may be difficult. Coming up with hard evidence. That is very difficult to do just in terms of how we know things. The tendency for the negative consequences. We think yeah, there is a likelihood that there is a relationship but proving that is very difficult. And then again thinking about speech often has harms or negative consequences. We protect it anyway. People have a pretty hard time to get about free speech without First Amendment rules. I dont think working to get to a point where everybody understands the distinction or difference. He hardly ever get to find someone who says im opposed to free speech or the First Amendment but a lot of people are opposed to free speech about certain types. We end up arguing a lot. We created the umbrella. But who speech about which issues that is where all of the action is. The city to her takes book tv and American History tv on the road. To explore the literary life in history of a selected city. Working with our credible cable partners. We interviewed local historians. You can watch any of our tours online. They select cspan city to her. Or by visiting cspan. Org. You can also follow that to her on twitter for behindthescenes images and video from our visits. The handle is at cspan cities. But tv recently visited capitol hill and ask gary palmer of alabama about his reading list. Over the last year or so i have read several books. The americapi