Is that we dont have a dog in the fight. So we dont have a reason to say to them, youre not making the world a better place. And until we do, or until were willing to say it regardless of the fact we dont have a dog in the fight, were not going to be effective. In our own political in getting our political will understood by our own government, and i think this is across the board, from the tea party to occupy, everyone believes the same thing. We are not a safer country today as a result of the war of the last 14 years, and washington is in a bubble that doesnt hear it and doesnt see it. Okay. So the first person who goes out there and buys a book and brings it back for me to sign, would you bring me a cookie, please, and thank you for coming tonight, and please buy a book and ill sign it for you when you bring it to me at the podium. Thanks, cspan, for being here and our local [applause] [inaudible conversations] youre watching booktv on cspan2, television for serious readers. Tonight, we kick off at 7 15 p. M. Eastern with rye ryan owens, explaining the roll of the office of to the solicitor jenna supreme court. Then at 7 40, a look at the creation of the federal reserve. And at 8 45, discussion of women in leadership. And at 10 00, booktvs after Words Program to talk about chinas discontinued onechild policy. And directly following at 11 00, David Bernstein argues that the Obama Administration has undernined the constitution. At all happens tonight on cspan2s book tv. Welcome to hartford, connecticut, on book tv, founded in 1637, this capital city of 125,000, is located in the central part of be state and well known for its Insurance Industry ties. I with the help of off Comcast Cable partners well hear from local authors on a variety of topics, including a look at new englands role in the atlantic slave trade as documented through the log bocks of connecticut slave ships, voyaging to africa and black in 1757. These are significant because of the stories they contain but because of the period in which they occurred. In the middle of the 18th 18th century, the International Slave trade was at its very height. More people were being taken from africa, stolen, and kidnapped and sold into slavery and taken to the caribbean and brought know american colonies. More people were being taken at that period than any other per during the long arc of the International Slave trade. Later we look at the hutch which isson family whose songs promoted social causes such as abolition and workers rights. First, we visit the home of Harriet Beecher stowe to learn about the author of un toms cabin, how she spent her final years and how he work is interpreted today. Here we are in harriet beechier stowes home in hartford, connecticut, we invite you to visit, and we are standing today in stowes parlor. Her front parlor, the more formal space. Whenout visit here you sit down in the parlor and share conversations about issues and experiences. So, was born harriet beechier in western connecticut, and then through her life she lived in boston, cincinnati, brunswick, maine, and overmass, and then here in hartford. The had two houses, first in the middle of the civil war, stowe built her dream house, her glamorous mansion, and they built that house and moved in 1863 and lived there for eight years, and then discovered that it was too expensive to maintain so they downsized into this more modest, though still spacious, hartford home, where they lived out the rest of their lives. So stowe moved into this Fourth Street house in hartford in 1873, and the house had been built on spec and lived in for a couple of years. She didnt especially build it. She moved into it as she had with most of the homes she lift in for her life. She moved in with her husband, calvin stowe, whom she married in 1836 and he was ten year older and a professor of theology and retired. She moved in with her oldest children, twin girls, her adult daughters, and they were in their 30s. Stowe was in her 60s, and her cuss, calvin in his 70s. And stowe was still writing. She was world famous, she had reached that pinnacle of fame inmer 40s, and now chev is in her 60s, and still writing to support the family. So she did some books in this house, and many, many articles and opinion pieces. Harriet beechiers home she wrote about how to manage her household and she thought and wrote a lot about how women should she helped advance the idea that managing your house and thinking about the kind of domestic environment youve built made a Better Family and made a better america. So, this house reflects that. It is not just one design but certainly reflects the esthetic movement of the 19th century also a house that reflect that these people had long lives and deep family connections. So its familial, its friendly, its comfortable, its used, we work hard as a museum, not to have it be too tidy, so there might be some the writers table some crumpled papers on the floor and things like that. We want to evoke a home that is lived in. Its not pristine. Its a home that was lived in, and sitting down with Harriet Beecher stowe, from her writings and other peoples reports, i think she was a quiet person. I think she was an introvert, and so theres a lot going on in her head, and people said things like, you would think she wasnt paying attention to the conversation, but then she would start to fully participate and what had been happening a was she had been thinking about characters or stories that would come out later in her book. So she held things in her head for 20 or 30 years before they came out in her writings. So talking with her might have been an interesting experience because she was thinking about two things at once, the conversations and her characters and what she was going to be writing. Another way people described her is that she wasnt a particularly attractive person until she became animated in the conversation, and then there was a sort of light about her and charisma and personality that you didnt see when she wasnt animated. And you can see that in the photographs and in the physical evidence we have, like sculptures and cameos and things that portray her. She might not have met the