John Henry Aulick was born sometime around 1791 in Winchester, the second of five sons and one of ten children of Charles Aulick and Ann Mary Wetzel Aulick. He entered the navy as a midshipman in November 1809 and took his first extended cruise in 1811 aboard the schooner
Enterprise. During the War of 1812 he commanded the forecastle on the
Enterprise and later was aboard the brig
Rattlesnake when it surrendered to the British in June 1814. After eight months in captivity, he returned to duty in March 1815 aboard the frigate
United States. His war service earned him a medal with the thanks of Congress, a lieutenancy, and recognition as a young naval officer of talent and promise.
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In 2021,
The Saturday Evening Post celebrates 200 years since the publication’s first edition rolled off the press. Since 1821, the
Post has chronicled America’s growth and change and my how it has changed in that time. Two centuries of political and cultural shifts, technological advancement, and artistic innovation can be difficult to put into context.
What was the United States like when the
Post first went to print in 1821? America was watched over by its fifth president, James Monroe. The Union was just days away from admitting its 24th state, Missouri. In most of those states, only white male land-owners over age 21 could vote in elections. Slavery was still legal, and women were expected to run the home. And these nine things just didn’t yet exist:
Effler: Hemlocks in Fillmore Glen receive protection against invasive species auburnpub.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from auburnpub.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Navassa Island is a small, uninhabited island located between Haiti, Jamaica, and Cuba. Originally acquired for its guano resources, today, Navassa is of no apparent use to the United States. A review of the island’s history and geography suggests several possibilities for Navassa’s future and America’s own interests in this remote territory.
Situated near the southern end of the Windward Passage, uninhabited Navassa Island is two square miles of wind-beaten brush struggling to grow among limestone and long-dead coral. Forty miles from Haiti, 85 from Jamaica, and 130 from Cuba, its waters can be reached by mariners with relative ease. However, Navassa’s abrupt, sharp coral cliffs prevent easy access to its terrain. Today, the only regular visitors are fisherman from Haiti’s southwest coast, who rarely make landfall. Navassa is a harsh and unappealing place. It is also American territory.
Commodore Perry’s black ships deliver a letter to Japan in July 1853 Jan. 28 06:51 am JST Jan. 29 | 10:58 am JST
It wasn’t a surprise.
As early as 1852, a Dutch agent in Nagasaki had given a report to high-level Japanese officials describing an expedition led by Matthew Calbraith Perry, consisting of “two steamships and two other ships.” Japan’s
bakufu the shogunate government in power for the last seven centuries had limited their trading to China, Korea, Holland and the Ryukyu Island chain. Fourteen years earlier they’d received a similar report, stating that British ships were coming, but after a no-show, the Japanese lost a bit of trust in the Dutch reports, believing their sole European trading partner was attempting to use to their advantage the fear of other more intimidating competitors. The report on the Americans was acknowledged, but not taken seriously.