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The Limits of Sympathy: The United States and the Independence of Spanish America

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2009

Piero Gleijeses
Piero Gleijeses
Affiliation:
Piero Gleijeses is Professor of US Foreign Policy, School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University.
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Abstract

Sir, is there to be no limit to our benevolence for these People? There is a point, beyond which, even parental bounty and natural affection cease to impose an obligation. That point has been attained with the States of Spanish America.1

Of course there was sympathy for the Spanish American rebels in the United States. How could it have been otherwise? The rebels were fighting Spain, long an object of hatred and contempt. This alone justified goodwill, as did the hope for increased trade and the prospect of a significant loss of European influence in the hemisphere.2 But how deep did this sympathy run?

In the Congressional debates of the period there was much more enthusiasm for the cause of the Greeks than that of the Spanish Americans.3 Similarly, the press referred frequently to private collections of funds (‘liberal donations’) for the Greek fighters – not for the Spanish Americans. This is not surprising. The US public could feel a bond with the Greeks – ‘it will become even quite fashionable to assist the descendants of those who were the bulwark of light and knowledge in old times, in rescuing themselves from the dominion of a barbarian race'.4 Unlike the Greeks, however, the Spanish Americans were of dubious whiteness. Unlike the Greeks, they hailed not from a race of giants, but – when they were white – from degraded Spanish stock.5 Some US citizens felt for them the kinship of a common struggle against European colonial rule; others agreed with John Quincy Adams: ‘So far as they were contending for independence, I wished well to their cause; but I had seen and yet see no prospect that they would establish free or liberal institutions of government.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Latin American Studies , Volume 24 , Issue 3 , October 1992 , pp. 481 - 505
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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References

1 William Rives (H-Va), 6 Apr. 1826, Register of Debates, 19th Cong., 1st sess., vol. 2, part 2, p. 2,084.

2 The French minister in Washington asserted: ‘The existence of other American nations strengthens the United States; it opens new commercial opportunities… it enhances its political influence; the collapse of the Spanish empire offers it the possibility of territorial expansion.’ De Neuville, Hyde, Mémoires et Souvenirs du Baron Hyde de Neuville, vol. 2 (Paris, 1890), p. 203.Google Scholar

3 On Greece, see esp. The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States, 18th Cong., 1st sess., vol. I, pp. 805–6, 870–75, 914–19, 1,083–1,214. The most important debates on Spanish America occurred in March 1818. (Debates, 16th Cong., 1st sess., vol. 2, pp. 1,465–1,655), in Feb. 1821 (Debates, 16th Cong., 2nd sess., vol. 3, pp. 1,042–55, 1,072–92), and in early 1826 (see below, pp. 494–502).

4 Quotations from Niles' Weekly Register, 24 Jan. 1824, p. 325 and 13 Dec. 1823, p. 228 (italics in the original). See also ibid., 3 Jan. 1824, p. 275; ibid., 10 Jan. 1824, p. 289; ibid., I May 1824, p. 133. The North American Review referred to ‘moving appeals to the sympathy and generosity of the American public, in aiding a cause so righteous in its nature, and so noble in its objects, as that of Grecian emancipation’ (vol. 18 [Apr. 1824], p. 412), while the Boston Daily Advertiser, 1 Jan. 1824, reported three meetings held within a few days in the Hartford area to raise funds for the Greeks. In addition to the newspapers cited above, the statement in the text is supported by an examination of the Daily National Intelligencer (Washington DC), The Intelligencer (Lexington, Va), American and Commercial Daily Advertiser (Baltimore) and The Enquirer (Richmond). I would like to thank Mr. Luis Díaz, a graduate student at the Johns Hopkins University, who reviewed these four newspapers and the Boston Daily Advertiser and generously shared his insights and his vast cache of photocopies with me.

5 ‘It does not yet appear that there exists in any of those provinces the material and elements of a good national character… We know not in fact whence such materials and elements could come. Certainly not from Spain and Portugal… South America will be to North America, we are strongly inclined to think, what Asia and Africa are to Europe’. (North American Review, vol. 12 [Apr. 1821], pp. 434–5; see also ibid., vol. 5 [May 1817], pp. 30–31; ibid., vol. 19 [July 1824], pp. 158–208; ibid., vol. 21 [July 1825], p. 154; ibid., vol. 26 [Jan. 1828], p. 172.)

6 Adams, Charles Francis (ed.), Memoirs of John Quincy Adams, Comprising Portions of His Diary from 1795 to 1848, vol. 5 (Philadelphia, 1875)Google Scholar, entry of 9 March 1821, p. 325.

