Frederick Douglass lecture on Haiti (1893) - Revision history

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 ====Preface====
-[[File:Haitian Worlds Fair pavillion Chicago 1893.jpg|180px|thumb|right|Pavillion of the Republic of Haiti at the World's Fair]] The following lecture on Haiti was delivered in America for the purpose of demonstrating the fact to the United States that the Haitians are people like ourselves; that what they have gained they will maintain; that whatever concessions may be asked by man, woman or child, if not conflicting with the constitution of their country, they will without hesitation grant. The fact that their skin is dark and that what supremacy they now have was gained by bloodshed, is no reason why they should be looked upon and treated as though they were unable to comprehend those things, which are to their best interests. The course taken by their progenitors to obtain freedom is in no manner different from that pursued by the original promoters of American independence. Our paths are strewn with the bones of our victims. For whatever United States, the good people of this country will be held responsible. We ask you to read and judge well. The appointment of Mr. Douglass to represent this country in Haiti was bitterly opposed by millions of Americans, but in spite of all opposition he went, and since his return and the success of his mission made public, his assailants and opposers have repented of their error and their respect and administration for him and for those who sent him is greater now than ever before. So far as he was concerned his services were rendered according to the opinion of the good people and the constitution of the United States. We hope the President will ever be successful in appointing another such minister to represent the United States in [[Haiti]]. .......... <br>
+[[File:Haitian Worlds Fair pavillion Chicago 1893.jpg|230px|thumb|right|Haiti's Pavilion at the Chicago World's Fair.]] The following lecture on Haiti was delivered in America for the purpose of demonstrating the fact to the United States that the Haitians are people like ourselves; that what they have gained they will maintain; that whatever concessions may be asked by man, woman or child, if not conflicting with the constitution of their country, they will without hesitation grant. The fact that their skin is dark and that what supremacy they now have was gained by bloodshed, is no reason why they should be looked upon and treated as though they were unable to comprehend those things, which are to their best interests. The course taken by their progenitors to obtain freedom is in no manner different from that pursued by the original promoters of American independence. Our paths are strewn with the bones of our victims. For whatever United States, the good people of this country will be held responsible. We ask you to read and judge well. The appointment of Mr. Douglass to represent this country in Haiti was bitterly opposed by millions of Americans, but in spite of all opposition he went, and since his return and the success of his mission made public, his assailants and opposers have repented of their error and their respect and administration for him and for those who sent him is greater now than ever before. So far as he was concerned his services were rendered according to the opinion of the good people and the constitution of the United States. We hope the President will ever be successful in appointing another such minister to represent the United States in [[Haiti]]. .......... <br>
 GEO. Washington, Manager. <p align="right">April, 1893</p>

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:56, 13 June 2011
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−	In January of 1893 in the 90th year of independence for [[Haiti]], [[Frederick Douglass]] (1818 – 1895) the [[abolitionist]], editor, orator, author and statesman gave a lecture at the Haitian pavilion dedication ceremonies at the World's Fair in Chicago. The Haitian pavilion was the first to have been completed.	+	In January of 1893 in the 90th year of independence for [[Haiti]], [[Frederick Douglass]] (1818 – 1895) the [[abolitionist]], editor, orator, author and statesman gave a lecture at the Haitian pavilion dedication ceremonies at the World's Fair in Chicago, Illinois. The Haitian pavilion was the first to have been completed.

	==Significance of Frederick Douglas speech on Haiti==		==Significance of Frederick Douglas speech on Haiti==

