The Foreign Service Journal, March 2016

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 57 by Bushrod Washington, the nephew of President George Wash- ington and a Supreme Court justice, and other prominent figures like Henry Clay, the ACS obtained funds from private donors and later from the Virginia legislature and other states to establish Liberia, which led to its independence in 1847 and to Africa’s first democratic republic. Liberia and Haiti were unique in the 19th century, and U.S. assistance played a crucial role in helping to create both countries. Although both were largely ignored in subsequent policies, these republics contributed to weakening the institu- tion of slavery and slowly changing the debate on race relations by demonstrating that blacks were capable of self-government, setting the stage for 20th-century African independence move- ments. Such examples illustrate that foreign assistance can often have unintended outcomes. The first nongovernmental organizations to work overseas were incorporated in the 1810s, spurred in part by the patriotic fervor that followed the War of 1812. Among them was the Amer- ican Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, the afore- mentioned ACS and the American Bible Society, all three early precedents for private actions to transfer democratic ideals and new knowledge to other lands. While their primary aims were evangelizing and promoting Bible studies, they also encouraged democratic values, education reforms, community development and health projects. Peter Parker in China, Isaac Wheelwright in Ecuador and Charles Jefferson Harrah in Brazil all carried out such activities. To cite just one example: in the 1830s and 1840s, Parker introduced Western medicine into China, trained hun- dreds of doctors and developed the Medical Missionary Society of China—while also serving as chargé d’affaires of the U.S. lega- tion and facilitating treaty negotiations with the Qing Dynasty. Some of the first translations into Spanish of the U.S. Dec- laration of Independence and the Bill of Rights entered Latin America thanks to New England merchants and missionaries, through instruction they provided on democratic practices. Together with local leaders, they translated the Federalist Papers and the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin into Spanish to use in newly established public schools. These teachers were not unlike today’s Peace Corps Volunteers, symbolizing the strong spirit of solidarity and shared humanity that has influenced foreign assistance from its inception. A Pan-American Vision In the 1820s, Representative Henry Clay became one of the most ardent champions of United States cooperation with the newly emerging countries of South America. In his speeches advocating diplomatic recognition of these new nations, Clay proposed an “American System” of independent, democratic nations peacefully interconnected by trade and mutual coop- eration, which he saw as important for national growth and pros- perity. Historians see Clay as articulating the first comprehen- sive vision of international development that would later be seen in the creation of the Inter-American System, the Pan American Union, the Good Neighbor Policy, the Organization of American States, the Alliance for Progress and similar regional initiatives. Most presentations of the period highlight the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, often discussing it as the birth of American imperialism. Clay’s positive vision of hemispheric integration and his proposal of a policy of “good neighborhood” are often overlooked or dismissed as self-serving moves to support his political ambitions. His statements on the “spiritual links and great destiny the two Americas could share by building together” are similarly positive, even though they were motivated, at least in part, by a desire to end Spanish trade restrictions and hasten U.S. expansion into Texas. While his plan for hemispheric coop- eration is not well known, Clay is one of the very few among the pantheon of leaders of the Americas who is honored with a bust in the historic OAS headquarters in Washington, D.C. Inspired by Clay’s pan-Americanism, WilliamWheelwright fromNewburyport, Massachusetts, was the first U.S. diplomat in Guayaquil, Ecuador (1825-1829), importing the country’s first steam engine and helping develop local industries. He later became the leading steamship and railroad pioneer in South America, implementing the earliest regional integration projects. Henry Clay (1777-1852) was renowned in the Western Hemisphere as a strong proponent of pan-Americanism. TRANSYLVANIAUNIVERSITYMATTHEWHARRISJOUETT.