7 In some cases, such as volume 23 (Sept. 1822 to March 1823), almost every issue mentions these outrages.

8 Wirt quoted by Adams, John Quincy, entry of 26 Nov. 1823, Memoirs, vol. 6, p. 205.Google Scholar The best books on the US attitude toward the independence of Spanish America are Griffin, Charles, The United States and the Disruption of the Spanish Empire, 1810–1822 (New York, 1937)Google Scholar; Whitaker, Arthur, The United States and the Independence of Latin America, 1810–1822 (New York, 1964 [1941])Google Scholar; Johnson, John, A Hemisphere Apart: The Foundations of United States Policy toward Latin America (Baltimore, 1990).Google Scholar

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10 Currier, Theodore, Los corsarios del Río de la Plata (Buenos Aires, 1929), p. 15.Google Scholar

11 Griffin, United States, p. 104. The best sources on the privateers are Currier, Los corsarios, and Griffin, United States, pp. 100–5, 116–20, 149–50, 245–7, 261–2 and ‘Privateering’. Also useful are Bealer, Lewis, Los corsarios de Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires, 1937)Google Scholar; Whitaker, United States, pp. 275–316; Rivas, Raimundo, ‘El corso y la piratería en Colombia’, Bolettin de Historia y Antiguedades, vol. 31 (1944), pp. 118–167.Google Scholar

12 Currier, Los corsarios, p. 33. Over 3,500 US sailors served on privateers commissioned by Buenos Aires alone (ibid.; see also Bealer, Los corsarios, pp. 43–4).

13 Between 1817 and 1820, the US Congress promulgated five neutrality laws to control privateering. Despite sympathetic juries (in the major US seaports many interests were involved in privateering), a number of US pirates were sentenced, and in many cases executed. (For two cases that occurred in rapid succession, see The Enquirer [Richmond], 11 Apr. 1820, p. 3 and the following issues of the Salem Gazette: 23 May 1820, p. 2; 26 May 1820, p. 2; 16 June 1820, p. 3.) For an interesting series of editorials on the trials and on the ‘serious controversy [that] has arisen’ over privateering, see the Daily National Intelligencer, 13 Aug. 1819, p. 2 (quoted); 19 Aug. 1819, p. 2; 13 Sept. 1819, p. 2.

14 Whitaker, United States, p. 70. See also McMaster, John, The Life and Times of Stephen Girard, Mariner and Merchant, vol. 2 (Philadelphia, 1918), pp. 163–171.Google Scholar

15 Bolívar to Guillermo White, 1 May 1820, in Lecuna, Vicente (ed.), Cartas del Libertador, vol. 2 (Caracas, 1929), p. 157.Google Scholar

16 For a tentative list, see Griffin, United States, p. 258, n. 62. See also ibid., pp. 68, 109–10, 128–32, 145–7, 257–8.

17 See Dawson, Frank Griffith, The First Latin American Debt Crisis: The City of London and the 1822–25 Loan Bubble (New Haven, 1990)Google Scholar, esp. pp. 22–68; Rippy, Fred, British Investments in Latin America, 1822–1949 (Minneapolis, 1959)Google Scholar, esp. p. 20, Table 1; Humphreys, R. A., ‘British Merchants and South American Independence’, Proceedings of the British Academy, vol. 51 (1966), pp. 151–174Google Scholar; Goebel, Dorothy, ‘British-American Rivalry in the Chilean Trade, 1817–1820’, Journal of Economic History, vol. 2 (1942), pp. 190–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar The total amount borrowed by Colombia, Chile and Peru in 1822 had an aggregate face value of £4,200,000 and netted over £3,000,000.

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20 Although some say there were as many as 6,000 foreigners in Bolívar's army, it is probable that the actual number present in any campaign did not exceed 1,200. (Hasbrouck, Alfred, Foreign Legionaries in the Liberation of Spanish South America [New York, 1928], p. 588.Google Scholar Hasbrouck is the foremost authority on the subject.) This number can be better appreciated if one considers the small size of the rebel forces throughout the war (thus at Ayacucho the rebels numbered less than 6,000). While the bulk of volunteers was British – Englishmen and Irish – there was a sizeable group of Germans, and a sprinkling of other nationalities, including a few from the USA. (A handful of foreigners served also in the other Spanish American armies.) The most outstanding of the US volunteers may have been Alexander Macaulay, who served for two years in the forces of New Granada until he was executed by the Spaniards in 1813. (On Macaulay, see Wilgus, Curtis, ‘Some Activities of United States Citizens in the South American Wars of Independence, 1808–1824’, The Louisiana Historical Quarterly, vol. 14 [1931], p. 192Google Scholar; and Chandler, Charles, Inter-American Acquaintances, rev. ed. [Sewanee, Tenn., 1917], pp. 116 and 138.)Google Scholar On foreign volunteers in the rebel armies, see also Lambert, Eric, ‘Los legionaries británicos’, in La Casa De Bello, Fundación, Bella y Londres: segundo congreso del bicentenario, vol. I (Caracas, 1980), pp. 355–376Google Scholar; Marquez, Luis Cuervo, Independencia de las colonias hispano-americanas. Participación de la Gran Bretaña y de los Estados Unidos, vol. I (Bogotá, 1938), pp. 303–331, 347–408Google Scholar; Pi Sunyer, Carlos, Patriotas americanos en Londres (Caracas, 1978), pp. 253–286Google Scholar; Ortiz, Sergio Elias, Franceses en la independencia de la Gran Colombia, rev. ed. (Bogotá, 1971).Google Scholar

