The Journal of Negro History, Volume 2, 1917

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The same attitude was expressed by Hayne of South Carolina. "With
nothing connected with slavery," said he, "can we consent to treat
with other nations, and least of all, ought we to touch the question
of the independence of Haiti, in conjunction with revolutionary
governments.... You find men of color at the head of their armies, in
their legislative halls, and in their executive departments. They are
looking to Hayti, even now, with feelings of the strongest fraternity
and show, by the very documents before us, that they acknowledge her
to be independent."[433] So far as the mission itself was concerned,
these arguments were farfetched and served rather to delay the time of
departure than to hinder it. The Senate confirmed the nomination and
the House voted the expenses. The delegates arrived after the close of
the sessions of the congress. Another session was to be held at
Tacubaya, but because of dissensions this congress did not assemble.
Therefore, the Panama Congress served only to excite debate on the
slavery issue and the recognition question, and this last became a
rallying cry for the opponents of the administration.

During the intervening years between 1825 and 1860, many memorials,
petitions and recommendations were made to Congress respecting the
recognition of Haiti. In June, 1838, a petition was received by the
Senate from "certain citizens of the United States praying that a
diplomatic representative be sent and commercial regulations be
entered into with the Republic."[434] This, as others, was laid on the
table. While this session continued, petitions were repeatedly
presented. John Quincy Adams was the champion of this cause, as of
that against the Gag Resolutions, and, again and again, it was through
him that the memorials were presented.

Objections were frequently made to the presentation of these
memorials. On December 19, Legare of South Carolina said: "As sure as
you live, Sir, if this course is permitted to go on, the sun of this
Union will go down--it will go down in blood and go down to rise no
more. I will vote unhesitatingly against nefarious designs like
these. They are treason."[435] In 1839, while the House was
considering an outfit for a charge d'affaires to Holland, Slade of
Vermont began a speech in favor of appointing a diplomatic agent to
Haiti. He spoke until the House refused to hear the continuation of
his remarks.[436] A resolution was offered later to appoint a
commercial agent to Haiti, but it was ruled out of order.[437] In the
same year, the Committee on Foreign Affairs asked to be discharged
from the "further consideration of sundry memorials asking for the
opening of international relations with Haiti."[438] In spite of this
request, the next year, 1840, petitions urging the recognition were
continued.[439] That Garrison was active in this agitation of the
abolition period is shown by the statement of Wise, of Virginia: "it
is but part and parcel of the English scheme set on foot by Garrison,
and to bring abolition as near as possible...."[440]

In 1844, the Committee on Foreign Affairs made a report on the subject
of commercial intercourse with the republic of Haiti. Ten thousand
copies were ordered to be printed.[441] As a result of this report,
and the agitation of years back, a commission was appointed to Haiti
in 1844 and again in 1851.[442] In the latter year, an invitation was
made to the United States Government to join France and England in an
offensive interference in Haiti.[443] The correspondence and the
reports of one of the American Commissioners, Robert Walsh, was made
public in 1852, and they were widely discussed.[444] The reports were
unjust and unfair estimations even of the Haitian commercial
situation. A reliable estimate of the trade of Haiti with the United
States, at this time, places the trade as equal to the total trade of
Venezuela, Bolivia, Argentina, the Cisalpine Republics and Peru with
the United States. Mexico, with more than sixteen times as large a
population as Haiti, exported from the United States in 1851, $330,000
less than Haiti and used for the purpose 26,000 tons less of
shipping.[445] And yet these countries were recognized as independent
republics, while Haiti was denied that right.

