Mexico
"The character of [the Mexican people] cannot be understood, nor the causes of their present condition be fully developed without recurring to the oppression under which they formerly laboured." |
Q: Who appointed Poinsett as Minister to Mexico, and what were Poinsett’s goals and the results of his activities there?
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A: "In the early 1820s, Poinsett served as Special Envoy to Mexico under President Monroe, and then in 1825, under President Adams, he was appointed the United States' first Minister to Mexico, and the ministerial position would eventually evolve into the ambassadorship that we have today. He was charged with trying to purchase Texas, or at the very least, extending the boundaries of the United States as close to the Rio Grande as possible."
Source: Dr. Courtney Tollison, Furman University History Department, Greenville, SC
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Image: Sections from "Transcript of letter from Henry Clay to Joel R. Poinsett, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary U.S. Mexico, September 24, 1825." Henry Clay is shown discussing the goal of negotiating a road from Missouri to Santa Fe with the Mexican government, and is conveying the President's disappointment at the lack of a deal.
Final Result
Poinsett's time as Minister to Mexico did not lead to the annexation of Texas or other Mexican territories (despite an offer of $1 million), due to the new, turbulent Mexican government. Instead, he backed down and signed a treaty that confirmed the boundaries set by the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819. Although no deal had occurred, Poinsett was confident that the continuous settling of Anglo-Americans in Texas would lead to easier negotiations in the future.
The Origin of the Poinsettia
Joel R. Poinsett also happened to encounter an iconic plant, the poinsettia (named in his honor), in Mexico in 1828. Poinsett was a self-taught botanist as a hobby, and stumbled upon this brilliant red flower on a walk one day. He took the plant and cut parts off to send to various friends across the world, exchanging the beautiful flower and earning him most of his fame.
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