The Struggle for the Recognition of Haiti and Liberia as Independent Republics

If any good reason exists why we should persevere longer in withholding our recognition of the independence and sovereignty of Haiti and Liberia, I am unable to discern it. Unwilling, however, to inaugurate a novel policy in regard to them without the approbation of Congress, I submit to your consideration the expediency of an appropriation for maintaining a Chargé d’Affaires near each of these states. It does not admit of doubt that important commercial advantages might be secured by favorable treaties with them.

Abraham Lincoln (1871) quoted in Charles H. Wesley, “The Struggle for the Recognition of Haiti and Liberia as Independent Republics,” Journal of Negro History (October 1917)

Image: “The shield and emblem of Liberia as they might be.” From Sir Harry Johnston’s Liberia (1906). Source: New York Public Library Digital Gallery.