European countries were not as slow as the United States in granting
recognition to Haiti. England formally acknowledged the Republic in
1825, and sent a Consul-General.[446] An imperfect recognition was
granted by Charles X of France, by sending Baron Mackau as his
representative.[447] Its independence was recognized fully in 1838,
after thirty-four years of independence. Two treaties were negotiated,
one of them political, by which the independence of the republic was
recognized; the other financial, by which the claims of the French
colonists were reduced to sixty million francs.[448] This debt made
Haiti almost a dependency of France for over sixty years.[39] Before
1860, all important countries had representatives in Haiti. Great
Britain, Spain, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Portugal, Sweden, Hanover
and Austria were all duly chronicled in the Almanach de Gotha.[449] In
the language of Frederick Douglass: "After Haiti had shaken off the
fetters of bondage, and long after her freedom and independence had
been recognized by all other civilized nations, we continued to
refuse to acknowledge the fact and treated her as outside the
sisterhood of nations."

By act of Congress in 1819, the colony of Liberia was established.
During the years following, groups of colonists left America for this
shore.[450] The decade after 1832 was marked by the action of the
independent State colonization societies. In 1847, the people of
Liberia undertook self-government, which was adopted by popular vote.
A later convention drew up a declaration of independence, and a new
constitution modeled on that of the United States was adopted, July
26, 1847. In September, it was ratified by the people, and President
Roberts took office, January 3, 1848.[451]

President Roberts set out on a voyage to the foreign countries with
the intention of seeking favor for his country. In many countries, he
was welcomed and his efforts were successful. In England, for example,
not only was recognition secured, but also an armed vessel of small
tonnage and a few guns were given him.[452] In the United States, not
even the formal recognition of Liberia was obtained. This was due, in
some measure, to the slavery question and the contention which was
always aroused when any subject even remotely related thereto was
presented.[453]

When Liberia declared its independence in 1848, the second Negro
republic entered its demand for the recognition of its sovereignty by
the United States. Henry Clay, one of the early officers of the
American Colonization Society, wrote in a letter dated Ashland,
October 18, 1851: "I have thought for years that the independence of
Liberia ought to be recognized by our government, and I have
frequently urged it upon persons connected with the administration
and I shall continue to do so if I have suitable opportunity."

England recognized the independence of Liberia in 1848 and France in
1852.[454] In 1855 treaties were formed with the Hanseatic Republics,
Lubeck, Bremen and Hamburg, with Belgium in 1858, with Denmark in
1861, with Italy and the Netherlands in 1862, with Holland, Sweden,
Norway and Haiti in 1864, with Portugal and Denmark in 1865 and
Austria in 1867.[455] For a period of years the United States had
maintained a commercial agent at Monrovia and at Gaboon.[456] It was
evident to those acquainted with the commercial situation that
recognition was desirable, for both of these Republics.[457]

In 1859, the leading northern newspapers carried advertisements from
the Haitian government, offering homes with land and free passage to
those unable to provide the same. A reply was published in the
_Tribune_ addressed especially to the free people of color of Missouri
and the North. A significant clause in this reply said: "Remember that
when you pass beyond the limits of the United States, the government
and laws of this country cease to protect you."[458] A circular was
sent out in 1860, addressed to the "Blacks, Men of color, and Indians
in the United States and British North American Provinces," and after
calling attention to the prosperous condition of the country, added
"that our relations with the powers represented in Haiti are on a
footing of perfect harmony."[459]

The triumph of the Republican party in 1860 foreshadowed the exclusion
of slavery from the territories, and the ultimate ruin of the
institution. Six weeks after Lincoln's election, South Carolina had
adopted the Ordinance of Secession, and the Gulf States soon followed.
There were only four slave-holding States with representatives in
Congress, Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri. At the opening of
the 37th Congress, 1861, the President's message contained the
following: "If any good reason exists why we should persevere longer
in withholding our recognition of the independence and sovereignty of
Haiti and Liberia, I am unable to discern it. Unwilling, however, to
inaugurate a novel policy in regard to them without the approbation of
Congress, I submit to your consideration the expediency of an
appropriation for maintaining a Charge d'Affaires near each of these
states. It does not admit of doubt that important commercial
advantages might be secured by favorable treaties with them."[460]
Commenting on Lincoln's message, Garrison terms it "feeble and
rambling" and he "could find nothing in it to praise except the
recommendation that Congress should recognize the independence and
sovereignty of Haiti and Liberia."[461]

