Clement Clarke Moore, Author of The Night Before Christmas

Clement Clarke Moore, Author of The Night Before Christmas Clement Clarke Moore was a scholar of ancient languages who is remembered today because of a poem he wrote to amuse his children. His memorable work, widely known as â€Å"The Night Before Christmas† appeared anonymously in newspapers beginning in the early 1820s, titled A Visit From St. Nicholas. Decades would pass before Moore claimed  he had written it. And over the past 150 years there have been hotly disputed claims that Moore did not really write the famous poem. If you accept that Moore was the author, then, along with Washington Irving, he helped to create the character of Santa Claus. In Moore’s poem some of the traits associated with Santa today, such as his use of eight reindeer to pull his sleigh, were established for the very first time. As the poem gained popularity over several decades in the mid-1800s, Moores depiction of Santa Claus became central to how others portrayed the character. The poem has been published countless times and the reciting of it remains a cherished Christmas tradition. Perhaps no one would be more surprised by its enduring popularity than its author, who was, during his lifetime, highly regarded as a very serious professor of difficult subjects. The Writing of A Visit From St. Nicholas According to an account Moore gave to the New York Historical Society when he was in his eighties and presented them with a hand-written manuscript of the poem, he had first written it simply to entertain his children (he was the father of six in 1822). The character of St. Nicholas was, Moore, said, inspired by an overweight New Yorker of Dutch descent who lived in his neighborhood. (Moores family estate became Manhattans present day Chelsea neighborhood.) Moore apparently had no intention of ever publishing the poem. It first appeared in print on December 23, 1823, in the Troy Sentinel, a newspaper in upstate New York. According to published accounts from the late 19th century, a daughter of a minister from Troy had stayed with Moores family a year earlier and heard a recitation of the poem. She was impressed, transcribed it, and passed it along to a friend who edited the newspaper in Troy. The poem began to appear in other newspapers every December, always appearing anonymously. About 20 years after its first publication, in 1844, Moore included it in a book of his own poems. And by that time some newspapers had credited Moore as the author. Moore presented several handwritten copies of the poem to friends and organizations, including the  copy given to the New York Historical Society. The Dispute About Authorship A claim that the poem had been written by Henry Livingston dates to the 1850s, when descendants of Livingston (who had died in 1828) asserted that Moore was wrongfully taking credit for what had become a very popular poem. The Livingston family had no documentary evidence, such as a manuscript or a newspaper clipping, to support the claim. They simply claimed their father had recited to the poem to them as early as 1808. The assertion that Moore hadn’t written the poem was generally not taken seriously. However, Don Foster, a scholar and professor at Vassar College who employs â€Å"linguistic forensics,† had claimed in 2000 that â€Å"A Night Before Christmas† was probably not written by Moore. His conclusion was widely publicized, yet it was also widely disputed. There may never be a definitive answer as to who wrote the poem. But the controversy has captured the public imagination to the extent that in 2013 a mock trial, dubbed The Trial Before Christmas, was held at the  Rensselaer County Courthouse in Troy, New York. Lawyers and scholars presented evidence arguing that either Livingston or Moore had written the poem. The evidence presented by both sides in the argument ranged from the unlikelihood that someone with Moores stern personality would have written the poem to specific notes on language and the meter of the poem (which only matches one other poem written by Moore). The Life and Career of Clement Clarke Moore Again, a reason for speculation about the authorship of the famous poem is simply because Moore was regarded as a very serious scholar. And a cheerful holiday poem about a â€Å"jolly old elf† is like nothing else he had ever written. Moore was born in New York City on July 15, 1779. His father was a scholar and a prominent citizen of New York who served as the rector of Trinity Church and the president of Columbia College. The elder Moore administered the last rites to Alexander Hamilton after he was wounded in his famous duel with Aaron Burr. Young Moore received a very good education as a boy, entered Columbia College at the age of 16, and received a degree in classical literature in 1801. He could speak Italian, French, Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. He was also a competent architect and a talented musician who enjoyed playing the organ and the violin. Deciding to follow an academic career, rather than becoming a clergyman like his father, Moore taught for decades at the Protestant Episcopal Seminary in New York City. He published a number of articles in various newspapers and magazines. He was known to oppose the policies of Thomas Jefferson, and occasionally published articles on political subjects. Moore would also publish poetry on occasion, though none of his published work was anything like â€Å"A Visit From St. Nicholas.† Scholars could argue that the difference in the writing style could mean he didn’t write the poem. Yet it’s also likely that something written simply for the enjoyment of his children would be quite different than a poem published for a general audience. Moore died in Newport, Rhode Island, on July 10, 1863. The New York Times briefly mentioned his death on July 14, 1863 without referring to the famous poem. In the following decades, however, the poem kept being reprinted, and it by the late 19th century newspapers regularly ran stories about him and the poem. According to an article, published in the Washington Evening Star on December 18, 1897, an 1859 edition of the poem published as a small book with drawings by a prominent illustrator, Felix O.C. Darley had made A Visit From St. Nicholas extremely popular just before the Civil War. Of course, since them the poem has been reprinted countless times, and recitations of it are a standard component of Christmas pageants and family gatherings.