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22 The communiqué, dated 11 Dec. 1824, was reprinted in Niles' Weekly Register of 7 May 1825, pp. 156–8.

23 Neumann, William, ‘United States Aid to the Chilean Wars of Independence’, Hispanic American Historical Review, vol. 27 (May 1947), pp. 204–219CrossRefGoogle Scholar (statistics from p. 219); Wilgus, , ‘Some Activities’, pp. 197–202Google Scholar; Worcester, Donald, Sea Power and Chilean Independence (Gainesville, 1962)Google Scholar; Langlois, Luis, Influencia del poder naval en la historia de Chile, desde 1810 a 1910 (Valparaíso, 1911), pp. 27–105Google Scholar; Encina, Francisco, Historia de Chile (Santiago de Chile, 1953), vol. 7, pp. 416–419, 425–431, 569–584 and vol. 8, pp. 5–32, 67–87, 188–189 and 254–278.Google Scholar On Wooster, see Chandler, Charles, ‘Admiral Charles Whiting Wooster in Chile’, American Historical Association Annual Report… for the Year 1916 (Washington DC, 1919), pp. 447–456.Google Scholar

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26 On one occasion the government and the people of the United States had been more generous: between September 1791 and June 1793, the Washington administration loaned $726,000 to the French planters in Haiti to help them suppress the revolt of the slaves, while Thomas Jefferson assured the planters' envoys that the United States ‘wished…to render them every service they needed’ and lamented that ‘the negroes will perhaps never be entirely reduced’. The people, too, responded generously: US volunteers joined the planters, US merchants extended credit, and some state assemblies voted aid. The planters' final defeat in June 1793 ended this magnanimous display. See Treudley, Mary, ‘The United States and Santo Domingo, 1798–1866’, Journal of Race Development, vol. 7 (1916–1917), pp. 102–111Google Scholar and esp. Matthewson, Timothy, ‘George Washington's Policy Toward the Haitian Revolution’, Diplomatic History, vol. 3 (Summer 1979), pp. 321–336.CrossRefGoogle Scholar The Jefferson quotes are from Jefferson to William Short, 24 Nov. 1791, in Cullen, Charles et al. (eds.), The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 20 (Princeton, 1982), p. 330Google Scholar and Jefferson to David Humphreys, 9 Apr. 1792, ibid., vol. 23 (Princeton, 1990), p. 387.

27 Hasbrouck, Foreign Legionaries, pp. 54–5, 105–12, quote p. 106.

28 The Latin American Policy of the United States (New York, 1967 [1943]), p. 47.Google Scholar

29 As R. A. Humphreys notes, ‘British merchants and their spokesmen constantly expressed their fears lest the United States, by cementing friendly relations with the new Spanish American states, should reap decisive commercial advantages, monopolize the carrying trade, and undersell British goods. And though the commerical classes in general welcomed the announcement in 1812 of American recognition of Spanish American independence, approbation was mingled with dismay. From now on pressure for British recognition steadily grew’. (‘Anglo-American Rivalries and Spanish American Emancipation’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 5th Series, no. 16, 1966, p. 142.)Google Scholar

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33 The Rising American Empire (New York, 1965), pp. 98–99.Google Scholar

34 Thus Diego Portales, Chile's great statesman, wrote, ‘Let us not escape from one dominator only to fall under the sway of another! We must distrust those gentlemen who voice heartfelt approval of our Liberators, but who have not helped us in any way’ (Carcovich, Luis, Portales y la politica internacional hispano-americana, Santiago de Chile, 1937, p. 5, n. 1).Google Scholar

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36 Bolívar to Santander, 28 June 1825, ibid., p. 13.

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38 Bolívar to Pedro Gual and P. Briceño Méndez, 11 Aug. 1826, ibid., vol. 6, p. 54.

