Caricature of a Haitian Ambassador in the Antebellum US

Lithograph by an unknown artist from 1839 depicting US president Martin Van Buren meeting with a Haitian diplomat (Source). Of course, formal diplomatic relations between the US and Haiti did not begin until 1862 (when most Southerners in Congress had seceded and joined the Confederacy so they couldn't actually block diplomatic relations), but this political cartoon reveals the constant presence and reminder of Haiti and black revolt in the antebellum US. Note how the shadowy figure behind the chair to the left of Martin Van Buren (standing man on the left) is actually part of a plot against the pro-slavery Southern wing in Van Buren's own party, which is why he organized a meeting between a Haitian ambassador and Van Buren. Indeed, these pro-slavery Democrats actually put words in Van Buren's mouth, claiming he voted to enfranchise colored (Black) Americans, another lie!

Obviously, the Haitian ambassador is ridiculed and his dialogue actually indicates a mockery of African-American English of the 19th century while his references on the progress of the abolitionist movement in the US would obviously be more proof to Southern elites of how their 'rights' to own human property were undermined by the hated abolitionists. The ambassador's words below:

"I ab de honor to present de compliments ob de President ob Hayti and congratulations on de cause of Bobolition goin ahead in de Nited States."

Interestingly, even before formal diplomatic relations, white American traders were always in Haiti. Indeed, one white American was actually mayor of St. Marc in the early 1840s! Or the large amount of Haitian coffee consumed in the US during this period, alongside other Haitian exports. The presence of thousands of African Americans moving to and fro in the first two independent states in the US would also have strengthened bonds between the US and Haiti, regardless of the wishes of white Americans opposed to emancipation and recognition of Haitian independence. 

Finding this image online (while actually looking for images of Haitian historical figures in the first half of the 19th century) has actually rekindled my passion for trying to understand more of the nuances and complexities of Haitian-US relations in this first century. Boyer's time in the US, for instance, is another episode that influenced Haiti (the white American mayor of St. Marc was an acquaintance, if I remember correctly, of Boyer's during that time) as well as the question of US annexation of the Dominican Republic and Mole St. Nicholas in the second half of the century.