USDA Celebrates 150 Years of Helping People

One year into the Civil War, additional Union troops were rushed to Washington D.C. to protect the nation's capitol from rapidly advancing Confederate forces.

With his back against the wall, President Abraham Lincoln struggled to unite a bitterly divided nation.

A peculiar time, it would seem, for the President to focus on agriculture. Yet, that's exactly what Lincoln did, signing legislation in May of 1862 creating what he later called "the People's Department."

Air Date: 06/01/2012