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 ====Preface====
-The following lecture on Haiti was delivered in America for the purpose of demonstrating the fact to the United States that the Haitians are people like ourselves; that what they have gained they will maintain; that whatever concessions may be asked by man, woman or child, if not conflicting with the constitution of their country, they will without hesitation grant. The fact that their skin is dark and that what supremacy they now have was gained by bloodshed, is no reason why they should be looked upon and treated as though they were unable to comprehend those things, which are to their best interests. The course taken by their progenitors to obtain freedom is in no manner different from that pursued by the original promoters of American independence. Our paths are strewn with the bones of our victims. For whatever United States, the good people of this country will be held responsible. We ask you to read and judge well. The appointment of Mr. Douglass to represent this country in Haiti was bitterly opposed by millions of Americans, but in spite of all opposition he went, and since his return and the success of his mission made public, his assailants and opposers have repented of their error and their respect and administration for him and for those who sent him is greater now than ever before. So far as he was concerned his services were rendered according to the opinion of the good people and the constitution of the United States. We hope the President will ever be successful in appointing another such minister to represent the United States in [[Haiti]]. .......... <br>
+[[File:Haitian Worlds Fair pavillion Chicago 1893.jpg|180px|thumb|right|Pavillion of the Republic of Haiti at the World's Fair]] The following lecture on Haiti was delivered in America for the purpose of demonstrating the fact to the United States that the Haitians are people like ourselves; that what they have gained they will maintain; that whatever concessions may be asked by man, woman or child, if not conflicting with the constitution of their country, they will without hesitation grant. The fact that their skin is dark and that what supremacy they now have was gained by bloodshed, is no reason why they should be looked upon and treated as though they were unable to comprehend those things, which are to their best interests. The course taken by their progenitors to obtain freedom is in no manner different from that pursued by the original promoters of American independence. Our paths are strewn with the bones of our victims. For whatever United States, the good people of this country will be held responsible. We ask you to read and judge well. The appointment of Mr. Douglass to represent this country in Haiti was bitterly opposed by millions of Americans, but in spite of all opposition he went, and since his return and the success of his mission made public, his assailants and opposers have repented of their error and their respect and administration for him and for those who sent him is greater now than ever before. So far as he was concerned his services were rendered according to the opinion of the good people and the constitution of the United States. We hope the President will ever be successful in appointing another such minister to represent the United States in [[Haiti]]. .......... <br>
 GEO. Washington, Manager. <p align="right">April, 1893</p>
 ====Introductory====

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 ==References==
-* Lecture on Haiti.: The Haitian pavilion dedication ceremonies delivered at the World's fair, in Jackson Park, Chicago, Jan. 2d, 1893.: By the Hon. Frederick Douglass ... Introductory by Prof. David Swing. Response of the Director-General Geo. R. Davis ...
+* Lecture on Haiti.: The Haitian pavilion dedication ceremonies delivered at the World's fair, in Jackson Park, Chicago, Jan. 2d, 1893.: By the Hon. Frederick Douglass ... Introductory by Prof. David Swing. Response of the Director-General Geo. R. Davis.
 * Lignum vitae. (2009, August 29). ''Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia''. Retrieved 20:24, September 2, 2000 [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lignum_vitae&oldid=310713161].
 ==External links==

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 ====Frederick Douglass Lecture on Haiti====
-[[image:frederick_douglass.jpg|left|thumb|240px|Frederick Douglass]]Fifteen hundred of the best citizens of Chicago assembled January 2, 1893, in Quinn Chapel, to listen to the following lecture by Honorable [[Frederick Douglass]], ex-United States Minister to the [[Republic of Haiti]].
+[[image:frederick_douglass.jpg|left|thumb|210px|Frederick Douglass]]Fifteen hundred of the best citizens of Chicago assembled January 2, 1893, in Quinn Chapel, to listen to the following lecture by Honorable [[Frederick Douglass]], ex-United States Minister to the [[Republic of Haiti]].
 In beginning his address, Mr. Douglass said:

