The Foundling of the Italian Republic

In 1844, Aunt Margaret left The Dial, as a result of dwindling public response. She was not left unemployed for long, however: that same year Horace Greeley, editor and publisher of the New York Tribune, offered her the position of journalist, literary editor and critic with daily Whig newspaper.

In New York, Margaret’s career truly took flight. With her literary criticism, she introduced America to the work of the English poets Elizabeth Barrett, Robert Browning, and Alfred Tennyson. Living in the midst of the age of reform, she also addressed such issues as slavery and the care of the country’s poor and sick. Although Margaret was never primarily an abolitionist, she made several powerful contributions to the Tribune promoting Blacks’ rights. In one such an article, an allegorical parable entitled “What Fits a Man to Be a Voter? Is It to Be White Within, or White Without?”, she showed how the supporters of slavery were the true “black” ones, as their souls were hardened and corrupted.

Margaret’s greatest dream was made a reality in 1846: she was given the opportunity to tour Europe. Further, Greeley agreed to allow her to be foreign correspondent for the Tribune – the first woman foreign correspondent in America.

After visiting London and Paris, she traveled to Italy in 1847. She arrived in Rome on the eve of a rebellion, and there she quickly became involved in the revolutionary efforts of the Italian people, then under the control of Austria. Pope Pius IX was, at that time, an advocate of the ongoing social reform; and though he held power over the Papal States, he was a favorite of the Italian people for his support of war against Austria.

Giuseppe Mazzini, a prominent figure in the revolution, became Margaret’s close friend and mentor – she greatly admired his republican spirit, and how it was combined with her own long-held belief in self-improvement for the sake of country.

It was in Italy that Margaret met and fell in love with Giovanni Angelo Ossoli, a former Roman nobleman who had since dedicated his life to the Italian revolution. In him, Margaret found the true friend that she had longed for all her life. It is unclear whether or not they were ever married, but Margaret was pregnant with his child by January 1848.

In spring of 1848, Margaret agreed to withdraw from Rome – and political action – to Italy’s northeastern mountains, and prepare for the birth of her child. Her and Ossoli’s little boy was born September 5, and they named him Angelo Eugenio Filippo. It was during this time of quiet and contemplation that Margaret began writing her history of the Italian Revolution.

Meanwhile, Italy's political landscape was changing. Pius IX had ceased to support war against the Austrian forces. Despite this, in late 1848, victory for the Italian Republic seemed a certainty. Pellegrino Rossi, a strong political figure in the Papal States and a conservative, was assassinated. Now lacking his primary defender and supporter of the Roman government, Pope Pius IX was forced to flee Italy’s capitol. The remaining Austrian forces having surrendered their strongholds and left, the Roman Republic was quickly established. But Italy's triumph was to be short - lived. In June of 1849, France seized Rome and eventually restored Pius IX as head of the Papal States.

Margaret, Ossoli, and their child moved to Florence in September for several months. Despite the joy of being able to live peacefully with her family, the failure of the Republic troubled and angered Margaret. She continued to write for the Tribune, keeping America informed of every detail of the action in Italy.

The revolution in Italy held deeply personal meaning for Margaret, and this was transparently clear in her writings for the Tribune. To Margaret’s bitter disappointment, the majority of America found no thrill in vicariously experiencing the political drama through her accounts. In fact, several of her past friends – such as Nathaniel Hawthorne – turned against her, seeing her more and more as a disgrace to womankind, and to all of New England. Even the cool-headed Emerson, whom had always been frustrated in his attempts to connect with Margaret’s emotional side, seemed to grow weary of this pursuit. Above all, many of Margaret's friends were concerned about her relationship with Ossoli, he being ten years younger than her. To some in America, the possibility of there not even having been a marriage was fair ground for ending their friendships with Margaret. It seems that she was forever to be misunderstood by those around her.

By May of 1850, Margaret had realized that her work in Italy was finished – it was time for her to return to her original New England home, along with her husband and child. Although she was parting with the country that she had come to love so well, Margaret took consolation in the fact that she was carrying back to America the burning torch of nationalism: her writings on the Italian Republic.