Political Conventions Day-by-Day

Political Conventions Day-by-Day The United States presidential nominating conventions are held during the spring or summer of each quadrennial presidential election year by most political parties fielding nominees in the November presidential election. Along with selecting the party’s nominee for president, delegates to the conventions adopt the party’s platform- the party’s principals and goals for its candidates presidential administration. Most delegates to the conventions are selected through the presidential primary elections and caucus process and are pledged to vote for a specific presidential candidate during the nominating process. Other delegates, called â€Å"unpledged delegates† are seated automatically due to their status in the political party and are free to vote for the nominee of their choice. The cities hosting the conventions are selected by the national party organizations based on factors including availability of meeting space, lodging facilities, entertainment opportunities, and economic incentives. As they have grown into major, highly-publicized events drawing intense media coverage, the conventions offer significant economic benefits to the host cities. Although the U.S. presidential nominations have largely been settled during the primary/caucus cycle in recent elections, the national political party conventions continue to be an important part of the American political system. As you watch the conventions, heres whats happening on each of the four days. Day 1: The Keynote Address Coming on the first evening of the convention, the keynote address is the first of many, many speeches to follow. Typically delivered by one of the partys most influential leaders and speakers, the keynote address is designed to rally the delegates and stir their enthusiasm. Almost without exception, the keynote speaker will emphasize the accomplishments of his or her party, while listing and harshly criticizing the shortcomings of the other party and its candidates. Should the party have more than one candidate seriously vying for nomination at the convention, the keynote speaker will conclude by urging all party members to make peace and support the successful candidate in the upcoming campaign. Sometimes, it even works. Day 2: Credentials and Platforms On the conventions second day, the partys Credentials Committee will determine the eligibility of each delegate to be seated and vote for nominees.  Delegates and alternates from each state are typically chosen well before the convention, through the presidential primary and caucus system. The Credential Committee basically confirms the identity of the delegates and their authority to vote at the convention. Day-two of the convention also features the adoption of the partys platform the stance their candidates will take on key domestic and foreign policy issues. Typically, these stances, also called planks, have been decided well before the conventions. The platform of the incumbent party is usually created by sitting president or the White House staff. The opposition party seeks guidance in creating its platform from its leading candidates, as well as from leaders of business and industry, and a wide range of advocacy groups. The partys final platform must be approved by a majority of the delegates in a public roll-call vote. Day 3: The Nomination At last, what we came for, the nomination of candidates. To win the nomination, a candidate must get a majority more than half of the votes of all delegates. When the nominating roll call begins, each states delegate chairman, from Alabama to Wyoming, may either nominate a candidate or yield the floor to another state. A candidates name is officially placed into nomination through a nominating speech, delivered by the state chairman. At least one seconding speech will be delivered for each candidate and the roll call will continue until all candidates have been nominated. At last, the speeches and demonstrations end and the real voting begins. The states vote again in alphabetical order. A delegate from each state will take the microphone and announce something very similar to, Mr. (or Madame) Chairman, the great state of Texas casts all of its XX votes for the next president of the United States, Joe Doaks. The states may also split the votes of their delegations between more than one candidate. The roll call vote continues until one candidate has won the magic majority of the votes and is officially nominated as the partys presidential candidate. Should no single candidate win a majority, there will be more speeches, a lot more politics on the convention floor and more roll calls, until one candidate wins. Due mainly to the influence of the primary/caucus system, neither party has required more than one roll call vote since 1952. Day 4: Picking a Vice Presidential Candidate Just before everybody packs up and heads home, the delegates will confirm the vice presidential candidate named in advance by the presidential candidate. The delegates are not obligated to nominate the presidential candidates choice for vice president, but they always do. Even though the outcome is a foregone conclusion, the convention will go through ​the  same cycle of nominations, speeches, and voting. As the convention closes, the presidential and vice presidential candidates deliver acceptance speeches and the unsuccessful candidates give rousing speeches urging everyone in the party to pull together to support the partys candidates. The lights go out, the delegates go home, and the losers start running for the next election.