The 45th annual report, January 21, 1862, of the American Colonization
Society contained a section calling attention to the message.[462] The
board of managers of the Pennsylvania Colonization Society took note
of the same, May, 1862.[463] Newspapers and magazines took up the
agitation. The _Philadelphia North American_ said: "It is high time
that Congress should recognize Liberia as an independent,
self-sustaining government. Such a measure would be perfectly
comformable to the principles, policy and direct interests of our
country."[464]

On February 4, 1862, Charles Sumner from the Committee on Foreign
Relations, introduced a bill "authorizing the President to appoint
Diplomatic Representatives to the Republics of Haiti and Liberia
respectively. Each Representative so appointed is to be accredited as
Commissioner and Consul-General and is to receive, out of any money in
the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the compensation of
commissioners provided for by Act of Congress, approved August 18,
1856; but the compensation of the Representative at Liberia is not to
exceed $4,000."[465] With the introduction of the bill, Sumner spoke
at some length, favoring the passage of the bill.[466] Following the
speech of Sumner, the opposition arose. Davis, of Kentucky, said: "If
after such a measure should take effect, the Republic of Haiti and the
Republic of Liberia were to send their Ministers Plenipotentiary or
their Charge d'Affaires to our government, they would have to be
received by the President and by all the functionaries of the
government upon the same terms of equality with similar
representatives from other powers. If a full-blooded Negro were sent
in that capacity from either of the two countries, by the laws of
nations he could demand that he be received precisely on the same
terms of equality with the white representative from the powers on the
earth composed of white people."[467] This sentiment of the
opposition, however, was expressed in harsher terms in some instances.
Through Saulsbury, of Maryland, this sentiment again was: "How fine it
will look, after emancipating the slaves in this District, to welcome
here at the White House an African, full-blooded, all gilded and
belaced, dressed in court style, with wig and sword and tights and
shoe-buckles and ribbons and spangles and many other adornments which
African vanity will suggest;" and "If this bill should pass the Houses
of Congress and become a law, I predict that in twelve months, some
Negro will walk upon the floor of the Senate and carry his family into
that which is apart for foreign Ministers. If that is agreeable to the
tastes and feelings of the people of this country, it is not to
mine...."[468]

To these attacks, Sumner replied: "I content myself with a single
remark. I have more than once had the opportunity of meeting citizens
of those republics and I say nothing more than truth when I add that I
have found them so refined, and so full of self-respect that I am led
to believe no one of them charged with a mission from his government
will seek any society where he will not be entirely welcome."[469] A
letter from the Commercial Agent at Port au Prince was read, urging
immediate recognition in order to counteract "the schemes of foreign
powers"; adding further that "the Haitians believed that when the
present administration came into power in the United States, our
former coldness and neglect would cease; and they feel and do not
hesitate to express a bitter disappointment that nothing has yet been
done."[470] The bill was passed by the Senate, by a vote of 32 yeas to
7 nays. In the House, it was championed by Gooch of Massachusetts and
passed by a vote of 86 yeas to 37 nays, and with the President's
signature became a law. In November, 1864, a treaty of friendship,
commerce and navigation was signed between the United States and
Haiti.[471] A similar treaty was signed with Liberia.[472]

Both of the Republics have felt deeply indebted to Charles Sumner for
the passage of this bill. The Liberian Commissioners, Alexander
Crummell, Edward Blyden, and J. D. Johnson, expressed thanks for his
discretion in securing its passage.[473] The republic of Haiti as late
as 1871 manifested its gratitude for his continued interest in its
welfare by presenting him with a medal and by an order that his
portrait be placed in its capitol.[474] The A. M. E. Church,
representing thousands of Negroes in the United States, expressed the
sentiment of this people in a resolution adopted in August, 1862, to
the effect "that, in the noble act of the United States Senate in
passing a law recognizing the independence of Haiti and Liberia, we
see the hand of God in a movement which we regard as ominous of good
for the race."[475]

Thus after Haiti had been an independent power for sixty years and
Liberia for fifteen years, the government of the United States granted
recognition to them as independent republics, on the eve of the death
of the slave system. Under the average circumstances, prompt
recognition may have come as the result of the efforts of the nations
themselves, as in the case of the republic of Texas.[476] But because
of the unusual circumstance which the adoption of recognition for
Negro republics would produce--holding some as slaves and recognizing
others as equals--these republics were forced to ally themselves with
the opponents of slavery and to encourage the presentation of their
case through the champions of anti-slavery in the legislative halls.
Without regard to their more recent internal politics and modern
difficulties, the recognition of these republics as independent powers
forms one of the great landmarks in the Negro's progress toward
democracy, and justice.

CHARLES H. WESLEY

FOOTNOTES:

[411] Paxson, "Independence of South American Republics," pp. 17-18.

[412] Foster, "A Century of American Diplomacy," p. 154.

[413] Reddaway, "The Monroe Doctrine," p. 15.

[414] Robinson and Beard, "The Development of Modern Europe," Vol. 2,
p. 22.

[415] _Ibid._, p. 27.

[416] Leger, "Haiti, Her History and Distractors," p. 22.

[417] Madiou (fils) describes the mutual cruelties of the French and
natives. "l'Histoire d'Haiti."

[418] Leger, "Haiti," p. 125.

[419] In this struggle 50,000 Frenchmen were lost. Gastonnet des
Fosses. "La Perte d'une Colonie," p. 34.

[420] Bird, "The Black Man or Haytian Independence (1869)," p. 60.

[421] Christophe assumed the title of king of Haiti in 1811.

[422] Leger, "Haiti," p. 168.

[423] During the presidency of Boyer (1818-1848) several invitations
were sent to the free colored people of the United States to migrate
to Haiti. Agents were sent and plans to cooperate with colonization
groups in America were encouraged. The constitution of 1843 abolished
the presidency for life, which was held by Boyer, and instituted a
service for four years. The Republic is still governed by the
stipulations of this constitution. Leger, p. 179.

[424] Seger, Haiti, p. 179.

America was subjected to these taxes as shown by: "While the citizens
of France are scarcely affected in their importations to Haiti, the
Americans here import and our merchants at home export scarcely any
article that is free."--"Commercial Relations," Vol. 1, p. 560.

[425] Annals of Congress, 15th Congress, 2d Session, p. 113. This
resolution was agreed to and the Committee was appointed.

[426] Annals of Congress, 17th Congress, 2d Session, p. 477. Agreed to
without debate.

[427] Report of Register, Treasury Department, _Gale and Seaton's
Register of Debates_, appendix, 18th Congress, 2d Session.

[428] Bassett, "History of United States," p. 383.

[429] _Official Gazette_ of Columbia, February, 1826. Quoted by Hayne,
19th Cong., 1st Session, _Gale and Seaton's Register_, p. 156.

[430] _Gale and Seaton's Register_, 19th Cong., 1st Session, p. 329.
General Bolivar, himself, was kindly disposed to Haiti, as disclosed
by the correspondence which passed between President Petion and the
General, just previous to the revolution in Venezuela. 4,000
rifles, provisions and ammunition were given by Haiti to the
expedition.--"Expedition de Bolivar par le Senateur Marion aine," pp.
41-43, 1849.

[431] Cf. "Messages and Papers of the Presidents," Richardson,
1789-1897, Vol. 2, p. 320.

[432] _Gale and Seaton's Register_, 1825-1826, p. 330.

[433] _Gale and Seaton's Register_, 1825-1826, p. 166.

[434] _Congressional Globe_, 25th Congress, 2d Session, p. 457.

[435] _National Intelligencer_, December 19, 21, 1838.

[436] _Congressional Globe_, 25th Congress, 3d Session, p. 219.

[437] _Ibid._, p. 220.

[438] _Ibid._, p. 241, March 4, 1839.

[439] _Ibid._, 26th Congress, 1st Session, p. 164.

[440] Garrison and Garrison, "Life of Garrison," Vol. 2, p. 248.
_Liberator_, 9:3.

[441] _Congressional Globe_, 28th Congress, 1st Session, p. 504.

[442] Clark, "United States Intervention in Hayti (1852)," p. 4.

[443] _Ibid._, p. 21. In 1844, San Domingo seceded and became the
Dominican Republic. Frequent quarrels ensued between the two parts of
the Island. Therefore the reason for this suggestion for interference.
Cf. "San Domingo and the United States," John Bassett Moore, _Review
of Reviews_, March, 1905, p. 298.

[444] Clark, p. 30. _Congress. Globe_, 32d Cong., 1st Session, p.
1769.

[445] Clark, p. 28.

[446] Sir Spencer St. John, "Hayti or The Black Republic," p. 86.

[447] _Ibid._, p. 380.

[448] Leger, "Recueil des traites et Conventions de la Republique
d'Haiti," 23.

[449] _Congress. Globe_, 37th Congress, 2d Session, p. 1775. Speeches
of Chas. Sumner, published variously, Washington, April 23, 1862, p.
6. Cf. "Contre la Reconnoissance de la Republique Haitienne (1825)"
par M. Coustelin. La Norman pere Librairie, Paris.

[450] Cf. Kennedy's "Colonization Report."

[451] McPherson, "History of Liberia," Johns Hopkins University
Studies, 9th Series, X, p. 34.

[452] _Ibid._, p. 39.

[453] _Ibid._, p. 38. "But the delicacy with which the dissension on
the slavery question made it necessary to handle every subject
remotely bearing on that bone of contention, prevented him (Roberts)
from obtaining even the formal recognition of Liberia."

[454] _Congress. Globe_, 37th Cong., 2d Session, p. 2500.

[455] "Treaties and Conventions concluded between the Republic of
Liberia and Foreign Powers, 1848-1892," pp. 9, 17, 23, 30, published
by the Department of State, Monrovia, Liberia.

[456] _Congress. Globe_, 37th Cong., 2d Session, p. 2501.

[457] This is quite evident from the fact that in 1860, out of 60
countries trading with the United States, Haiti stood 27th and Liberia
29th. (Statistical View of Commerce of United States, exhibiting the
value of exports to and imports from foreign countries, and the number
and tonnage of American and foreign vessels arriving from and
departing to each foreign country during the fiscal year ending June
30, 1860, Treasury Department, Register's Office, April 21, 1862.)

John L. Wilson, commercial agent at Cape Haytien, wrote, June 5, 1854:
"By a recognition of the Independence of Hayti, our commerce would be
likely to advance still more. Our citizens trading there would enjoy
more privileges, besides standing on a better footing. Many decided
advantages might be obtained through treaty and our own government
would exercise a wholesome influence over theirs, of which it stands
much in need."--"Commercial Relations," Vol. 4, p. 509.

Seth Webb, commercial agent at Port au Prince, wrote, December 12,
1861: "I must say with frankness to the Department, that I find my
position much embarrassed by the failure of our government to take any
steps toward acknowledging the nationality of Haiti, or entering into
the usual relations of country, which exist between neighboring
peoples."--To Hon. Wm. H. Seward, Sec. of State, U. S. Commercial
Agency, Port au Prince.

[458] April 18, 1850. Quoted in _N.Y. Tribune_, November 9, 1860.

[459] _Ibid._, November 9, 1860.

[460] "Messages and Papers of the Presidents," Vol. 4, p. 47.

[461] Garrison and Garrison-Garrison, Vol. 4, p. 33. Liberator, 31:
194.

