Continuing on my posts on monuments around the South Carolina statehouse....
I usually think of nineteenth century monuments as blocks of granite (or if you're in a cemetery, perhaps marble -- though often granite there as well). But every once in a while I realize that monuments are made out of other substances. Sometimes they're made out of ink and paper -- in the form of judicial opinions, books, orations that have been printed, or statutes (not statues). However, on my trip to the South Carolina statehouse with Jack Chin, I realized that they are sometimes made out of iron.
At right is a beautiful image of a palmetto tree (mostly made out of iron, though as Jack pointed out some is likely copper -- check out the "green" leaves at the top of the tree) -- a monument to the South Carolinians who died in the Mexican American war.
I have below a close-up of two of the eagles.
Thanks to Al for this photo of a beautiful monument to an often ignored conflict. In my neck of the woods, southern California, there are a number of these because the area was ground central for the battles that brought the Southwest into the U.S., including an historic site and museum commemorating San Pasqual (Dec. 6, 1846) arguably the only Mexican victory (at least in terms of losses inflicted). As part of the summer program I direct in Mexico City at the Universidad Iberoamericana we visit the plaque listing the members of the San Patricio Battalion, the Irish-American deserters who were drawn to the Mexican army as a refuge from the nativism of 1840s America. For legal historians the Mexican-American War raises interesting issues of boundary determination, the legal standards to be followed after a transfer of sovereignty, and the property rights of residents of the conquered territories. Peter L. Reich, Professor of Law & Director, Mexico City Program, Whittier Law School.
Posted by: Peter Reich | November 16, 2009 at 07:26 PM