39 Austin, Stephen to Austin, J. E. B., 13 June: 1823, in Barker, Eugene (ed.), The Austin Papers, vol. I (Washington DC, 1924), p. 671.Google Scholar

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42 Clay, Apr. 1820, Debates, 16th Cong., 1st sess., vol. 2, p. 1,730.

43 See Bemis, Latin American Policy, pp. 31–72 and Whitaker, United States, pp. 573, 580 and 582–3.

44 Jefferson to Madison, 27 Apr. 1809, in Washington, H. A. (ed.), The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 5 (Washington DC, 1853), p. 444.Google Scholar italics in the original.

45 Adams to Hugh Nelson, 28 Apr. 1823, Ford, Worthington (ed.), The Writings of John Quincy Adams, vol. 7 (New York, 1917), p. 372.Google Scholar

46 Jefferson to Madison, 27 Apr. 1809, Washington, Writings, vol. 5, p. 445.

47 Adams to Nelson, Ford, Writings, vol. 7, p. 373. The image of the ripe fruit was first used by Clay during a 1820 House debate: Florida ‘must certainly come to us. The ripened fruit will not more surely fall’. (Apr. 1820, Debates, 16th Cong., 1st sess., vol. 2, p. 1,728.)

48 See the Congressional records and the relevant volumes of the Clay Papers. I borrow the expressions ‘cool-headed’ Adams and ‘warm-hearted’ Clay from Bemis, Latin American Policy, p. 47.

49 See Franco, José L., La batalla por el dominio del Caribe y el golfo de México. I: Politico continental americana de España en Cuba, 1812–1830 (Havana, 1964), pp. 337–379Google Scholar; González, Margarita, Bolívar y la independencia de Cuba (Bogotá, 1985), pp. 74–141Google Scholar; De Leuchsenring, Emilio Roig, Bolívar, el Congreso Interamericano de Panamá, en 1826, y la independencia de Cuba y Puerto Rico (Havana, 1956)Google Scholar; Jaramillo, Juan Diego, Bolívar y Canning, 1822–1827 (Bogotá, 1983), pp. 293–321Google Scholar; Secretaría De, México Relaciones Exteriores, Un esfuerzy de México por la independencia de Cuba (México, 1930).Google Scholar

50 Clay to Henry Middleton, 10 May 1825, in Manning, William (ed.), Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States Concerning the Independence of the Latin-American Nations, vol. I (New York, 1925), p. 248.Google Scholar

51 See Clay to Alexander Everett, 27 Apr. 1825, in ibid., pp. 242–3; Nelson to Clay, 15 June 1825, Clay Papers, vol. 4, pp. 442–3; Everett to Clay, 21 Nov. 1825, Manning, Independence, vol. 3, pp. 2,071–72; Everett to Duke del Infantado, 20 Jan. 1826, ibid., esp. pp. 2,086–8; Everett to Clay, 8 Feb. 1826, ibid., pp. 2,100–03; Everett to Clay, 13 Feb. 1826, ibid., pp. 2103–06; Clay to Everett, 13 Apr. 1826, ibid., vol. I, pp. 271–3; Everett to Duke del Infantado, 20 May 1826, ibid., vol. 3, pp. 2,119–20; Everett to Clay, 2 June 1826, ibid., pp. 2,120–23.

52 Clay to Middleton, 10 May 1825, in Manning, Independence, vol. I, pp. 244–50; Clay to Rufus King, 13 May 1825, ibid., pp. 250–1; Clay to James Brown, 13 May 1825, ibid., pp. 2; 1–2; Middleton to Count Nesselrode, 2 July 1825, ibid., vol. 3, pp. 1,873–4; King to Clay, 9 Aug. 1825, ibid., pp. 1,552–6; Clay to King, 17 Oct. 1825, ibid., vol. I, pp. 254–60; Clay to Middleton, 26 Dec. 1825, ibid., pp. 265–6; Middleton to Nesselrode, 27 Feb. 1826, ibid., vol. 3, pp. 1,879–80; Clay to Middleton, 21 Apr. 1826, ibid., vol. I, pp. 273–4; Middleton to Nesselrode, 30 Aug. 1826, ibid., vol. 3, pp. 1,883–4; Clay to Baron de Maltitz, 23 Dec. 1826, ibid., vol. I, pp. 278–9.

