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Charles Lennox Wyke and the Clayton-Bulwer Formula in Central America, 1852-1860

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Richmond F. Brown
Richmond F. Brown*
Affiliation:
University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama
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Extract

People here don't care two straws about Central America, or Mosquitia or the Bay Islands or the Honduras boundary,” complained British Foreign Secretary Lord Clarendon to Prime Minister Lord Palmerston in December 1857, “all they wish for is freedom of interoceanic communication and this they believe can be achieved without a quarrel with the U.S.” Clarendon's bitter remark reflected his government's enduring frustration in arranging British holdings in Central America in accord with the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850. That diplomatic landmark was to have commenced an unprecedented era of Anglo-American cooperation in Central America that would finally fulfill the ancient dream of rapid interoceanic transit through the isthmus. The treaty prohibited colonization or fortification of Central America by either side and provided Anglo-American protection for a U.S. company's canalbuilding venture in Nicaragua. But the unfortunate document had yet to bring about the desired ends. No canal had materialized and the “Central American Question” would not go away. In vain the British government had tried to extricate itself from its embarassingly forward position in Central America. In the meantime, a wave of U.S. filibusters, urged on by the bold words and permissive attitude of their government, threatened to trample underfoot the treaty's prohibitions against foreign colonization. By the end of 1857, the Clayton-Bulwer treaty was in imminent danger of U.S. abrogation, and Palmerston and his cabinet had nearly despaired of ever exiting the isthmian quagmire with British honor intact, without at the same time opening the gates for the “most disageeable” Yankees.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 47 , Issue 4 , April 1991 , pp. 411 - 445
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1991

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References

1 Quoted in Bourne, Kenneth, “The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty and the Decline of British Opposition to the Territorial Expansion of the United States, 1857–1860,” Journal of Modern History, 33:3 (September, 1961), 289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

2 The text of the treaty may be found in Correspondence with the United States Respecting Central America, 1850–1855 (London: Harrison and Sons), pp. 50–52.

3 Bourne, , “Decline of British Opposition,” 290.Google Scholar

4 Vanity Fair, (London) February 9, 1884, “Men of the Day, No. 298.” Additional biographical information on Wyke may be found in the Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 1968), XXI, p. 1140; and Modern English Biography (New York, 1965) III, pp. 1530–1531.

5 See especially the recent works by Naylor, Robert A., Penny-Ante Imperialism. The Mosquito Shore and the Bay of Honduras, 1600–1914: A Case Study in British Informal Empire (Rutherford, N.J., 1989)Google Scholar and Dozier, Craig L., Nicaragua’s Mosquito Shore: The Years of British and American Presence (Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 1985).Google Scholar

6 See Naylor, Robert A., “The British Role in Central America Prior to the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850,” HAHR, 40:3 (August, 1960), 351–372 Google Scholar, and Griffith, William J., Empires in the Wilderness: Foreign Colonization and Development in Guatemala, 1834–1844 (Chapel Hill, 1965).Google Scholar

7 Chatfield’s controversial career is expertly examined in Rodríguez, Mario, A Palmerstonian Diplomat in Central America: Frederick Chatfield, Esq (Tucson, 1964).Google Scholar

8 Rodríguez, pp. 281–294.

9 Rodríguez, Chapter 11, pp. 295–326. Stansifer, Charles L. investigated Squier’s role in his dissertation, “The Central American Career of E. George Squier” (Tulane University, 1959).Google Scholar

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11 Quoted in Rodríguez, pp. 316-317; Chatfield’s blockades are discussed on pp. 322–23.

