"He instinctively can find the shining greatness of our American culture and does a good job of highlighting it (although he also does have those rare lapses when he writes about hockey, but that is something caused by impurities in the Eastern waters or something)." Erik Keilholtz
Under the patronage of St. Tammany
Mark C. N. Sullivan is an editor at a Massachusetts university. He is married and the father of three children. Email
Wednesday, June 04, 2003 Manifest destiny on the loose: A "filibuster" in antebellum America didn't necessarily mean Senator Smith holding the Senate floor against all challenge.
In 1850s America, a "filibuster" was someone who invaded a neighboring country to overthrow its government and place himself in charge, often with the intention of having the territory annexed to the United States. The decade prior to the Civil War witnessed dozens of such schemes -- and, preposterous as it seems now, at least one came close to success. In fact, if one includes events that occurred prior to and after the term "filibuster" was in vogue, several such endeavors were successful: newly arrived U.S. citizens proclaimed "republics" in Florida, Texas, California, and Hawaii and secured their admission into the Union, sometimes with and sometimes without the knowledge and encouragement of the U.S. government. Leaders of these successful movements often made out handsomely as real estate speculators, bond holders, and plantation owners, and some succeeded as state and even national politicians.More