Letter from Henry Clay to St. Petersburg

This document is a transcript of a letter sent by Secretary of State President Henry Clay to Henry Middleton, then envoy to Russia. Clay requested that Middleton encourage the Russian government to persuade Spain to give up fighting the wars of independence in the Americas. Clay stated that the wars of independence had already been lost, with many of the former colonies already having established their own new functioning governments, and that any attempt by Spain to regain these former colonies would not only be futile but result in even more bloodshed. Clay further stated that while the invasion of Napoleon into Spain likely hastened the wars of independence, the colonies would have inevitably pushed for independence at some point just as the U.S. did under Britain. Clay hoped that Russia, in its unique position as a powerful European state with no real bias in the conflict, would be able to pressure Spain to stop fighting.

Later in the letter, Clay also discussed the situation of Cuba and Puerto Rico. Clay did not see any strong independence movements emerging in these colonies and believed that if Spain were to stop the bloodshed in other parts of Latin America, they would be able to exit the wars of independence while still retaining control over these two islands. He further wrote that although the U.S. could easily take over Cuba and Puerto Rico from Spain, they would not do so out of respect for Spain’s sovereignty. However, if Spain were to engage in similar violent activities as they had in the rest of Latin America, the U.S. would intervene to protect Cuba and Puerto Rico.

This letter provides important context for the state of Latin America towards the end of the independence period, but for Puerto Rico specifically, it highlights the fact that Puerto Rico, along with Cuba, was not a part of this independence movement. By 1825, when this letter was written, all of the colonies except for these two islands were independent, and Puerto Rico would remain under Spanish rule until the end of the 19^th century, only then to become a territory of the U.S. rather than independent (Chasteen 2016, 115). By not experiencing an independence movement, Puerto Rico had a very different, yet more stable, experience during this period in history than the rest of Latin America.

Works Cited

Chasteen, John Charles. Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America. 4th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2016.

The University of North Texas Libraries, Letter, “Transcript of letter from Secretary of State Henry Clay to Henry Middleton, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary U.S. to St. Petersburg, May 10, 1825,” May 10, 1825, accessed February 11, 2020, https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth216475/m1/1/.