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 In January of 1893 in the 90th year of independence for [[Haiti]], [[Frederick Douglass]] (1818 – 1895) the [[abolitionist]], editor, orator, author and statesman gave a lecture at the Haitian pavilion dedication ceremonies at the World's Fair in Chicago. The Haitian pavilion was the first to have been completed.
-===1893 Frederick Douglass Lecture on Haiti at the World's Fair in Chicago===
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 The attempt to create angry feeling in the United States against Haiti because she thought proper to refuse us the [[Mole St. Nicolas]], is neither reasonable nor creditable. There was no insult or broken faith in the case. Haiti has the same right to refuse that we had to ask, and there was insult neither in the asking nor in the refusal. [Applause.]
-Neither the commercial, geographical or numerical importance of Haiti is to be despised. [Applause.] If she wants much from the world, the world wants much that she possessess. [Applause.] She produces coffee, cotton, log-wood, mahogany and lignum-vitae. The revenue realized by the government from these products is between nine and ten millions of dollars. With such an income, if Haiti could be kept free from revolutions, she might easily become, in proportion to her territory and population, the richest country in the world. [Applause] And yet she is comparatively poor, not because she is revolutionary.
+Neither the commercial, geographical or numerical importance of Haiti is to be despised. [Applause.] If she wants much from the world, the world wants much that she possessess. [Applause.] She produces coffee, cotton, log-wood, mahogany and lignum-vitae <small>{{fn|1}}</small>. The revenue realized by the government from these products is between nine and ten millions of dollars. With such an income, if Haiti could be kept free from revolutions, she might easily become, in proportion to her territory and population, the richest country in the world. [Applause] And yet she is comparatively poor, not because she is revolutionary.
 The population of [[Haiti]] is estimated to be nearly one million. I think the actual number exceeds this estimate. In the towns and cities of the country the people are largely of mixed blood and range all the way from black to white. But the people of the interior are of pure negro blood. The prevailing color among them is a dark brown with a dash of chocolate in it. They are in many respects a fine looking people. There is about them a sort of majesty. They carry themselves proudly erect as if conscious of their freedom and independence. [Applause.]
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 From the beginning of our century until now, Haiti and its inhabitants under one aspect or another, have, for various reasons, been very much in the thoughts of the American people. While slavery existed amongst us, her example was a sharp thorn in our side and a source of alarm and terror. She came into the sisterhood of nations through blood. She was described at the time of her advent, as a very hell of horrors. Her very name was pronounced with a shudder. She was a startling and frightful surprise and a threat to all slave-holders throughout the world, and the slave-holding world has had its questioning eye upon her career ever since.
-By reason of recent events and abolition of slavery, the enfranchisement of the negro in our country, and the probable completion of the Nicaragua canal, Haiti has under another aspect, become, of late, interesting to American statesmen. More thought, more ink and paper have been devoted to her than to all the other West India Islands put together. This interest is both political and commercial, for Haiti is increasingly important in both respects. But aside from politics and aside from commerce, there is, perhaps, no equal number of people anywhere on the globe, in whose history, character and destiny there is more to awaken sentiment, thought and inquiry, than is found in the history of her people.
+By reason of recent events and abolition of slavery, the enfranchisement of the negro in our country, and the probable completion of the Nicaragua canal, Haiti has under another aspect, become, of late, interesting to American statesmen. More thought, more ink and paper have been devoted to her than to all the other West India Islands [[[Caribbean]]] put together. This interest is both political and commercial, for Haiti is increasingly important in both respects. But aside from politics and aside from commerce, there is, perhaps, no equal number of people anywhere on the globe, in whose history, character and destiny there is more to awaken sentiment, thought and inquiry, than is found in the history of her people.
 The country itself, apart from its people, has special attractions. First things have ever had a peculiar and romantic interest, simply because they are first things. In this, Haiti is fortunate. She has in many things been first. She has been made the theatre of great events. She was the first of all the cis-Atlantic world, upon which the firm foot of the progressive, aggressive and all-conquering white man was permanently set. Her grand old tropical forests, fields and mountains, were among the first of the New World to have their silence broken by trans-Atlantic song and speech. She was the first to be invaded by the Christian religion and to witness its forms and ordinances. She was the first to see a Christian church and to behold the cross of Christ. She was also the first to witness the bitter agonies of the negro bending under the blood-stained lash of Christian slave-holders. Happily too, for her, she was the first of the New World in which the black man asserted his right to be free and was brave enough to fight for his freedom and fortunate enough to gain it.
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 ==See also==
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 ==References==
 * Lecture on Haiti.: The Haitian pavilion dedication ceremonies delivered at the World's fair, in Jackson Park, Chicago, Jan. 2d, 1893.: By the Hon. Frederick Douglass ... Introductory by Prof. David Swing. Response of the Director-General Geo. R. Davis ...
 ==External links==
 * Project Gutenberg: [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/23 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass]
 * Wikipedia: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Douglass Frederick Douglass]
 [[Category:Haiti and the U.S.|Douglass, Frederick Lecture on Haiti]]
 [[Category:Historic Lectures-Speeches-Addresses|Douglass, Frederick Lecture on Haiti]]
 [[Category:Lectures-Speeches-Addresses|Douglas, Frederick Lecture on Haiti]]

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 * [[William Wells Brown - Dessalines]] - Wiliam W. Brown on [[Jean-Jacques Dessalines]].
 * [[William Wells Brown - Toussaint L'Ouverture]] - William Wells Brown on Toussaint Louverture.
 * [[The Struggle for the Recognition of Haiti and Liberia as Independent Republics|The Struggle for the Recognition of Haiti...]] - An article from 1917 detailing Haiti's struggle to gain international recognition.
 * [[Toussaint L'Ouverture and the Haytian Revolutions]] - 1841 speech by the physician James McCune Smith, an abolitionist  as well as a friend and collaborator of Frederick Douglass.