The Powerless Diplomacy of the Abbé Correia da Serra

Abstract

This paper examines the diplomatic activity of the Abbé Correia da Serra (1751-1823), the first Portuguese Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States, in connection with the use of American ports by privateers preying on Portugal’s commerce with Brazil, its South American colony. Despite his connections to the political and intellectual circles in the United States capital at the time, and the justness of Portuguese grievances against the American government in this matter, Correia da Serra’s remonstrance went unheeded in Washington, as they collided with the underlying principles of its foreign policy towards Latin America in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. The so-called Monroe Doctrine implied that the original American project of revolution could be applied to the whole continent and that it was the “manifest destiny” of the United States to assume the role of guardian of the Americas. American public opinion and its more radical press were not sympathetic to Old World monarchies, and so it was particularly difficult for Correia da Serra to prevent Brazilian revolutionaries from gathering support in the United States for their independence movement and for the American government to enforce the neutrality legislation approved by Congress to punish the activity of privateers.