[462] _African Repository_, February, 1862, p. 41.

"The Executive Committee of the American Colonization Society observe
with deep interest that the President of the United States has in his
late message recommended that the Republic of Liberia should be
acknowledged as independent. They also notice his recommendation of
some plan of colonization for free people of color in some clime
congenial to them."

[463] _Ibid._, May, 1862, p. 157.

[464] _Ibid._, April, 1862, p. 111.

[465] _Congress. Globe_, 37th Cong., 2d Session, February 4, 1862.

[466] _Congress. Globe_, 37th Cong., 2d Session, February 4, 1862.

[467] _Globe_, 37th Congress, 2d Session, p. 1806.

[468] _Ibid._, pp. 2501-2506.

[469] _Ibid._, p. 1807.

[470] Seth Webb to Seward, Sec. of State, December 12, 1861.

[471] La Republique d'Haiti et les Etats-Unis de l'Amerique, desirant
rendre durables et solides l'amitie et la bonne entente, qui regnent
heureusement entre les deux nations liberales, ont resolu de fixer
d'une maniere claire, nette et positive les regles qui devront etre, a
l'avenir, religieusement suivies entre l'une et l'autre, au moyen d'un
traite d'amitie, de commerce et de navigation, ainsi que d'extradition
de criminels fugitifs.--Leger, "Recueil des Traites," etc., p. 84.

[472] "Treaties and Conventions concluded between the Republic of
Liberia and Foreign Powers, 1848-1892."

[473] Grimke, "Chas. Sumner," p. 343.

[474] Chas. Sumner's Works, Vol. XIV, pp. 306-309, XV, pp. 270-272.
Memoirs and Letters of Chas. Sumner, E. L. Pierce, pp. 68-69.

[475] _The African Repository_, August, 1862, p. 255. This was passed
after thanking the Liberian Commissioners, who had addressed them.

[476] Resolution of the Senate: _Resolved_, that the independence of
Texas ought to be acknowledged by the United States whenever
satisfactory information shall be received that it has in successful
operation a civil government capable of performing the duties and
fulfilling the obligations of an independent power.--_Journal of the
Senate_, July 1, 1836.

THREE NEGRO POETS: HORTON, MRS. HARPER, AND WHITMAN[477]

With the exception of a few noteworthy individuals, conscious literary
effort on the part of the Negro in America is, of course, a matter of
comparatively recent years. Decades before Emancipation, however,
there were those who yearned toward poetry as a means of artistic
expression, and sought in this form to give vent to their groping,
their striving, and their sorrow. Handicapped as they were, scores of
these black bards must forever remain unknown. Even after the Civil
War those who had gifts were frequently held back by insufficient
education or the lack of other advantages of culture. At least three
persons, however, in the long period between Phillis Wheatley and Paul
Dunbar, deserve not wholly to pass unnoticed. These were George Moses
Horton, Mrs. Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, and Albery A. Whitman. Each
one of these poets had faults and even severe limitations as an
artist. Each one had also, however, a spark of the divine fire that
occasionally even kindled a flame.

George M. Horton was born a slave in Chatham County, North Carolina,
in 1797. Later he became the property of one Hall Horton, son of
James, who, from all accounts, was a very hard master. George,
however, was permitted to hire his time out at Chapel Hill, the seat
of the University of North Carolina, where by some accounts he
received twenty-five cents a day for his labor, by others fifty cents.
He was very ambitious. He was fond of the melodies and hymns sung at
campmeetings, and learned to read largely by matching the words he
knew in the hymnal to those in a spelling-book. Many people of
distinction became interested in his abilities; several legends exist
as to his instructors; and Dr. Caldwell, president of the University,
was for some years a special patron. George's earliest poetical
compositions, however, had to be written down for him by other people.
His work was infused with his desire for freedom, and much of it was
suggested by the common evangelical hymns, as were the following
lines:

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