William Henry Harrison - HELP ME WRITE HISTORY!

  As a Democrat Abroad, I've commented previously on the sorry state of our Foreign Service around the world.  I have a new "duh" moment, and need a bit of help!!  I'm looking for dirt on William Henry Harrison, possibly soon to be honored with the naming of a new Embassy building in Latin America.  History buffs and sleuths, time to get to work!

  As an overseas teacher, I have been asked to research whether there is any dirt to be found on President William Henry Harrison's brief tenure as Envoy to Bogota, Colombia in 1829.  The embassy in Bogota is thinking of naming a building after him, and apparently the State Department doesn't know they have the entire U.S. government and the national archives at their disposal, so they asked a high school history teacher!

  A quick google search turns up lots of fluff biography pieces which demonstrate that Harrison was recalled by Jackson just prior to being declared persona non grata by President Simon Bolivar, somewhat of a hero in these parts.  Apparently he had several friends here who were somehow implicated in an assassination attempt on Bolivar and the actual assassination of Sucre in Ecuador.

  Chavez and his buddies seem to hold Harrison out as an example of imperialist meddling in Gran Colombia - several recent articles and Venezuelan propoganda sites have mentioned Harrison in recent months.

  Apparently, it's too much to ask that individuals representing the American people know how to google.

  All the same, it's my flag flying over the embassy, and I'd like to help avoid a "heckuva job" by U.S. officials on this continent this week if I can.  I'm limited to silly wikipedia type articles, and would appreciate citations from primary sources that I could offer to avoid an unnecessary international incident, if anyone has access to higher quality databases than encarta.

Thanks for taking a break from the candidate diaries!

•  I do know that My family

  is genealogically related the Co. William Henry Harrison.  And at a family reunion other family members were quite enamored of our connectio to an American President

  Until we came to the realization that our Col. WHH died in 1649

  by Redstateresident on Wed Feb 06, 2008 at 06:58:49 PM PDT

•  I'll do a check in JSTOR

  and some other online databases to see if there are any academic articles available on Harrison's tenure in Gran Colombia.

  Be back in twenty minutes or so...

  by litho on Wed Feb 06, 2008 at 06:59:57 PM PDT

  •  Awesome, thanks!!

    That's what I was hoping for!

    by bogbud on Wed Feb 06, 2008 at 07:08:43 PM PDT

    •  Ok, I got something

      My source is J. Fred Rippy, "Bolivar Viewed by Contemporary Diplomats of the United States," Hispanic American Historical Review 15:3 (Aug, 1935), pp. 287-297.  Rippy, in turn, cites William R. Manning, Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States Concerning the Independence of the Latin-American Nations (New York, 1925).  Volume II includes a letter written by Harrison from Colombia on May 27, 1829:

      The political state of this country appears to be approaching a crisis.... The Republic of Colombia is no longer to exist, and a Monarchy to be established in its stead. The crown is, in the first instance, to be offered to General Bolivar.  Should he refuse it, a Foreign Prince is to be invited to accept it.  These are the measures prescribed for the Convention... which  is about to be elected....  The result of the election ... will [because of persecution and clever manipulation] give to the world the appearance of the unanimous consent of the people to the change of Government, when four-fifths at least are opposed to it.

      Harrison continues:

      To the enquiry ... whether Bolivar is himself the author of these measures, and whether, under the mask of patriotism and attachment to liberty, he has really been preparing the means of investing himself with arbitrary power, I unequivocally answer, that I have not the least doubt of the fact.  I doubt as little, that he was once sincere in his professions of attachment to a free Government.

      Rippy notes that Harrison wrote to Bolivar himself warning him not to pursue despotism (Sept. 27, 1829):

      Are you willing that your name should descend to posterity amongst the mass of those, whose fame has been derived from shedding human blood, without a single advantage to the human race?  Or shall it be united to that of Washington, as the founder and father of a great and happy nation.  The choice lies before you.  The friends of liberty throughout the world, and the people of the United States in particular, are waiting your decision with intense anxiety.

      by litho on Wed Feb 06, 2008 at 07:25:06 PM PDT

      •  Bibliographic stuff

        in case you need it.

