What We're Discussing In March
looking forward, for once
Welcome back to the This Day In Esoteric Political History newsletter. Each week, a member of our team (or a friend of the show) gathers together bits of America’s past and attempts to find a throughline that might add a little understanding to our current moment.
Thanks to everyone who offered feedback earlier this week! We’re excited to discuss multiple topics this Sunday, including the history of anti-DEI/PC/whatever they used to call it crusades.
Here’s what happened over the week ahead in American political history…
February 27
1776: The Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge in North Carolina breaks up a Loyalist militia
1859: New York representative Daniel Sickles shoots and kills Phillip Barton Key, the son of Francis Scott Key, in a dispute over an affair that Key was reportedly having with Sickles’s wife
1860: Abraham Lincoln speaks at NYC’s Cooper Union, launching himself towards the Presidency
1991: President George Bush orders a halt to the military offensive against Iraqi forces
February 28
1844: A gun on USS Princeton explodes while the boat is on a Potomac River cruise, killing six people, including two United States Cabinet members
1993: ATF agents raid the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas, starting a 51-day standoff
March 1
1692: The notorious witch hunt begins in the Salem village of the Massachusetts Bay colony
1781: The American colonies adopt the Articles of Confederation
1872: Yellowstone National Park is established as the world's first national park
1992 : A city ordinance mandating that all Mardi Gras krewes be integrated in order to march on city streets is in effect — making this a Mardi Gras unlike any in history
March 2
1836: The Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico is adopted
1867: Congress passes the first Reconstruction Act, which divided the former Confederate states (with the exception of Tennessee) into five military districts and outlined the process of readmission to the Union
1971: The leftist group The Weather Underground carries out a bombing at the US Capitol
March 3
1820: Congress passes the Missouri Compromise, which drew a line from east to west along the 36th parallel, dividing the nation into competing halves—half free, half slave
1913: Thousands march in the Woman Suffrage Procession in Washington, D.C.
1931: "The Star-Spangled Banner" is designated the national anthem of the United States
1933: Frances Perkins, as the Secretary of Labor, becomes the first female member of the United States Cabinet
March 4
1789: The first Congress of the United States meets in NYC, proposing the Bill of Rights
1855: A British sanitary commission arrives in Istanbul to inspect a field hospital where soldiers are dying at alarming rates. Among the nurses treating the soldiers is Florence Nightingale, who would go on to make one of the most famous data analyses of the conditions at the hospital
1861: The first national flag of the Confederate States of America is adopted
March 5
1770: British troops kill five colonists in the Boston Massacre
1938: The two original creators of Superman sell the character to what would become DC Comics for $130
1906: Army troops use overwhelming force against the native Moros in the First Battle of Bud Dajo
In which we take the above collection of events and find themes, throughlines, rabbit holes and more. This week it’s Jacob Feldman’s turn at the typewriter.
February is the worst month. I can say that. I was born in February.
And this feeling has been true for generations…
But it’s almost over. The weather is turning in the Northeast. Ballplayers are back at Spring Training. So I’m taking the excuse to pivot from our typical, backwards-facing content and look forward. Here are a few of the topics we’re excited to discuss in March:
Did Patrick Henry actually say “Give me liberty or give me death?”
The Grammy award winner who wrote “I’m Just a Bill”
Two fantastic new books that improved our understanding of 19th century America
One great new podcast on the sordid history of scratch-off tickets
Lots more!
We’ll also be continuing with our Sunday shows, contextualizing the news of the week (something tells me the chaos won’t disappear when the calendar flips over). And at the end of March, we’ll be celebrating the show’s 5th(!) anniversary. Big things are in store, to say the least. For all of those reasons, we’re doing our best to remain grateful, stay positive, and keep our eyes in front of us.
One other thing I’m looking forward to? More messages from you all! Please keep the feedback and topic ideas and general esoterica coming. I need it; winter’s not over yet.
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