12 Rodríguez, Chapter 12, especially pp. 327–351.

13 Rodríguez, p. 350; Britain, Great, Correspondence … Respecting Central America, 1850–1855, pp. 114–115.Google Scholar

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17 Charles Lennox Wyke to the Earl of Malmesbury, San José, Costa Rica, June 25, 1852, Number 3, and from Managua, July 28, 1852, Number 4, in Great Britain, Public Records Office, Foreign Office, Section 15 (Correspondence Respecting Central America), Volume 76. Hereafter reference to this body of correspondence will be cited by F.O. 15/volume, and number. This article is based largely on the microfilm copy of F.O. 15 housed at Tulane University’s Latin American Library. For Walsh’s comments on the negotiations, see Manning, IV, pp. 272–290. Kerr called Wyke an “exceedingly agreeable gentleman,” cited in Manning, IV, p. 300. Nicaragua’s representatives also praised Wyke’s exemplary behavior, Manning, IV, p. 315.

18 Wyke to Malmesbury, Guatemala City, September 30, 1852, F.O. 15/76, No. 5.

19 These were Palmerston (Whig), to December 1851; Granville (Whig), to February 1852; Malmesbury (Tory), to November 1852; Russell (Whig-Peelite Coalition), to January 1853; and Clarendon (Whig-Peelite Coalition), from 1853 to 1858. For an analysis of the Colonial Office decision, see Waddell, D.A.G., “Great Britain and the Bay Islands, 1821–1861,” The Historical Journal, 2:1 (1959), 59–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

20 Quoted in Potter, David, The Impending Crisis, 1848–1860 (New York, 1976), p. 182;Google Scholar on Pierce and the U.S. mood in the early 1850s, see Chapter 5, pp. 90-120. For rising Anglo-American antagonism see especially Jones, Wilbur D., The American Problem in British Diplomacy, 1841–1861 (Athens, Georgia, 1974), pp. 99–118 Google Scholar, and Bourne, Kenneth, Britain and the Balance of Power in North America, 1815–1908 (Berkeley, 1967), pp. 178–180.Google Scholar

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24 Bourne, , Balance of Power, p. 181;Google Scholar Jones, , American Problem, p. 136.Google Scholar

25 The following information is drawn from Wyke to Malmesbury, Guatemala City, December 13, 1852, F.O. 15/76, No. 14.

26 Wyke to Malmesbury, Guatemala City, December 12, 1852, F.O. 15/76, No. 13.

27 Wyke to Clarendon, Guatemala City, April 30, 1853, F.O. 15/79, Separate.

28 Wyke to Aycinena, Tegucigalpa, November 14,1859, in the Private Collection of Aycinena family papers belonging Margarita Fortuny Nanne in Guatemala City (author's photocopy).

29 For example, Rodríguez, , Paimerslonian Diplomat, pp. 351–358.Google Scholar

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31 Ordóñez, Ramiro, “La familia Varón de Berrieza,” 644–5;Google Scholar Flores, Roberto Zeceña, “Biografías de ex-ministros de relaciones exteriores,” Revista Diplomatica (Guatemala, 1969), 15–19 Google Scholar. In the Archivo General de Centroamerica (AGCA) in Guatemala City, the 1835 protocolo of José Francisco Gavarrete, Al.20, Legajo 840, Expediente 9333, 190-208 contains Pedro’s agreement with his family’s creditors. The private Aycinena family archives belonging to doña Margarita Fortuny Nanne of Guatemala City contains an abundance of personal and financial correspondence of don Pedro and other members of his family documenting their activities. This archive is the principal resource for the author's dissertation in progress on the role of the Aycinena family in Guatemalan history.

32 See Wyke’s complaints in the following: Wyke to Clarendon, Guatemala City, March 19, 1853, F.O. 15/79, no. 9; May 21, 1853, F.O. 15/79, no. 15; and August 30, 1854, F.O. 15/79 Private. Also see Rodríguez, , Palmerstonian Diplomat, pp. 352–354.Google Scholar

33 Wyke to Clarendon, Guatemala City, September 22, 1853, F.O. 15/79, No. 28. On Squier’s activities, see Stansifer, Charles, “E. George Squier and the Honduran Interoceanic Railway Project,” HAHR, 46:1 (February, 1966), 1–27.Google Scholar

