ereto was
presented.[453]

When Liberia declared its independence in 1848, the second Negro
republic entered its demand for the recognition of its sovereignty by
the United States. Henry Clay, one of the early officers of the
American Colonization Society, wrote in a letter dated Ashland,
October 18, 1851: "I have thought for years that the independence of
Liberia ought to be recognized by our government, and I have
frequently urged it upon persons connected with the administration
and I shall continue to do so if I have suitable opportunity."

England recognized the independence of Liberia in 1848 and France in
1852.[454] In 1855 treaties were formed with the Hanseatic Republics,
Lubeck, Bremen and Hamburg, with Belgium in 1858, with Denmark in
1861, with Italy and the Netherlands in 1862, with Holland, Sweden,
Norway and Haiti in 1864, with Portugal and Denmark in 1865 and
Austria in 1867.[455] For a period of years the United States had
maintained a commercial agent at Monrovia and at Gaboon.[456] It was
evident to those acquainted with the commercial situation that
recognition was desirable, for both of these Republics.[457]

In 1859, the leading northern newspapers carried advertisements from
the Haitian government, offering homes with land and free passage to
those unable to provide the same. A reply was published in the
_Tribune_ addressed especially to the free people of color of Missouri
and the North. A significant clause in this reply said: "Remember that
when you pass beyond the limits of the United States, the government
and laws of this country cease to protect you."[458] A circular was
sent out in 1860, addressed to the "Blacks, Men of color, and Indians
in the United States and British North American Provinces," and after
calling attention to the prosperous condition of the country, added
"that our relations with the powers represented in Haiti are on a
footing of perfect harmony."[459]

The triumph of the Republican party in 1860 foreshadowed the exclusion
of slavery from the territories, and the ultimate ruin of the
institution. Six weeks after Lincoln's election, South Carolina had
adopted the Ordinance of Secession, and the Gulf States soon followed.
There were only four slave-holding States with representatives in
Congress, Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri. At the opening of
the 37th Congress, 1861, the President's message contained the
following: "If any good reason exists why we shou