53 Brown to Clay, 15 July 1825, ibid., vol. 2, pp. 1,412–16; Brown to Clay, 26 Aug. 1825, Clay Papers, vol. 4, pp. 593–5; Middleton to Clay, nos. 1,026 and 1,027, both 27 Aug. 1825, Manning, Independence, vol. 3, pp. 1,877–8; Brown to Clay, 11 Jan. 1826, ibid., vol. 2, pp. 1,419–20; Everett to Clay, 24 Feb. 1826, ibid., vol. 3, pp. 2,107–11; Brown to Clay, 12 March 1826, ibid., vol. 2, pp. 1,420–22; Middleton to Clay, 18 July 1826, ibid., vol. 3, pp. 1,881–2; Middleton to Clay, 5 Sept. 1826, ibid., p. 1,884; Middleton to Clay, 8 Sept. 1826, ibid., p. 1,885.

54 Canning to King, 7 Aug. 1825, Webster, Britain, vol. 2, pp. 520–24; Canning to King, 21 Aug. 1825, ibid., pp. 524–5; Canning to King, 8 Sept. 1825, ibid., pp. 526–8. For the US reply, see King to Clay, 24 Aug. 1825, Manning, Independence, vol. 3, pp. 1,563–4; Clay to King, 17 Oct. 1825, Clay Papers, vol. 4, pp. 742–5; Clay to King, 26 Oct. 1825, ibid., pp. 766–7.

55 John Berrien (S-Ga), March 1826, Register, 19th Cong., 1st sess., vol. 2, p. 285, italics in the original.

56 Clay to Anderson, Richard and Sergeant, John, 8 May 1826, Clay Papers, vol. 5 (Lexington, 1973), pp. 331–335Google Scholar, quote p. 335. See also Clay to Joel Poinsett, 26 March 1825, Manning, Independence, vol. I, pp. 230–32; Clay to Anderson, 16 Sept. 1825, ibid., pp. 252–4; Clay to Poinsett, 24 Sept. 1825, Clay Papers, vol. 4, pp. 683–4; Poinsett to Clay, 12 Oct. 1825, Manning, Independence, vol. 3, pp. 1,636–40; Clay to José María Salazar, 20 Dec. 1825, ibid., vol. I, pp. 263–4; Clay to Pablo Obregón, 20 Dec. 1825, ibid., p. 263, n. 3; Poinsett to Clay, I Feb. 1826, ibid., vol. 3, pp. 1,651–52; Anderson to Clay, 7 Feb. 1826, ibid., vol. 2, pp. 1,291–2; Poinsett to Clay, 8 March 1826, ibid., vol. 3, pp. 1,653–5; Anderson to Clay, 9 March 1826, ibid., vol. 2, pp. 1,292–3; José Ravenga to Anderson, 17 March 1826, ibid., pp. 1,294–6; Poinsett to Clay, 18 March 1826, ibid., vol. 3, p. 1,655; Clay to Salazar, 11 Apr. 1826, ibid., vol. I, pp. 270–71.

57 See Padrón, Francisco Morales, ‘Conspiraciones y masonería en Cuba (1810–1826)’, Anuario de Estudios Americanos, vol. 29 (1972), pp. 343–377Google Scholar, and Garrigó, Roque, Historia documentada de la conspiración de los Soles y Rayos de Bolivar (Havana, 1929), vol. I, pp. 145–250, vol. 2, pp. 117–259.Google Scholar On Cuba in the first three decades of the nineteenth century, see also Vilá, Herminio Portell, Historia de Cuba en sus relaciones con los Estados Unidos y España, vol. I (Havana, 1938), pp. 105–291Google Scholar; Y Morales, Vidal Morales, Iniciadores y primeros mártires de la revolución cubana, vol. I (Havana, 1931), pp. 1–204Google Scholar; Thomas, Hugh, Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom (New York, 1971), pp. 72–199Google Scholar; Santovenia, Emeterio and Shelton, Raul, Cuba y su historia, vol. I (Miami, 1966), pp. 233–300Google Scholar; Fraginals, Manuel Moreno, El ingenio: complejo económico social cubano del azúcar (Havana, 1978), vols. I and 2.Google Scholar

58 Jefferson to James Monroe, 24 Nov. 1801, in Ford, Paul (ed.), The Works of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 9 (New York, 1905), p. 317.Google Scholar With a sensitivity unusual among his peers, John Quincy Adams thus described the condition of free blacks throughout the United States: they were ‘the poor, the unfortunate, the helpless. Already cursed by the mere color of their skin, already doomed by their complexion to drudge in the lowest offices of society, excluded by their color from all the refined enjoyments of life accessible to others, excluded from the benefits of a liberal education, from the bed, from the table, and from all the social comforts of domestic life.’ (Memoirs, vol. 5, p. 210, entry of 29 Nov. 1820).

