In 1827, Condy Raguet, charge' d'affaires to Brazil was a victim of "fake news" and libel published by a government sponsored news paper accusing him of trying to disrupt the harmony between the United States and Brazil. When his case was presented to Congress, in 1828 Raguet was fully vindicated based on words that president John Quincy Adams wrote in his 1827 State of the Union Address.
At the beginning of John Quincy Adams presidency, Brazil was engaged in the Cisplatine War with Argentine, and implemented a blockade of the Argentine ports, significantly impacting the US trade with Argentina. Adams' like his predecessor Monroe, maintained a policy of neutrality, but the blockade needed to be dealt with because Argentina was a growing trade partner of the United States. One of Adams very first actions after taking office was to appoint Condy Raguet as chargé d'affaires to Brazil. Mr. Raquet negotiated a restriction of the Brazilian blockade to the ports, but Brazil refused to open all of the Argentine reports, and in many cases failed to give US merchant ships proper warning before entering the ports. Some of these ships that made it into the ports, were seized by Brazil and accused of attempting to bypass the blockade. The crew on board were either imprisoned or coaxed into Bazillion service. Tensions between the United States and Brazil continued to rise, and almost reached a melting point when a US Navy commander procured the release of two detained Americans by force.
Eventually, the Brazilian Navy ordered all ships to immediately release all US citizens that were detained under improper circumstances, but there were often delays in the processing of the detained citizens. Mr. Raguet complained to the Brazilian government, and accused them of purposefully delaying the releases. As, letters between the Brazilian government and Raguet became increasingly heated, Raguet wrote back to Secretary of State Henry Clay that he had lost patience with the government of Brazil and that he hardly considered Brazilians a civilized people. Finally, in 1827, tensions exceeded beyond the boiling point when the U.S. offered to sell a decommissioned warship named the USS Spark. After rebuffing the order, the ship was seized by a Brazilian gunboat under the auspices that the navy suspected the ship was a privateer going to join the Argentinian navy. Raguet then accused Brazil of lying, and planning the entire episode days in advance. He called it "the most deliberate and high handed insult" against the United States, and sent notice to the Brazillian government that he wished to be withdrawn from the Brazilian court. In 1827, President Adams described the situation to Congress in his State of the Union address.
"A hope was for a short time entertained that a treaty of peace actually signed between the Government of Buenos Ayres and of Brazil would supersede all further occasion for those collisions between belligerent pretensions and neutral rights which are so commonly the result of maritime war, and which have unfortunately disturbed the harmony of the relations between the United States and the Brazilian Governments. At their last session Congress were informed that some of the naval officers of that Empire had advanced and practiced upon principles in relation to blockades and to neutral navigation which we could not sanction, and which our commanders found it necessary to resist. It appears that they have not been sustained by the Government of Brazil itself. Some of the vessels captured under the assumed authority of these erroneous principles have been restored, and we trust that our just expectations will be realized that adequate indemnity will be made to all the citizens of the United States who have suffered by the unwarranted captures which the Brazilian tribunals themselves have pronounced unlawful.That last line, "has not been disapproved by me" proved to be of utmost importance. In fact, it was used in 1828 to vindicate Condy Raguet, after his name was dragged through the mud by the press in Rio de Janeiro. On August 1, 1827 the Gazeto do Brazil published in Rio de Janeiro asserted that Mr. Raguet was "ill received by the President of the United States on his return from Brazil", and that he had been bribed by the government of Buenos Ayres to disrupt the peace and harmony between the United States and Brazil. In other words, the newspaper published "fake news" that Mr. Raquet was received as a traitor when he returned to the U.S. According to the article, Mr. Raquet was treated to a fine dinner and 2,000 pounds sterling by agents of Buenos Ayres. Mr. Raguet brought this article along with copies of correspondence he had with President Adams to the Congress in 1828, but no further evidence was needed to prove Raguet's case. In 1828, the Committee of Foreign affairs concluded that Raguet was fully vindicated based on the words of President Quincy Adams as addressed to both houses of Congress, "This movement, dictated by an honest zeal for the honor and interests of his country -- motives which operated exclusively on the mind of the officer who resorted to it -- has not been disapproved by me."
In the diplomatic discussions at Rio de Janeiro of these wrongs sustained by citizens of the United States and of others which seemed as if emanating immediately from that Government itself the charge' d'affaires of the United States, under an impression that his representations in behalf of the rights and interests of his country-men were totally disregarded and useless, deemed it his duty, without waiting for instructions, to terminate his official functions, to demand his pass- ports, and return to the United States. This movement, dictated by an honest zeal for the honor and interests of his country -- motives which operated exclusively on the mind of the officer who resorted to it -- has not been disapproved by me."
Despite, President Adams' lack of disapproval, he promised Brazil in 1827 that Raguet would be replaced, and he told Congress that he hoped to "entirely restore the ordinary diplomatic intercourse between the 2 Governments and the friendly relations between their respective nations."
"The Brazilian Government, however, complained of it as a measure for which no adequate intentional cause had been given by them, and upon an explicit assurance through their charge' d'affaires residing here that a successor to the late representative of the United States near that Government, the appointment of whom they desired, should be received and treated with the respect due to his character, and that indemnity should be promptly made for all injuries inflicted on citizens of the United States or their property contrary to the laws of nations, a temporary commission as charge' d'affaires to that country has been issued, which it is hopes will entirely restore the ordinary diplomatic intercourse between the 2 Governments and the friendly relations between their respective nations."
References
Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2018). John Quincy Adams: Third Annual Message. [online] Available at: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29469 [Accessed 22 May 2018].American State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive of the Congress of the United States. (1859). Gale and Seaton, Part 1, Volume 6, 20th Congress, 1st Session Document No. 480, pp 864-866.
En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Condy Raguet. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condy_Raguet [Accessed 22 May 2018].
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