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An Ohio Yankee at Dom Pedro's Court: Notes on Brazilian Life in the 1850's by an American Diplomat, Robert C. Schenck

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Allan Peskin  and
Donald Ramos
Allan Peskin
Affiliation:
Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio
Donald Ramos
Affiliation:
Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio
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Extract

In 1850, after four terms in the United States Congress as a Whig from the Dayton, Ohio district, Robert Cumming Schenck decided not to run for reelection. Despondent over the recent death of his wife, Schenck yearned for a restful stay in a warmer clime. Consequently, he applied for a diplomatic post, the customary reward for loyal party service. President Millard Fillmore, a fellow Whig, obliged Schenck with an appointment as Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary to Brazil. A railroad promoter, land speculator and politician, Schenck had few formal qualifications for diplomatic service other than the confidence of Secretary of State Daniel Webster and a fluent command of the French language. These were, however, more substantial assets than most nineteenth century American diplomats could boast, and to them Schenck added a brisk, businesslike manner, immense energy and a certain gruff charm.

Type
Documents
Information
The Americas , Volume 38 , Issue 4 , April 1982 , pp. 497 - 514
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1982

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References

1 Until the early twentieth century, the United States had no ambassadors, deeming that rank too aristocratic for the representatives of a simple, virtuous republic.

2 Therry, James R., The Life of General Robert Cumming Schenck (unpublished dissertation, Georgetown University, 1968), 112–138.Google Scholar

3 Iglesias, Francisco, “Vida política, 1848–1868,” in História geral da civilização brasileira, ed. de Holanda, Sérgio Buarque , vol. 5 (São Paulo, 1967), pp. 14–35;Google Scholar de Sousa, J.A. Soares, “O brasil e o Rio de la Piata de 1828 à queda de Rosas,” ibid., pp. 128–132.Google Scholar

4 These letters are part of the Robert C. Schenck papers at the Miami University Library, Oxford, Ohio. The entire collection is also available on microfilm from the Hayes Memorial Library at Fremont, Ohio. The Brazilian correspondence can be found in Reel 1.

5 Schenck’s observations on the brevity or absence of adolescence are repeated by other travellers such as Codman, John, Ten Months in Brazil: With Notes on the Paraguayan War, 2nd ed. (New York, 1872), pp. 172–173 Google Scholar and Schenck’s contemporaries in Brazil, Fletcher, James C. and Kidder, D.P., Brazil and the Brazilians, 6th ed. (Boston, 1866), p. 164.Google Scholar Also see Freyre, Gilberto, “Social Life in Brazil in the Middle of the Nineteenth Century,” Hispanic American Historical Review, 5 (November, 1922), pp. 597–630.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

6 Schenck’s description of social mobility is particularly significant in view of the debate still raging over the racial or class basis of discrimination in Brazil. For an overview of this debate and a very useful bibliography see Corwin, Arthur F., “Afro-Brazilians: Myths and Realities,” in Slavery and Race Relations in Latin America, ed. Brent, Robert (Westport, Connecticut, 1974), pp. 385–437.Google Scholar

7 Clearly shoes, coats, and ties were all marks of social standing but we have not been able to verify whether they were required for use on public transportation as reported by Schenck.

8 Yellow fever was a danger which forced many well-to-do residents of Rio de Janeiro to spend the summer months at mountain resorts such as Petropolis and Novo Friburgo.

9 Farinha, or manioc flour, would have been new to Schenck, accoustomed as he was to flour made from grain.

10 Schenck’s reference is to the involvement of the Argentine caudillo Manuel de Rosas in the Uruguayan civil war between the Colorados and the Blancos and the subsequent defeat of Rosas by an alliance of dissident Argentines, Brazil, and Uruguay headed by Justo José de Urquiza.

11 Schenck was evidently unaware that his tour of duty in Brazil occurred simultaneously with the end of the trade. A proposal to end the African traffic in slaves had been the subject of debate for years but in September 1851 it was enacted into law by a conservative ministry which found itself under both internal and external pressure. Unlike earlier legislation, the 1851 law was enforced and the traffic quickly stopped. Conrad, Robert, The Destruction of Brazilian Slavery, 1850–1888 (Berkeley, 1972), pp. 20–29,Google Scholar and Bethell, Leslie, The Abolition of the Brazilian Slave Trade (Cambridge, 1970).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

12 Schenck is probably referring to slaves shipped from Mozambique. Philip Curtin estimates that Mozambique and Madagascar slaves comprised 22.5% of all slaves imported into Brazil between 1817 and 1843. Curtin, Philip D., The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census (Madison, 1969), pp. 240 and 296.Google Scholar

13 Schenck’s reference is to slaves from the Bight of Benin who traditionally were shipped from the slave trading fortress of Elmina. Mina slaves were generally highly sought after. Curtin, , The Atlantic Slave Trade, pp. 208–209 and 240.Google Scholar According to Curtin, slaves from the Bight of Benin comprised 1.0% of all slaves imported into Brazil between 1817 and 1843.

14 This was a period of very intense political turmoil for Uruguay as internal differences were exacerbated by the involvement of Uruguay’s larger neighbors, Argentina and Brazil. Schenck’s reference is probably to President Juan Francisco Giro.

15 Schenck was to play a brief but critical role in the Argentine civil conflicts as he helped bring hostilities to an end. Page, Thomas J., La Plata, the Argentine Confederation, and Paraguay (New York, 1859), pp. 42–44.Google Scholar Page, the commander of the “Water Witch” a U.S. Navy vessel used by Schenck while conducting negotiations in the Rio de la Plata region, provides a glimpse of Schenck's mission to that area as well as reproducing some of Schenck’s official correspondence.