        The Harrison letter back to State is on pp. 1333-1334 of the Manning volume.  His letter to Bolivar was taken from State Department Archives, Despatches, Colombia, VI.

        by litho on Wed Feb 06, 2008 at 07:28:12 PM PDT

        •  Thanks, litho!!!

          You rock!!!

          And Sí, se puede!!!

          by bogbud on Wed Feb 06, 2008 at 07:34:59 PM PDT

          •  I'm reading this really cool article right now

            about Harrison and Tippecanoe.  Don't know if you can find it without a library password, but it might be worth looking for:

            The Shawnee Prophet, Tecumseh, and Tippecanoe: A Case Study of Historical Myth-Making

               Alfred A. Cave

               Journal of the Early Republic, Vol. 22, No. 4. (Winter, 2002), pp. 637-673.

            Nothing in there about Colombia, but plenty on Harrison's duplicitous dealings with Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa.

            by litho on Wed Feb 06, 2008 at 07:49:35 PM PDT

•  I'm not too familiar with Harrison,

  But its no secret that he received most of his fame from his victory at the Battle of Tippecanoe over an American Indian coalition. Naming a building after him can't possibly help US relations with Latin America, especially as indigenous leaders such as Evo Morales are finally gaining power.

  by Michiganliberal on Wed Feb 06, 2008 at 07:00:50 PM PDT

  •  I thought about that angle...

    though, in reality, Colombia has not historically been overly sensitive to indigenous populations.

    by bogbud on Wed Feb 06, 2008 at 07:10:16 PM PDT

•  Out of curiosity

  are you a Peace Corps Volunteer?

  Look at it on the bright side.  They respect the work that high school history teachers do.

  by Crisis Corps Volunteer on Wed Feb 06, 2008 at 07:38:42 PM PDT

  •  Nope

    Although the US Embassy is the second largest in the world, I don't believe there are any PCVs in Colombia.  Too "dangerous" if you believe the DOS Country Brief.  Lots of military advisors, though.  It's fun to watch them try to 'fit in' at TGIFridays for Sunday afternoon football!

    by bogbud on Wed Feb 06, 2008 at 08:04:35 PM PDT

    •  Sorry

      I know that Peace Corps isn't in Colombia.  I should have asked "Were you a PCV?"

      by Crisis Corps Volunteer on Wed Feb 06, 2008 at 08:26:29 PM PDT

•  There is a nice museum in the W. Henery Harrison

  House, the family home for as long as he lived, located  in Indianapolis, IN   Many of Pres. Harrison's private papers are housed there, but the museum operates on such a limited budget, I'm not certain how accessible these papers are.  

  An interesting event scheduled each summer at the Harrison Home is an International croquet tournament.  Harrison brought the English love of croquet back from his foreign service.

  The Tiffiney glass windows at the Muesum of Art in Indianapolis and in Harrison's home Presbyterian Church were gifts by his family after Harrison's death.  

  by drmah on Wed Feb 06, 2008 at 07:59:08 PM PDT

•  Is this an example of poking 'em in the eye?

  Let me see if I understand this.  Harrison was forced to leave Columbia.  Since then, he is pilloried by a Columbian government official.  Why would our State Department do something that even remotely could be viewed as empirialistic in a country that now claims that the current administration is acting empirialistically?  Is this a deliberate attempt to make relations worse?  Is this not stupid?  How inept is the State Department now?

  In direct response to your querry, I did find this link.link . It may be of help.  But I am still amazed.  Why even think about naming something after a controversial figure?

  by TulsaDemocrat on Wed Feb 06, 2008 at 08:35:55 PM PDT