59 Floyd (H-Va), 31 Jan. 1826, Register, 19th Cong., 1st sess., vol. 2, Part I, p. 1,215.

60 ‘Address to the People of the Congressional District’, 26 March 1825, Clay Papers, vol. 4, pp. 144–5.

61 Clay to Francis Preston Blair, 29 Jan. 1825, ibid., p. 47.

62 Andrew Jackson to Samuel Swartwout, 23 Feb. 1825, Niles' Weekly Register, 12 March 1825, p. 21. For a superb account of the crisis, see Remini, Robert, Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Freedom, 1822–1832 (New York, 1981), pp. 74–99Google Scholar; see also Peterson, Merrill, The Great Triumvirate: Webster, Clay, and Calhoun (New York, 1987), pp. 116–131.Google Scholar The furore can be sampled in the pages of Niles' Weekly Register: see the issues of; Feb. 1825, pp. 366–8; 12 Feb., pp. 372–84; 19 Feb., pp. 385–8; 12 March, pp. 20–8; 2 Apr., pp. 71–9; 9 Apr., pp. 87–9; 16 Apr., pp. 102–5; 30 Apr., pp. 133–8; 28 May, pp. 203–8.

63 Remini, Andrew Jackson, p. 105.

64 ibid., p. 109.

65 By itself, this could be misleading because the thoroughness of the reporting improved with the publication of the Register of Debates in January 1825.

66 The Register of Debates includes substantive speeches by at least sixty members of Congress. For previous debates on Latin America see above, n. 3.

67 ‘Message of the President of the United States to the Senate, relative to the Panama Mission’, 26 Dec. 1825, Register, 19th Cong., 1st sess., vol. 2, part 2, Appendix, p. 43.

68 John Campbell (H-Ohio), 20 Apr. 1826, ibid., p. 2,427.

69 Berrien, March 1826, ibid., part 1, p. 291. See also: Martin Van Buren (S-NY), March 1826, ibid., pp. 252–3; Samuel Ingham (H-Pa), 3 Feb. 1826, ibid., p. 1,267; Charles Wickliffe (H-Ky), 5 Apr. 1826, ibid., part 2, p. 2,046; James Buchanan (H-Pa), 11 Apr. 1826, ibid., p. 2,178.

70 Berrien, March 1826, ibid., part 1, p. 291.

71 Hugh White (S-Tenn), March 1826, ibid., p. 212.

72 Levi Woodbury (S-NH), March 1826, ibid., p. 194, italics in the original.

73 Alexander Thomson (H-Pa), 3 Feb. 1826, ibid., p. 1,294, italics in the original.

74 Samuel Carson (H-NC),; Apr. 1826, ibid., part 2, p. 2,058.

75 White, March 1826, ibid., part 1, p. 215.

76 Robert Hayne (S-SC), March 1826, ibid.

77 White, March 1826, ibid., p. 215. See also Van Buren, March 1826, ibid., p. 251, James Hamilton (H-SC), 10 Apr. 1826, ibid., part 2, p. 2,162, and John Carter (H-SC), 15 Apr. 1826, ibid., p. 2,279.

78 Josiah Johnston (S-La), March 1826, ibid., part 1, p. 222. See also Alfred Powell (H-Va), 4 Apr. 1826, ibid., part 2, p. 2,024; Thomson, 18 Apr. 1826, ibid., p. 2,341; William Archer (H-Va), 19 Apr. 1826, ibid., p. 2,381.

79 In his subsequent message to the House, Adams sensibly confined his remarks on religious freedom in Latin America to that of US citizens only (Adams to the House of Representatives, 15 March 1826, ibid., part 2, Appendix, p. 71).

80 Quotations from Hayne, March 1826, ibid., part 1, p. 175 and Joseph Hemphill (H-Pa), 13 Apr. 1826, ibid., part 2, pp. 2,237–8.

81 Quotations from Hayne, March 1826, ibid., part 1, p. 175 and Joseph Lecompte (H-Ky), 22 Apr. 1826, ibid., part 2, p. 2,512. See also Van Buren, March 1826, ibid., part 1, pp. 246–7 and Berrien, March 1826, ibid., p. 277.

82 Daniel Webster (H-Mass), 2 Feb. 1826, ibid., part 1, p. 1,242. For the text of Adams' statements, see: ‘Message of the President to both Houses of Congress’, 6 Dec. 1825, ibid., part 2, Appendix, p. 3, ‘Message of the President of the United States to the Senate, relative to the Panama Mission’, 26 Dec. 1825, ibid., p. 43; Adams to the House of Representatives, 15 March 1826, ibid., p. 71.

