Well, Rachel and Taymen are back here again safe and sound, it looks like, and I assume that Sage and Carlee are ensconced in their new domicile. Nobody's really said anything, but at least the household is back together again.
I've been amusing myself by leafing through some of John L. O'Sullivan's editorials on things like westward expansion, our Indian policy, and the future of America. The book section hasn't exactly jelled yet, but I'm getting a better picture of my quarry, at any rate. I transcribed "Annexation" and stuck it up at Wikisource, and I've transcribed "Territorial Aggrandizement" and "Our Indian Policy" as well, though so far they're just sitting on my computer.
O'Sullivan, by the way, was born on a ship off the coast of Gibraltar during the war of 1812; his mother had taken refuge there from fear of a plague on shore. (What she was doing in Gibraltar my internet sources don't say.) He was elected to the New York legislature in his twenties, where he made himself unpopular by campaigning against the death penalty. He was a Van Buren supporter during the election of 1844--this was the free-for-all where the sitting president had been drummed out of his party and the white house really was up for grabs--and the Whigs were running Henry Clay. (one of the ironies of history is that neither Daniel Webster nor Henry Clay were ever president, though their names are remembered now much better than many of those who actually succeeded in getting the prize.) O'Sullivan ended up disappointed, of course, when James K. Polk, the first "dark horse" candidate, somehow emerged from the melee the victor, in spite of his often-expressed lack of interest in the position.
Maybe I'll try to turn this into an entry at Rational Rant; the guy was interesting, at any rate.
No comments:
Post a Comment