1851-January-18: Secretary of State Daniel Webster appointed Robert Walsh of Virginia as a special agent to the Dominican Republic. He was not made a formal…

1851-January-18: Secretary of State Daniel Webster appointed Robert Walsh of Virginia as a special agent to the Dominican Republic. He was not made a formal chargé d’affaires. Walsh was instructed to cooperate with British and French agents to pressure Haiti into signing either a permanent peace treaty or a ten-year truce with the Dominican Republic. Interestingly, Webster specifically warned Walsh against allowing “racial prejudice” to influence his diplomatic conduct, echoing similar warnings given by the British to their own agents. This mission represented a rare moment of formal, coordinated intervention by the United States alongside European powers in the Caribbean.