83 Powell, 4 Apr. 1826, ibid., part 2, p. 2,023. See also William Brent (H-La), 6 Apr. 1826, ibid., p. 2,061, and Richard Buckner (H-Ky), 6 Apr. 1826, ibid., p. 2,091.

84 John Weems (H-Md), 15 Apr. 1826, ibid., p. 2,296. See also George McDuffie (H-SC), 21 Apr. 1826, ibid., p. 2,497.

85 Webster, 14 Apr. 1826, ibid., p. 2,260.

86 Asher Robbins (S-RI), March 1826, ibid., part 1, p. 182.

87 Berrien, March 1826, ibid., p. 285.

88 Johnston, March 1826, ibid., p. 223.

89 Brent, 6 Apr. 1826, ibid., part 2, p. 2,062.

90 Johnston, March 1826, ibid., part 1, p. 228.

91 White, March 1826, ibid., p. 214. Three Congressmen demurred. Both James Johnson (H-Ky) and Campbell believed that the United States had no right to use force to oppose an attack by Mexico and Colombia on Cuba – unless (Johnson stressed) the attack led to a slave insurrection, in which case ‘it would comport with the laws of Heaven and earth to put a stop to it’. (Johnson, 19 Apr. 1826, ibid., part 2, p. 2,407 [quote] and Campbell, 20 Apr. 1826, ibid., p. 2,415.) Senator John Holmes (S-Me) set a moral standard that was unique in the debate: ‘Suppose the worst, an insurrection of the slaves, a servile war – can you, ought you to interfere? Against the insurgents?… A war out of the limits of the United States, a foreign war, to reduce men to servitude!…No, sir.’ (March 1826, ibid., part 1, p. 274.) Campbell and Holmes opposed US attendance to the Panama Congress; Johnson approved.

92 Robbins, March 1826, ibid., part 1, p. 181. See also Edward Livingston (H-La), 1 Feb. 1826, ibid., p. 1,231; Silas Wood (H-NY), 2 Feb. 1826, ibid., p. 1,239; Buckner, 7 Apr. 1826, ibid., part 2, p. 2,097; John Wurts (H-Pa), 11 Apr. 1826, ibid., p. 2,192; Wood, 21 Apr. 1826, ibid., p. 2,483.

93 Hayne, March 1826, ibid., part 1, p. 169, italics in the original. See also Samuel Houston (H-Tenn), 2 Feb. 1826, ibid., p. 1,259.

94 Johnston, March 1826, ibid., p. 228.

95 Brent, 6 Apr. 1826, ibid., part 2, p. 2,064. See also Powell, 4 Apr. 1826, ibid., p. 2,028; Livingston, 12 Apr. 1826, ibid., p. 2,214; Webster, 14 Apr. 1826, ibid., pp. 2,273–4; John Test (H-Ind), 21 Apr. 1826, ibid., pp. 2,469–70.

96 Berrien, March 1826, ibid., part 1, p. 284. See also Van Buren, March 1826, ibid., pp. 248–51, and Churchill Cambreleng (H-NY), 20 Apr. 1826, ibid., part 2, p. 2,437.

97 Berrien, March 1826, ibid., part 1, pp. 290–91.

98 In fact, Adams had plainly stated that he opposed the recognition of Haiti and that, at Panama, the US envoys would seek to dissuade the Spanish Americans from such a step, if one were contemplated (see Adams to the House of Representatives, 15 March 1826, ibid., part 2, Appendix, p. 71).

99 Quotations from Forsyth (H-Ga), 21 Apr. 1826, ibid., part 2, p. 2,507 and Livingston, 21 Apr. 1826, ibid., See also Thomas Hart Benton (S-Ms), March 1826, ibid., part 1, p. 330; White, March 1826, ibid., p. 208; Johnston, March 1826, ibid., p. 233; Wood, 2 Feb. 1826, ibid., p. 1,239; Wickliffe, 5 Apr. 1826, ibid., part 2, p. 2,044.

100 Thomas Reed (S-Miss), March 1826, ibid., part 1, p. 342, italics in the original.

101 For the two lonely exceptions, see Robbins, March 1826, ibid., p. 183 and Thomson, 18 Apr. 1826, ibid., part 2, pp. 2,344–5. As for Adams, his view had been long settled: ‘Do what we can, the commerce with South America will be much more important and useful to Great Britain than to us, and Great Britain will be a power vastly more important to them than we, for the simple reason that she has the power of supplying their wants by her manufactures. We have few such supplies to furnish them, and in articles of export are their competitors.’ (Memoirs, vol. VI, p. 25, entry of 20 June 1822).