beauty standards of the day. But that her character and personality brought that to the fore, and made her great company, and of course she was smart and articulate and taught at her fathers dining table to make the case for her argument. Harriet beecher stowes home in hartford is a classic victorian environment with two parlors and dining room downstairs and a kitchen which wouldnt have been a public space, and bedrooms upstairs, and when you visit, you see those spaces. And in the parlors, you see the environment as much as it was when stowe lived here, as we can tell from our research and from few photographs we have. Were lucky enough to have a lot of possessions that stowe owned, and that were owned by her extended family. We ask people to journey through the house with us. We talk about the past as well as the present. Were trying to explain stowes long life and her impact, and when you reach the front parlor you sit down in chairs in the front parlor with the other people of your tour, and you have a conversation about artifacts on this table, that represent the issues of the 19th century. You pass these copies of artifacts around and discuss them. When you go into on to the second floor, one of the rooms you go into is stowes bedroom, which is her bedroom and also one of the places she wrote. So it is set up with writing space and evidence of what it took of the struggles she had to write her books, particularly Uncle Toms Cabin. That a little glimpse into the experiences you can have here. Were in harriets front parlor right now, which would have been the face of this house. So when harriet was formally receiving guests she would quickly usher them into this room and begin talking to them about a whole host of issues she was passionate about. Here we have a photograph of Harriet Beecher stowe in her front parlor where we are. She is sitting right about where im standing now. And you can really get a feel for what the room looked like at the time. Also get a feel for what harriet looked like. So, what were going to try to do is talk about some documents that she may have been seeing in the 1850s when she is coming one if the the idea for Uncle Toms Cabin and they represent the debates people were having over slavery. On this table here we have some Historical Documents we rebruised for our visitors etch went to get the visit years a feel for the debates over slavery that were occurring during her time. We have some reward posters for fugitive slaves that may have been found in the north at the time. We have songs written by abolitionists that would have been sung at different meetings and of abolitionists. Then we even have teaching tools for abolitionist children. So this kind of gives you a feel for the alphabet and gives you a poem attached to each letter that talks about negative aspect of slavery. So these things were very effective teaching tools at the time. Now, even more than that we have photos that would have been circulated in northern newspapers to try to gain support for abolitionism, this is the photo here of emancipated slaves that would have been found in northern newspapers quite a bit after the fighttive slave raws passed. So the back parlor here would have been more of a private family space where harriet would have spent time with her husband and her two twin daughters living here. They may be reading to each other, they may be writing letters, theyve may be playing the piano. But it was more of a relaxation space than a public, formal entertaining space. So when visitors come into the room we dont allow them to touch anything or sit on the chairs. Although we have reproduced the circular letter which well pass around and show to visitors. Now that we have seen here back parlor, well go into her bedroom. We have a lot of items in this room that give you feel for what harriets writing process sass like and what the aftermath of the publication of Uncle Toms Cabin was like for her as well. So in terms of her writing process, you can see over here thats amentioned, harriet didnt have a dedicated writing space in the house. We know that some weve have been writing quite a bit in this room, her bedroom, and she was not always the neatest writer. So we have some papers littered here to give you a fell for what the room would have looked like as harriets writing. So, over on this bed here we have an enlarged reproduction of a newspaper called the national era. So when Uncle Toms Cabin came out. It didnt come out in book form. It was originally southeasterlyized in an abolition nist newspaper called the national era from washington, dc. So every wednesday a new chapter of Uncle Toms Cabin would come out and people would gather in each others parlors andhart being read aloud. We have a portrait of harriets husband, calvin stowe, and calvin was an incredibly supportive force in harriets life throughout her writing process. He was willing to do many things that would not have been considered usual for men to do at the time. For example, he would take care of the kids in the house so that harriet would have enough time to be able to write her books. Now, again, this would have been considered very unusual for the time, but just one of the many ways that harriet lived with calvin. These are selection of works that harriet wrote while living in house and we like to show show visitors after work she is known for. Were really trying to let our visitors know that hair net made a lasting imexact we want to make sure her story is nose forgotten. Well, stowe died in 1896, at 85. She died in this house, as her husband had before her. And when she died, this parlor were standing in, the front parlor, her coffin was laid out here and this is where the wake was. So the New York Times wrote this up. It was widely reported and she was so famous that many came to visit and give their respects. She was buried next to one of her children two of her children who predeceased her and her husband in andover, massachusetts, where they had been living when their son henry died at 19. So they bought a family plot there. So you can visit the graves in andover, massachusetts, near where calvin stowe worked at and over theological