Frederick Douglass to Samuel R. Scottron, March 29, 1873

FREDERICK DOUGLASS TO SAMUEL R. SCOTTRON^{1Born in Philadelphia, Samuel R. Scottron (1841–1908) grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where he entered the barber’s trade. For several years, he attended the free school at Cooper Union. He was a sutler with the Third U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War, stationed at Morris Island, South Carolina. Rather than immediately returning north, he operated stores in Fernandina and Jacksonville, Florida, and became an early organizer of the Republican party in that state. He had represented Florida at the National Convention of Colored Men, over which Douglass presided, in Syracuse in October 1864. Unsuccessful in both politics and business, Scottron resumed his career as a barber in Springfield, Massachusetts. He perfected a system of mirrors that allowed a customer to view his head from all angles. Scottron patented his “Adjustable Mirror,” which became the first of a half-dozen of his patented inventions for the home and business. Returning to Brooklyn, he founded a company to manufacture and sell his products. At the same time, he attended the free school at Cooper Union and graduated with distinction in the mid-1870s. In 1872, Scottron joined Henry Highland Garnet in founding the Cuban Anti-Slavery Society to promote emancipation on the Spanish-controlled island. He served on the Brooklyn Board of Education for eight years but was not renewed in the office after the merger of the boroughs by Seth Low, first mayor of the consolidated New York City. Along with other wealthy northern African Americans, Scottron worked with Booker T. Washington in advancing the economic interests of the race. 1860 U.S. Census, New York, Kings County, 26–27; 1900 U.S. Census, New York, Kings County, 15; Samuel R. Scottron, “Manufacturing Household Articles,” Colored American Magazine, 7: 620–24 (October 1904); “New York Society for Mutual Relief—Ninety-Seventh Anniversary,” Colored American Magazine, 9: 685–90 (December 1905); Booker T. Washington, The Negro in Business (Boston, 1907), 150–58; Rayvon Fouché, Black Inventors in the Age of Segregation (Baltimore, 2003), 122–23; Encyclopedia.com (online).}

Washington[,] D.C. 29 March 1873.

DEAR SIR:

You are right: The first gleam of the sword of freedom and independence in Cuba secured my sympathy with the revolutionary cause^{2Douglass openly supported the insurgents of Cuba who sought independence from Spain, stating that they were “heroic and noble” and “defending the cause which this Society and all America have sworn to support.” Although the Cuban planters took an ambiguous position on slavery, Douglass believed their freedom from Spanish rule would ultimately lead to emancipation. An 1872 editorial in the New National Era summarized his position: “Cuba must someday belong to the Cubans; slavery is doomed everywhere; but thanks to the perverse resistance to the natural and necessary course of events, two countries [Spain and Cuba] may be nearly ruined for many years to come, thousands of lives sacrificed to a phantom of glory, unless higher wisdom should unexpectedly obtain control in the councils of the nation, and achieve the natural solution at an earlier day.” Douglass Papers, ser. 1, 3: 117–18, ser. 1, 4: 204; NNE, 31 October 1872; Johnnetta B. Cole, “Afro-American Solidarity with Cuba,” Black Scholar, 8: 73–80 (Summer 1977).}—and it did seem to me that our Government ought to have made haste to accord the insurgents belligerent rights. Why it did not is still a mystery to me. Nothing but my high confidence in its wisdom, knowledge and good intentions has restrained me from joining in reproaches—I have deemed our Government with all the facts of the situation before it, a safer guide, than my

own feelings. I have assumed that President Grant and his Cabinet were better judges than myself—of the international duties of the Republic— though I still think with my limited knowledge that a grand opportunity has been lost.

Since Spain has become a Republic^{3Spain became a republic on 11 February 1873, following the abdication of King Amadeo I, who struggled unsuccessfully to form a stable government after the overthrow of Queen Isabella II. The First Republic, as it is commonly referred to, was short-lived. It ended on 29 December 1874 with the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy. Raymond Carr, “Liberalism and Reaction, 1833–1931,” in Spain: A History, ed. Raymond Carr (New York, 2000), 219–23.}—since antislavery feeling is dominant in the Councils of that nation—since slavery is abolished in Portorico^{4The institution of slavery was abolished in Puerto Rico on 22 March 1873 by the Spanish National Assembly, but that legislation did not fully emancipate enslaved Puerto Ricans. Puerto Rican slaves were required to buy their freedom by working for three years under contracts known as “libertos.” This policy was touted by the government as an effort to ease their transition to freedom, but benefited planters who had formerly relied on uncompensated labor. Luis A. Figueroa, Sugar, Slavery, and Freedom in Nineteenth-Century Puerto Rico (Chapel Hill, N.C., 2005), 121–50.}—and since Liberty is now probable and even inevitable to the Cuban slaves, under Spanish rule, I am for doing nothing in favor of prolonging the dreadful struggle in Cuba—and would do anything in my power to make peace between the insurgents and the present Government of Spain.

Respectfully yours

FREDK DOUGLASS

ALS: General Correspondence File, reel 2, frame 664, FD Papers, DLC.

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