102 Cayton, Andrew, ‘The Debate over the Panama Congress and the Origins of the Second American Party System’, The Historian, vol. 47 (Feb. 1985), p. 234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar For similar outbursts by other foes of the administration, see Buchanan, 11 Apr. 1826, ibid., part 2, p. 2,179; Wurts, 12 Apr. 1826, ibid., p. 2,194; Forsyth, 17 Apr. 1826, ibid., p. 2,308; and, of course, the irrepressible John Randolph (S-Va): ‘I do know – the world knows – that the principle of the American Revolution, and the principle that is now at work in the peninsula of South America and in Guatemala and New Spain, are principles as opposite as light and darkness’ (1 March 1826, ibid., part 1, p. 113).

103 For Greece, see above, n. 3; for the Indian Removal Bill, see Register, 21th Cong., 1st sess., vol. 6, part 1, pp. 305–83, 506–11, 540–41, 585–98 and ibid., part 2, pp. 993–1,136.

104 Brown to Clay, 29 May 1826, Clay Papers, vol. 5, p. 404.

105 See Canning to Col. P. Campbell, 7 Jan. 1826, in Webster, Britian, vol. I, pp. 399–400; Canning to Manuel José Hurtado, 23 Jan. 1826, ibid., pp. 402–3; Canning to Charles Vaughan, 8 Feb. 1826, ibid., vol. 2, pp. 542–3; Canning to Edward Dawkins, 18 March 1826, nos. 1, 4, 5, ibid., vol. I, pp. 403–9.

106 Bolívar to Pétion, 29 Jan. 1816, in Sociedad De Venezuela, Bolivariana (ed.), Escritos del Libertaelor, vol. 9 (Caracas, 1973), p. 9.Google Scholar At the time, Haiti was divided into two states, one under Pétion, the other under Henry Cristophe. Since the latter played no role in the events considered here, for simplicity I refer to Pétion's state as Haiti.

107 Bolívar to Richard Wellesley, 27 May 1815, in Lecuna, Cartas, vol. I, pp. 152–3.

108 Bolívar to Maxwell Hyslop, 19 May 1815, ibid., pp. 147–8.

109 Bolívar to Hyslop, 30 Oct. 1815, ibid., p. 216.

110 A letter to Hyslop is eloquent: ‘Our common friend General Robertson informed me that you had generously offered to pay the cost of having my letter to the government of New Granada printed. The printer has asked for one hundred pesos, and I have paid him with the six onzas that you had kindly loaned me. With those six onzas I meant to pay my rent, and I shall be unable to do so if you are not kind enough to replace them’ (8 Nov. 1815, ibid., p. 218).

111 Bolívar to Hyslop, 30 Oct. 1815, ibid., p. 217.

112 See Bolívar to Luis Brion, 2 Jan. 1816, ibid., p. 223.

113 See Lecuna, Vicente, ‘Expedición de Los Cayos’, Cultura Venezolana, vol. 35 (Jan.-June 1928), pp. 25–244Google Scholar and Verna, Paul, Pétion y Bolívar (Caracas, 1969), pp. 167–204.Google Scholar On Bolívar in Haiti, see also Sociedad De Venezuela, Bolivariana, Escritos del Libertador, vol. 9, pp. 1–79.Google Scholar

114 For the Haitians' participation in the expedition, and the exploitation by Spanish propaganda of Bolívar's stay in Haiti (claiming for instance that Bolívar, supported by Haitian troops, intended to create a new republic of Haiti in Tierra Firme), see Lecuna, ‘Expedición’, p. 19 and Verna, Pétion y Bolívar, pp. 204–7.

115 See Bolívar to Pétion, 4 Sept. 1816, in Sociedad De Venezuela, Bolivariana, Escritos del Libertador, vol. 9, pp. 340–346Google Scholar, quote p. 340; Pétion to Bolívar, 7 Sept. 1816, in Verna, Pétion y Bolívar, p. 538; Verna, Paul, Robert Sutherland: un amigo de Bolívar en Haiti (Caracas, 1966), pp. 21–37 and 43–82.Google Scholar

116 Bolívar to Pétion, 9 Oct. 1816, in Lecuna, Cartas, vol. I, p. 255.

117 Bolívar to Pétion, 4 Sept. 1816, in Sociedad De Venezuela, Bolivariana, Escritos del Libertador, vol. 9, p. 346.Google Scholar

118 For a discussion, see Gleijeses, Piero, ‘Haiti's Contribution to the Independence of Spanish America’, Revista/Review Interamericana, vol. 9 (Winter 1979/1980), pp. 511–528.Google Scholar

119 R. A. C. Sperling, minute on Spring Rice to Gray, no. 767, 13 June 1916, F0371/2792, Public Records Office.