Do you like history? If so, you’ll enjoy Jeff Jacoby’s Globe column this morning on the cautionary tale of Franklin Pierce’s lust for territorial expansion. … Being a history buff, I’m kind of surprised that I didn’t know Pierce was from New Hampshire. Not that New Hampshire is going to openly boast about its only native son to ever serve as president. Pierce was a staunch defender of Southern slave-owners’ interests and his expansionist views were often tied to efforts to expand slavery across the hemisphere. Among other things, he later criticized President Lincoln’s issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War.

Btw: By coincidence, I’m reading Erik Larson’s latest book, “The Demon of Unrest,” about the events leading up to the outbreak of the Civil War. His descriptions of Charleston’s open slave markets are shocking. More on Larson’s book later.