seminary. Her legacy reflects her writing in he 19th century and her impact then with Uncle Toms Cabin and the other books she wrote and the stands she took as a woman in the 19th century women couldnt vote and that they had limited roles. Whatever their class or race, they were restricted, and she took the most advantage that she could of the opportunity she had as a woman in the 19th 19th century. She made her name, made her points and argued forcefully for them, and then she leveraged that to make things happen. In the 21st century, all of that is important because much of her writing, whether about domestic life or about slavery itself, gives us framework for today because the past informs the present. Here we are today in the 21st 21st century, still struggling deeply in the headlines and in our homes and in our friendships and in our work places, with the many things that stowe was writing about, that they were struggling with then. When you come to visit Harriet Beecher stowes house youll have an experience unlike many a historic houses. During booktvs visit to hartford, connecticut, we spoke with the executive director or the mark twain house and museum about twains life during his time in hartford. When mark twain moved to hartford, connecticut, it was a very wealthy town with at that time the richest city in the nation per kappa. Markmark twains legacy today attracts people from everywhere. They come inside this house and timetravel back to the time. Samuel clemens, we know today as mark twain. Samuel clemens was other boy born in florida, missouri, grew up in hannibal, missouri. When his dad died he was 12 and sam had to be an apprentice and i dont know that began his love affair with words but influenced a lot of things later in his life. Mark twain began looking into hartford as a place to settle with his young wife and their new family. Of course, the publisher is here with american publishing, and he fell in love the city and wrote letters to heir own family, mother, brother, beautiful. He bought the land, libby had a major inheritance he would use the now build the house and decorate it. So they built it in stages. When they moved in, in 1874, the carpenters werent done, the plumbers werent done but done enough that the family could come in and take residence. So they were mainly on the second floor for a while put ultimately they continued to work on the home, they traveled to europe frequently. Made purchases there they sent back to the home to furnish it and get it up to speed. Im excited to welcome you into the master bedroom. This is sam and Libby Clemens bedroom. This amazing bed is handcarved of black walnut. Made in italy. The family paid 200 for it, which was a lot of money in those days. A lot of unique features. Specifically the headboard, which if you notice sam clemens and his wife slept facing the headboard. Its something you would want to wake up looking at rather than leaning your pillow against it. The best feature is the little cher rubs on ecorner of the bed are removable. The three daughters were allowed to come in and remove these little little cherubs. Which are and they were allowed to play with them as dolls and bathe them and enjoy having these little angels. Then at the end of the dame sam clemens insisted they be put back on the bed. Play all day but at bedtime when he went to bed he felt that was the closest he would ever come to be surround by the angels. We know the girls got a lot of mileage out of them. Very interestingly, we have gas lighting is in the house, very modern. He did read in bed, wrote in bed, and smoked in bed, and he rigged up on extension cord the gas line so it would be right here by his bed as he worked in the evening or read, and a lot of people worry when they say, didnt he smoke in bed . Yes, he did. Luckily it was low density gas and he wasnt endangering the family. We wasnt going to cause on explosion. Here in the master bedroom we have sam clemens mother here, jane clemens, and there are no photographs of his father. His dad died in 1847 and photography was not affordable for a family like that at that time. But of course here on the wall we have the four children. Now baby lang don in lower right corner did not live in the hartford house but we do have his photograph here. He died at 19 months of diphtheria. Then the other three daughters, souza, claire remarks and jean, are here on the wall in mama and papas room. Its fun to imagine this as a family home with the girls running and playing and call are for stories. And growing up to become young ladies here in the home. The girls had a lot of adventures in the home. The family kind in this beautiful dining room and would come in to the library here after dinner, and this is a very special spot. For instance, the paintings across the top of the on the walls here and the knicknacks on the mantle, they would ask for a story, and the rule was he had to begin with the cat in the rough painting on the very end. Had to start there and they had certain rules. From there he had to continue across the mantle and incorporate each and every knicknack and could not go out of order and coot not repeat himself and then have to end with the penting of emine. The stories here in the house, the girls would recount as young adult women that is one of their favorite things to come in this room and have this wonderful story time with their therapy. Conservatory, a little bit of a jung jungle. Thats what the girls called it. And papa, sam clemens work get down on all fours, george griffen, the butler, would get on all fours and theyd jump on their backs and have adventures in here. This was a favorite spot nor family. But it was a busy place, very famous gift e guest famous guests would visit. They would be around the table and sam clemens was northern to get up between courses and pace and almost try out his material. He was a lecturer so he would tell the stories again and again. The girls said they could sneak down some nights and sit on the steps in the hallway and tell from where papa was in his story what course was being served. This is the feel of the family. We are on the third floor of mark twains beautiful hartford ma