When Margaret Fuller perished in a shipwreck at the age of 40 her growing influence on society was tragically halted. An early feminist and writer, she often expressed ideas which would not become widely accepted by society for decades.

Born in Massachusetts 203 years ago this week, on May 23, 1810, Fuller received a classical education generally only given to boys at the time. She eventually became associated with the New England Transcendentalists, editing their magazine, The Dial. Horace Greeley brought her to New York where she became the city's first female newspaper columnist.

After moving to Europe, and sending back dispatches about the revolutions of the late 1840s, she sought to return to America with her new husband and infant son. Their ship was plagued with bad luck, and ran aground in a storm off Long Island. Fuller and her family drowned.

In New England, the news devastated Ralph Waldo Emerson, who dispatched his young friend Henry David Thoreau to bring Fuller's body back to Massachusetts for burial. Thoreau spent time at the shipwreck site, but Fuller's body was never found.

This week in Newspaper Sunday we look back at the career and tragic death of Margaret Fuller.

Note: The links below lead to excerpts of newspaper articles at the Chronicling America site of the Library of Congress. To view the entire page of the newspaper, you can click the "persistent link" on the excerpt page.

• New York Tribune, February 12, 1845: An article about Fuller's book Woman in the Nineteenth Century was reprinted on the front page of the newspaper.
• New York Tribune, June 10, 1845: Margaret Fuller's review of the autobiography of Frederick Douglass appeared on the front page of the New York Tribune. (Her newspaper articles were generally unsigned, a standard practice at the time, though they have been verified by researchers as being written by Fuller.)
• New York Tribune, July 23, 1850: "A great soul has passed from this mortal stage of being..." said the New York Tribune when reporting Fuller's death.
• New York Tribune, July 25, 1850: The departure of Henry David Thoreau for the wreck site was reported.
• New York Tribune, July 29, 1850: A mourning poem for Fuller appeared on the newspaper's front page.
• New York Tribune, September 4, 1850: An essay about Fuller from the Southern Literary Messenger, a noted magazine of the day, was reprinted in New York.

More: Margaret Fuller biography

Illustration: Margaret Fuller/Library of Congress

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What the showman Phineas T. Barnum called humbugs we might call viral content. Think about it. People lined up to see his attractions. And for a fair price they'd be greatly entertained.

Then the magic really happened: Barnum's patrons would feel such a sense of awe and amusement they'd race to tell 10 other people what they had just seen.

Barnum's true brilliance, what made him both wealthy and beloved in 19th century America, was his gift for launching ideas others would talk about.

And that came to mind when I read a business story about Andrew Mason, the former CEO of Groupon, who left the troubled internet company several months ago in a highly publicized swirl of controversy.

The story mentioned Mason would be releasing an album of "motivational business music."

That wacky phrase — motivational business music — almost sounds like one of Barnum's humbugs. And it's also a reminder that Barnum actually gave playful business advice lectures.

In the mid-1850s Barnum was ruined when he invested in a clock company just in time for it to go under and leave him owing hundreds of thousands of dollars. To recover, he embarked on a tour of Europe with his most popular act, General Tom Thumb.

According to Barnum's own account, he was encouraged by Americans living in England to give a lecture on business. He prepared a talk, and on the evening of December 29, 1858, Barnum appeared at St. James' Hall in London before a capacity crowd of 3,000.

His lecture, titled "The Art of Money-Getting," largely consisted of advice about hard work and diligence. But Barnum interspersed it with humorous insights, personal anecdotes, and quotes from characters ranging from Shakespeare to Davy Crockett.

"The Art of Money-Getting" was a hit. After receiving rave reviews in the London papers, Barnum spent much of 1859 giving the lecture in theaters throughout Britain. He later published it as an essay, altered a bit for an American audience, within his classic autobiography, Struggles and Triumphs.

The lecture is fun and fascinating reading today, and there is still much to be learned from it. One particular bit of timeless advice: "Go on in confidence, study the rules, and above all things, study human nature."

And that brings us back to Andrew Mason, the former CEO of Groupon. He surely understands human nature, as he once got people excited to receive emailed coupons for deals they probably didn't care about otherwise. And perhaps his album of "motivational business music" could somehow be, as Barnum's entertaining business lectures were in their own day, a pathway back to success.

