Zavitz British Haitian (original) (raw)

So read the preamble to the British General Consul's 1826 treaty project. Following on the tails of French recognition in the summer of 1825, consul Charles Mackenzie arrived in Haiti the next spring with an assignment from the Foreign Secretary, George Canning, to record information on the internal state of Haiti, its relations with France, and the status of agricultural production, especially in regards to the use and control of free labor. 2 This data would help Mackenzie in his larger mission of drawing up a treaty with Haiti. Additionally, Canning supplied Mackenzie with drafts of the recently signed treaties from the new Spanish American republics. 3 Mackenzie quickly moved to open negotiations with the Haitian plenipotentiary, Secretary General Balthazar Inginac. Unfortunately, within a year, Mackenzie was headed back to England for health reasons and negotiations were at a standstill. Canning instructed Mackenzie to reassure the Haitian Government that this was only a temporary delay and not abandonment by the British. 4 To illustrate continued interest, the British Foreign Office maintained the consul post in Port-au-Prince and created multiple vice consul seats at Haiti's major ports, Cap Haitien, Jacmel, Les Cayes, and Santo Domingo. Over a decade would pass before negotiations would reopen and fifteen years until both governments ratified a treaty. The document, however, was no longer Mackenzie's "Convention of Amity, Commerce and Navigation," but a treaty to