[Ads-l] filibuster (1846 etc.)

[Ben Zimmer]

My Wall Street Journal column this week is on the word "filibuster":
https://www.wsj.com/articles/filibuster-a-pirating-maneuver-that-sailed-into-the-senate-11601039960

That's paywalled, but you can find the page image here:
https://twitter.com/bgzimmer/status/1309896920127635457

OED2's entry for "filibuster" has early versions of the word related to
Dutch "vrijbuiter" and the French form "flibustier." The entry suggests
that the spelling "filibuster," based on Spanish "filibustero," first came
into English usage to denote (as per sense 2b) "a member of any of those
bands of adventurers who between 1850 and 1860 organized expeditions from
the United States, in violation of international law, for the purpose of
revolutionizing certain states in Central America and the Spanish West
Indies."

The newspaper databases indeed have many examples of "filibuster" starting
in 1850 related to these expeditions. But here's an earlier "filibuster"
citation from 1846, in which Commodore Perry is said to have been called a
"filibuster" in the Mexican press for seeking to capture cities on the
Tabasco coast in the Mexican-American War:

---
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59879903/filibuster/
"A Filibuster," Times-Picayune (New Orleans), Dec. 10, 1846, p. 2, col. 2
We expect to hear by the next arrival from the Gulf that Com. Perry has
made a descent upon some important point on the Mexican coast... For his
recent exploit before Tabasco the Vera Cruz papers denounced him as a
_filibuster_. We apprehend they will have to invent a bigger word to
characterize his future operations. _Filibuster_, though, sounds like a
term of significance -- it may be a good word, like "_mobled_ queen," yet
we doubt if it will answer the coming occasions of the Mexican press.
---

The usage there may actually better fit OED2's sense 2c: "In wider sense:
One who resembles a 'filibuster' in his actions; now esp. one who engages
in unauthorized and irregular warfare against foreign states."

Starting in 1850, the word "filibuster" frequently appeared in newspapers
especially in New Orleans, referring to the failed expedition of Narciso
Lopez to liberate Cuba. There were several articles at the time discussing
the etymology of the word:

---
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59879920/filibuster/
"An American Filibuster," New Orleans Weekly Delta, June 24, 1850, p. 8,
col. 2
---
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59879945/fillibuster/
"'The Fillibuster,'" New Orleans Crescent, Jan. 14, 1851, p. 2, col. 1
---
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59879975/filibuster/
"In the High Court of Philology," New Orleans Crescent, Mar. 20, 1851, p.
2, col. 2
---
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59879995/filibuster/
"The Fillibusters," New York Evening Post, Apr. 28, 1851, p. 2, col. 1
---

One early application of the noun to domestic politics appeared in June
1851:

---
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59880045/political-filibusters/
New Orleans Crescent, June 25, 1851, p. 2, col. 2
You will remember the meeting of the Texas creditors held here some time in
February last. An adjourned meeting was to be held in June, but as yet no
call has been published in any paper. It is still hoped that a majority of
the people of Texas will not sanction the plundering schemes projected by
some of her political filibusters.
---

This cite from Aug. 1851 shows a further semantic extension and has
"filibustering" used attributively (OED2 1856):

---
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59880123/filibustering-knave/
"Filibuster," Buffalo (NY) Commercial, Aug. 28, 1851, p. 2, col. 2
The word has a more comprehensive signification on the lower Mississippi.
There it is used to designate rowdies, loafers, and those pests of society
known as b'hoys. When one wishes to apply a particularly opprobrious
epithet, in that region, he calls the object of his wrath a "filibustering
knave."
---

For "filibuster" as a verb, OED2 currently has a cite from a congressional
debate over the proposed annexation of Cuba in Jan. 1853 as the earliest
for sense 2, "To obstruct progress in a legislative assembly; to practise
obstruction":

---
1853  Congress. Globe 4 Jan. 194/1 I saw my friend..filibustering, as I
thought, against the United States.
https://books.google.com/books?id=LOD5MhSBBgMC&pg=PA194
---

However, as noted in this discussion on English Language & Usage Stack
Exchange, the context of that cite does not actually suggest obstructive
tactics, and "filibustering" there means something more like "working
against national interests, causing trouble."
https://english.stackexchange.com/a/382018

Further context for the 1853 debate can be found in William Safire's entry
for "filibuster" in _Safire's Political Dictionary_:
https://books.google.com/books?id=c4UoX6-Sv1AC&pg=PA244

As noted in the Stack Exchange discussion, the full transition of
"filibuster" to the now-common obstructive sense did not occur until Dec.
1859 when there was a clash over the election of the Speaker of the House.
Here is a cite I found that nicely illustrates how the verb "filibuster"
was being used by House members:

---
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59880189/filibustering/
Wheeling (W.Va.) Daily Intelligencer, Dec. 8, 1859, p. 2, col. 3
"Another vote," the Republicans sing out. "No! We'll fillibuster," some one
sings out in reply. And straight the Democratic side proceeds to
fillibustering -- which means to stave off another vote by demanding a call
of the House on motions to adjourn -- on resolutions and questions of
order, &c.
---

Further cites are given in the Stack Exchange thread, including this one
with "filibustering" again used attributively:

---
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59880196/filibustering/
Holmes Co. Republican, (Millersbourg, Oh.), Dec. 8, 1859, p. 2, col. 7
The signs are favorable for a Republican organization. Several Democrats
are absent, and Clarke, of Mo., has introduced a fillibustering-resolution
that no man who recommended Helper’s "Crisis at the South" is fit to be
Speaker. This is only to gain time. It is a poor dodge which won't amount
to much.
---

--bgz

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