Photograph: Phineas T. Barnum and General Tom Thumb/Getty Images

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On May 13, 1846, the United States declared war on Mexico. The decision was not without controversy, as many Americans thought the war was being provoked as a pretext to eventually seize California and its coveted Pacific ports.

Opposition voices were drowned out as patriotic fervor prompted young men to enlist. And the Mexican War is best remembered today because it was a proving ground for a generation of leaders who would become prominent during the Civil War, less than two decades later.

The future president of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis, was wounded in combat in Mexico. And two young American officers in Mexico, Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, would later invoke their service as a way to bond and make polite conversation as they brought years of bloody fighting to an end in April 1865.

By the time the Mexican War ended in 1848, the administration of James K. Polk had achieved its goal of securing California and other vast tracts of territory in the West. For that reason, Polk stands out as perhaps the one successful president during the two decades before the Civil War.

A hero of the fighting in Mexico, Zachary Taylor, would find himself following Polk in the White House. And the consequences of the declaration of war against Mexico would play out for years.

The issue of whether territory acquired from Mexico would be open to slavery would only deepen the divide over the central issue of the day. And in many ways the declaration of war 167 years ago today would set the stage for the Civil War.

More: The Mexican War

Lieutenant Ulysses S. Grant in the Mexican War/Library of Congress

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When the Erie Railroad opened in 1851, President Millard Fillmore, members of his cabinet, and prominent politicians including the legendary orator Daniel Webster, celebrated by traveling across New York State on an excursion train decorated with flags and bunting.

The new rail connection between the Hudson River and Lake Erie was considered an enormous milestone in transportation. And at a time when the country was still embroiled in controversy over the Compromise of 1850, the impressive new railroad was an opportunity to emphasize good news and American progress.

In mid-May 1851, President Fillmore and other dignitaries traveled from Washington to New York City, and then took a steamboat up the Hudson to the eastern terminal of the railroad at Piermont, New York.

For two days the presidential party rolled along to Buffalo, New York, stopping at towns along the way. They were greeted with brass bands, flag waving, and the firing of celebratory cannons.

Millard Fillmore, who had unexpectedly become president upon the death of Zachary Taylor a year earlier, was a proud native of western New York. So he was delighted to show off how the Empire State had now surpassed its other spectacular achievement, the Erie Canal. Another prominent New Yorker, Senator William Seward, was also on the trip, but the star attraction was Daniel Webster.

At a time when public speaking was a greatly-admired art, Webster was considered the master. Everywhere the train stopped, crowds demanded that he speak to them. A year earlier he had been widely denounced in the North for not blocking the widely-hated Fugitive Slave Act, so he must have been pleased to bask in the adulation.

Between Webster's star power, and the parades, feasts, and barbecues along the way, the rail excursion must have been an astounding event.

The New York Tribune, of course, covered it closely, though its editor, Horace Greeley, was actually in London covering the opening of the Great Exhibition. This week in Newspaper Sunday, we look at coverage of the excursion that opened the Erie Railroad.

Note: The links below lead to excerpts of newspaper articles. On the excerpt pages you can click the "persistent link" to view the entire page of the newspaper.

• New York Tribune, May 15, 1851: President Fillmore and Daniel Webster boarded a boat at dawn to sail up the Hudson to begin their railroad excursion.
• New York Tribune, May 16, 1851: A lengthy account of the first day of the excursion across New York State was headlined "Enthusiasm Upon the Route."
• New York Tribune, May 16, 1851: The new railroad cars were described as "sumptuous," and for the occasion the locomotives and cars were decorated with flags and pennants.
• New York Tribune, May 16, 1851: Daniel Webster and William Seward both delivered speeches at stops along the way.
• New York Tribune, May 19, 1851: Daniel Webster was given an exuberant welcome in Buffalo, as 500 people marched behind his carriage. Arriving at his hotel, the crowd demanded a speech, and Webster obliged them from a hotel balcony.
• New York Tribune, May 19, 1851: A massive barbecue included "ten sheep roasted whole, each decorated with miniature flags," as well as eight large hogs, also roasted whole.

Illustration: President Millard Fillmore/Library of Congress

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