Today we mark the anniversary of events that live in infamy and whose repercussions continue to reverberate over two decades later. I think it can serve us well to look back at those horrific events of September 11 and how we reacted to them and how their meaning was interpreted, directing a response. When I say “how we reacted to them” the “we” I have in mind is ordinary people like you and me. I put out a request to others to send me things they wrote at the time – essays, diary entries, letters to loved ones, poems – things that expressed their thoughts and feelings at that time. I wanted to capture snapshots of how people responded emotionally, how they grappled to understand these incomprehensible events. I’ve combined what I received with similar statements from fellow Marylanders, which was where I lived at the time. These were published in a book titled September Eleven: Maryland Voices. I have also asked people how they assess the implications of 9/11 today.
This mostly forgotten war led to Mexico losing over half its territory and the United States expanding to the Pacific. The lecture examines the political and economic background of the conflict, what led to it, and the roles of such factors as Texas annexation in 1845, slavery, racism, the Democratic and Whig parties, and Manifest... Read more