34 Wyke to Clarendon, Guatemala City, May 31, 1853, F.O. 15/79, No. 17.

35 Ibid.

36 Clarendon to Wyke, London, August 27, 1853, F.O. 15/78, No. 8.

37 Wyke to Clarendon, Guatemala City, September 22, 1853, 15/79, No. 28.

38 See Borland’s comments in Manning, , Diplomatic Correspondence, 4, pp. 342–388.Google Scholar Woods, James M. analyzes Borland’s mission in “Expansionism as Diplomacy: The Career of Solon Borland in Central America, 1853–1854,” The Americas, 40 (January, 1984), 399–415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

39 Wyke to Clarendon, Guatemala City, April 17, 1854, F.O. 15/82, No. 12.

40 Wyke to Clarendon, October 30, 1853, F.O. 15/79, No. 33.

41 Wyke to Clarendon, November 27, 1853, F.O. 15/79, No. 37.

42 Ibid.

43 Clarendon to Wyke, London, January 19, 1854, F.O. 15/82, No. 3, Confidential.

44 Manning, IV, pp. 385–386.

45 Wyke to Clarendon, May 28, 1854, F.O. 15/82, No. 17.

46 An excellent account of the Borland and “Cyane” incidents may be found in Woods, James, “Expansionism as Diplomacy,” 411–413.Google Scholar

47 Wyke to Clarendon, Guatemala City, October 8, 1854, F.O. 15/82, No. 33.

48 Wyke to Clarendon, Guatemala City, July 29, 1855, F.O. 15/85, No. 38.

49 See Brown, C.H., Agents of Manifest Destiny, pp. 258–273.Google Scholar

50 May, Robert E., The Southern Dream of a Caribbean Empire, 1854–1861 (Baton Rouge, 1973).Google Scholar Other excellent treatments of Walker’s career include Scroggs’, William O. classic Filibusters and Financiers: The Story of William Walker and his Associates (New York, 1916)Google Scholar, Carr, Albert Z., The World and William Walker (New York, 1963)Google Scholar, and Brown, Charles H., The Agents of Manifest Destiny (Chapel Hill, 1983).Google Scholar

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52 Wyke describes Wheeler in his letter to Clarendon of May 28, 1855, F.O. 15/85, No. 27. Wheeler’s experience in Central America is covered in Hudson, Randall O., “The Filibuster Minister: John Hill Wheeler,” North Carolina Historical Review, 49:3 (July, 1972), 280–297.Google Scholar

53 Wyke to Clarendon, Guatemala City, November 16, 1855, F.O. 15/85, No. 50, and December 27, 1855, F.O. 15/85, No. 60.

54 Bourne, Kenneth, Britain and the Balance of Power, pp. 185–186.Google Scholar

55 Wyke to Clarendon, November 28, 1855, F.O. 15/85, No. 56.

56 Wyke to Clarendon, March 31, 1856, F.O. 15/90, No. 18.

57 Wyke to Clarendon, June 30, 1856, F.O. 15/90, No. 38.

58 Wyke to Clarendon, March 31, 1856, F.O. 15/90, No. 18.

59 Wyke to Clarendon, April 30, 1856, F.O. 15/90, No. 19.

60 Wyke to Clarendon, June 30, 1856, F.O. 15/90, No. 38.

61 Wyke to Clarendon, May 29, 1856, F.O. 15/90, No. 29.

62 Brown, Charles, Agents of Manifest Destiny, p. 358.Google Scholar

63 Wyke to Clarendon, September 6, 1856, FO. 15/90, No. 56.

64 Wyke to Clarendon, August 27, 1856, F.O. 15/90, No. 55.

65 Clarendon to Wyke, London, July 3, 1856, F.O. 15/90, No. 18.

66 Clarendon to Wyke, September 3, 1856, F.O. 15/90, No. 22.

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70 Wyke to Clarendon, October 23, 1856, F.O. 15/90, No. 61.

