“DOUBLY FOREIGN”: BRITISH CONSULS IN THE ANTEBELLUM SOUTH, 1830 - 1860 By MICHELE ANDERS KINNEY Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Arlington in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON August 2010 Copyright © by Michele Anders Kinney 2010 All Rights Reserved DEDICATED TO ANDERS You are my heart ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Several people have contributed to the preparation of this dissertation. I wish to thank Dr. Stanley H. Palmer, who chaired the dissertation committee, provided invaluable encouragement throughout the project, and actively supported my endeavor. He is a wonderful mentor and I will be forever grateful and indebted to him. I also wish to thank the other members of the dissertation advisory committee, Dr. Douglas Richmond and Dr. Elisabeth Cawthon. Their critical evaluations were especially helpful in the structural modifications to my arguments that made the final product far superior than anything I would imagine. I am forever indebted to them. A special thanks goes to the University of Texas at Arlington’s Library staff. In particular, I would like to thank the staff of the Inter-Library Loan program. I also would like to thank the staffs that work at the many libraries I visited for their invaluable help in finding materials: the staff at the British National Archives, Kew, England; Duke University Special Collections; Emory University Special Collections; Georgia Historical Society Special Collections; the U.S. Regional Archives in Georgia; the University of South Carolina Special Collections; and Wallace State Genealogy Collection. I also need to thank the library staff of the Georgia Historical Society, the South Carolina Historical Society, the clerks at Mobile county courthouse, Chatham county courthouse, iv Charleston county courthouse. It is due to the dedication of librarians everywhere that history students are eternally grateful. I would like to especially thank the Dean of Liberal Arts, Dr. Beth Wright and her staff and the Graduate School Dean and staff for their assistance in providing funding for conferences for me to “try out” my arguments to future peers and receive necessary and constructive feedback. I would like to thank Trudy and Ben Termini. It is due to the generosity of benefactors such as the Terminis, that graduate students, such as myself, may travel overseas for research. Furthermore, I wish to thank Dr. Robert Fairbanks, Head of the History Department at the University of Texas in Arlington and Dr. Thomas Adam, Ph.D Graduate Advisor. Both men have shown compassion, understanding, and encouragement when necessary and whose support continues to motivate me and other graduate students to complete their degrees. I would like to thank James Cotten and Robin Deeslie, History Department Secretaries for their gentle reminders of deadlines and forms. I would like to thank the many people that pushed, nudged, and questioned my sanity, and without whose friendship and guidance this study would not have been completed. I would like to thank Dr. John K. Severn for his friendship and commitment and without whom this journey would have never begun. I am eternally grateful and indebted to him. Without Dr. Severn, I would probably still be thinking about pursuing a doctorate degree without actually having done so. I would also like to thank Dr. Dennis Reinhartz and Dr. David Buisseret. For the v many students that later became their friends, their wisdom touches us all. They will always be guiding beacons of light. Finally, I wish to thank my patient husband, Michael, and our beloved son, Anders. Now that I have finally completed this study, we can take a family vacation together as promised. April 20, 2010 vi ABSTRACT “DOUBLE FOREIGN:” BRITISH CONSULS AND SLAVERY IN THE ANTEBELLUM SOUTH, 1830 - 1860 Michele Anders Kinney, PhD. The University of Texas at Arlington, 2010 Supervising Professor: Dr. Stanley H. Palmer Upon ending their slavery in the British West Indies in 1833, Great Britain became known as the “Great Emancipator.” Britain immediately began an official foreign policy campaign to end the slave trade and slavery wherever it existed. In the United States slavery continued to be deeply rooted in the culture of the Antebellum South, causing Britain to give the region a great deal of attention based upon British ethical, moral, and ideological concerns over slavery and the trade. Between 1833 and 1860, activities associated with southern slavery created unique moral and ethical challenges for the Foreign Office and British consuls sent to represent the official Foreign Policies against slavery and the trade in several port cities including Norfolk, Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, and New Orleans. Because no such list of who these men were exists, the researcher created Appendix A which includes a comprehensive list of the British vii consuls sent to the South from 1830 to 1860 and which may be helpful for future researchers. On one hand, the Foreign Office not only had to placate but also to seek trade alliances with the South for the all-important King Cotton for British factories; on the other hand, the Foreign Office continually attempted to promote Britain’s abolitionist principles and ideology. This dissertation shows that the British Consuls, who were the foot soldiers on the ground in the South, were ethically and morally challenged because of what they encountered on a daily basis. Furthermore, the consuls were honor-bound to remain loyal to the British government, its laws, and foreign policy issues. On the other hand, the consuls were in essence exiled persons far away from home surrounded by slavery and slavery economics. However, the details of the private lifestyles they led, the businesses they operated, and the ideologies they espoused during their tenure in office often remained unknown to the Foreign Office because of the great distance between the London home office and the consuls’ duty stations. By examining how these individuals, who lived on the empire’s periphery, interacted with the slaveholding communities in which they found themselves living and working within reveals how far they were ethically and morally tested. Investigating British consuls sent to the South from 1830 to 1860 is vitally important to understanding the difficulties and challenges of Britain’s foreign policy position as the “Great Emancipator” in the Atlantic World. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................. iv ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................ vii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ................................................................................ xiii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................... xiv Chapter Page 1. A RESEARCHER’S JOURNEY: HISTORIOGRAPHY AND ARGUMENT ....................................... 1 1.1 Theories and Methods ............................................................ 3 1.2 Transatlantic Identity .............................................................. 6 1.3 What this Study is Not .......................................................... 17 1.4 Difficulties of Research ......................................................... 20 1.5 Theory and Argument ........................................................... 23 2. THE BRITISH FOREIGN SERVICE: ITS JOURNEY TO THE AMERICAN SOUTH ............................. 27 2.1 Brief History of the British Consular Service ......................... 28 2.2 The Foreign Service Office Personnel Hierarchy and Procedures for Dispatch Review ............................................................. 36 2.3 Foreign Secretaries: Background and Characteristics of Office Holders ..................................... 39 2.4 Requirements for Appointment and Duties of a Consular Office ............................................. 45 2.5 The Class System on the Periphery and at Home ................................................................... 53 ix 2.6 Controversies of Office ......................................................... 59 2.7 Few Rewards with Many Burdens of Office .......................... 70 2.8 Conclusion ........................................................................... 74 3. MIGRATING CONSULS: CHALLENGES IN FORMING IDENTITIES IN THE TRANSATLANTIC WORLD ........................................................ 77 3.1 The Physical Migration Phase .............................................. 80 3.1.1. Social Desirability of Consular Positions .............................................. 89 3.2 The Settlement Phase .......................................................... 91 3.2.1. The Meaning of Being British in the Slave South ............................................... 92 3.2.2. Making Cultural Comparisons ............................... 99 3.2.3. Settlement Phase Problems ................................ 107 3.2.4. Missing Their Homeland Affected Their Ability To Settle ........................................ 115 3.2.5. The Issue of Children Affected the Consuls’ Ability to Settle .............................. 117 3.2.6. Money Problems Associated with Settlement ......................................................... 120 3.2.7. Slavery in America and the Conflict of British Abolitionist Ideology .......................................... 124 3.2.8. The Negro Seamen Acts: