Letter from Frederick Douglass to Secretary of State James G. Blaine
Frederick Douglass was known as “the Great Orator” and was one of the most prominent leaders of the abolitionist movement in the decades leading up to the Civil War. He was also a government employee who served two years as Minister Resident and Consul General at Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and Charge d’affaires to the Dominican Republic from 1889 to 1891.
This letter is in answer to the appointment from President Benjamin Harrison, accepting the position of Minister Resident and Consul General. The letter was written by Frederick Douglass on his personal letterhead, with the address of "Cedar Hill, Anacostia, D.C.," printed at the top.
Douglass looked forward to fulfilling his duties. In the letter, he wrote “that my influence, in the opinion of Mr. President, would be the most potent we could send thither, for the peace, welfare, and prosperity of that warring and dissatisfied people.” The ideals Douglass carried into his consular post were not aligned with the U.S. Government and private business's ideas of securing a foothold in the Caribbean. Douglass’s role as the representative of the United States in Haiti was forcibly reduced during a failed attempt to negotiate a long-term land lease. Months after the deal collapsed, Frederick Douglass resigned and returned to Washington, DC.
Letter from Frederick Douglass to Secretary of State James G. Blaine, June 25, 1889, National Archives Identifier: 119652164.
Letter from Frederick Douglass to Secretary of State James G. Blaine, June 25, 1889, page 2, National Archives Identifier: 119652164.
View and download the Letter from Frederick Douglass to Secretary of State James G. Blaine in the National Archives Catalog. You can explore more records held in the National Archives at College Park through the National Archives Catalog or by visiting our research room in person. These records are located in Record Group 59: General Records of the Department of State, Series: Despatches from Diplomatic Officers, 1789-1906.