71 Wyke to Clarendon, October 29, 1856, F.O. 15/90, No. 63.

72 Wyke to Clarendon, February 2, 1857, F.O. 15/95, No. 7.

73 Palmerston to Clarendon, December 31, 1857, quoted in Bourne, , “Decline of British Opposition,” 290.Google Scholar

74 Quoted in Bourne, , Balance of Power, pp. 200–201.Google Scholar

75 Quoted in Hobson, J.A., Richard Cobden, The International Man (New York, 1968), p. 153.Google Scholar

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77 Wyke to Clarendon, August 27, 1856, F.O. 15/90, No. 50.

78 Wyke to Edmund Hammond, September 30, 1857, F.O. 15/95, Private.

79 Wyke to Hammond, July 28, 1857, F.O. 15/95, Private.

80 Wyke to Clarendon, September 24, 1857, F.O. 15/95, No. 61.

81 Wyke to Hammond, April 30, 1858, F.O. 15/100, Confidential.

82 Clarendon to Wyke, October 12, 1857, F.O. 15/95, Private.

83 Wyke to Hammond, April 30, 1858, F.O. 15/100, Confidential.

84 Wyke to Malmesbury, August 30, 1858, F.O. 15/100, No. 60.

85 Hammond to Malmesbury, undated, handwritten note in margin of Wyke to Malmesbury, August 30, 1858, written most likely near the end of 1858. Malmesbury, on February 9, 1859, told Wyke that as powerful interests favored the project, he should criticize it only in private, F.O. 15/106, No. 5. Charles Stansifer, in “E. George Squier and the Honduran Railway Project,” mistakenly asserts that Clarendon and Brown, William were brothers; see the Dictionary of National Biography (London, 1917), 3, 37 Google Scholar and 20, p. 347.

86 Jones, W.D., American Problem, pp. 166 Google Scholar and 173.

87 Malmesbury to Wyke, February 16, 1859, F.O. 15/106, No. 6.

88 Clegern, Wayne M., “A Guatemalan Defense of the British Honduras Boundary of 1859,” HAHR, 40:4 (November, 1960), 570–581.Google Scholar

89 Britain, Great, Foreign Office, Correspondence … 1856–1860, p. 254.Google Scholar

90 For example see the letters from Wyke to Pedro de Aycinena, Managua, February 6, 1860, (Private); León, March 20, 1860 and Panama, April 15, 1860, in the private Aycinena family papers belonging to Margarita Fortuny Nanne in Guatemala City (photocopies of which are in the author’s possession).

91 See Clegern, Wayne, “The Guatemala Road, 1859–84,” in British Honduras: Colonial Dead End, 1859–1900 (Baton Rouge, 1967), pp. 97–116.Google Scholar Hints of the growing rift in Wyke and Aycinena’s “understanding” may be found in Wyke’s letter to don Pedro, Panama, April 15, 1860, in the Aycinena family papers of Margarita Fortuny Nanne.

92 Britain, Great, Correspondence … 1856–1860, pp. 263–268.Google Scholar

93 Wyke to Hammond, July 28, 1857, F.O. 15/95, Private.

94 Britain, Great, Correspondence. … 1856–60, pp. 311–314;Google Scholar Wyke to Russell, León, Nicaragua, March 4, 1860, F.O. 15/108, No. 9; Russell to Wyke, London, January 26, 1860, F.O. 15/108, No. 2.

95 Wyke’s negotiations may be followed in the following letters to Russell: Managua, December 24, 1859, F.O, 15/105, No. 11; January 10, 1860, F.O. 15/108, No. 1; January 28, 1860, F.O. 15/108, No. 2; January 28, No. 3; February 11, No. 6; from León, March 4, 1860, No. 9; April 2, No. 12. Wyke’s letters to Aycinena in early 1860 also shed light on his difficulties.

96 Russell to the War Office, London, May 15, 1860, F.O. 15/110, “Domestic Various.” For Wyke’s career in Mexico see Barker, Nancy N., The French Experience in Mexico, 1821–1861, A History of Constant Misunderstanding (Chapel Hill, 1979), pp. 171,Google Scholar 188–9.