05027ckm a2200589 a 4500 000069841 20230712123802.0 kj bo 990318s1852 nyunnn kneng d (CPomAG)AFR-34AF0000000R3 3 ppl PPL dcrmg Magee, John L., artist. 26860 The nigger emperor of Nicuragua [sic] on his throne. [graphic] : Attended by Chatfield & his Black guards witnessing the detention of the steamer Prometheus, by the English brig of war Express, at San Juan. [New York] : [publisher not identified], [1852] 1 print : lithograph ; sheet 29 x 21 cm (11 x 8 in.) Title from item. Erroneously dated 1839 by Weitenkampf. Appears in The old soldier, New York, February, 1852. Likely drawn by John L. Magee, who worked at 69 Nassau Street at this time. Weitenkampf p. 60 Murrell p. 152 Racist political cartoon satirizing the fictitious "Nigger Emperor" of Nicaragua during the "Prometheus-Express" incident of November 1851, which threatened the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850 between the United States and Britain to abstain from attempting dominion of Central America. Depicts the Emperor as a Black man, partially undressed, attired in a military uniform with epaulettes, a black plumed hat, a sword on his waistband, and black boots. He sits atop a barrel labeled “Jamaica Rum.” He has one boot off that exposes his sock. His trousers are off and draped over his right arm. He smiles with a cigar in his mouth and carries a bottle labeled “Brandy” in his left hand. He looks towards Frederick Chatfield, the United Kingdom’s consul in Central America from 1834 to 1852, standing in the right. Chatfield holds his hands up and says, “They shall pay the money or be blow to attoms for their temerity, let me again entreat your Majesty to condesend (sic) to draw your breeches over your imperial shins.” The Emperor gestures with his right hand to the two ships in the harbor and replies in the vernacular, “Nebber mine, Massa Chatfield, wedder to warm for wear beechum, Yankee hab to cum back and pay money to dis nigger, ya, ya, ya.” Behind the Emperor, several Black guards, attired in tall hats, smile and stand in formation. Also in the print is a small black dog sniffing the Emperor’s sock. The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850 made Greytown, Nicaragua a free port, denying the British revenue. To circumvent this, the British charged harbor fees. On November 21, 1851, Cornelius Vanderbilt’s ship Prometheus refused to pay the British harbor fees. The British brig o’war Express fired three shots across the bow of the Prometheus. Vanderbilt then paid. However, when the ship arrived in New York he took his case to the U.S. government with the U.S. wanting Britain to withdraw from Central America. In early 1852, the Nicaraguan government sought to assert its authority over the Miskito kingdom. On April 30, 1852, Secretary of State Daniel Webster and British minister John Crampton negotiated a settlement that made Greytown a free city, protected the rights of the Miskito Indians, and established the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua along the San Juan River. Originally part of American political caricatures, likely a scrapbook, accessioned 1899. Collection primarily comprised of gifts from Samuel Breck, John A. McAllister, and James Rush. RVCDC Description revised 2021. Access points revised 2021. Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014. Chatfield, Frederick, 1801-1872 Caricatures and cartoons. Clayton-Bulwer Treaty (1850 April 19) Black people Nicaragua Greytown Caricatures and cartoons. Dogs Nicaragua Greytown. Harbors Nicaragua Greytown. lctgm Men, Black. Racism in popular culture. Ships Nicaragua Greytown. lctgm Greytown (Nicaragua) Great Britain Foreign relations Nicaragua. United States Foreign relations Nicaragua. Political cartoons 1850-1860. gmgpc Lithographs 1850-1860. gmgpc Black men Nicaragua. local Black people Satire. local SP3 African American History Imprint N.Y. New York. 1852. Library Company of Philadelphia PRINT PRINT Political Cartoons - 1851-28 [5760.F.107] 5760.F.107 5760-f-107 Afr-34 (CPomAG)00070480 66906 66906 000069841 CONV 00 20051208 1944 000069841 20060120 1727 000069841 20060201 1531 000069841 MASTER 40 20070412 1403 000069841 MASTER 40 20070417 0943 000069841 MASTER 40 20070622 1238 000069841 20071018 1946 000069841 MASTER 40 20131209 1618 000069841 LINDA 40 20210406 1154 000069841 LINDA 40 20230601 1335 000069841 LINDA 40 20210318 1302 000069841 LINDA 40 20230601 1336 000069841 LINDA 40 20210317 1134 000069841 LINDA 40 20210317 1132 000069841 LINDA 40 20210317 1131 000069841 LINDA 40 20210317 1129 ppl N.Y. New York. 1852. Imprint