William Lindsay Scruggs (September 14, 1836 – July 18, 1912) was an American author, lawyer, and diplomat. He was a scholar of South American foreign policy and U.S.

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or s ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. He played a key role in the

Venezuela Crisis of 1895 The Venezuelan crisis of 1895 occurred over Venezuela's longstanding dispute with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland about the territory of Essequibo and Guayana Esequiba, which Britain claimed as part of British Guiana and Venezue ...

and helped shape the modern interpretation of the

Monroe Doctrine The Monroe Doctrine was a United States foreign policy position that opposed European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere. It held that any intervention in the political affairs of the Americas by foreign powers was a potentially hostile act ...

Early life and ambassadorships

William L. Scruggs was born in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...

in 1836. He was a lawyer and journalist in addition to being a diplomat. Scruggs was U.S. Minister to Colombia from July 24, 1873 to October 26, 1876 and again from July 19, 1882 to December 15, 1885. In 1884 he became known as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister

Plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of his or her sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the wor ...

, Colombia. Previously his title was simply Minister Resident, Colombia. Scruggs was U.S. Minister to Venezuela from May 30, 1889 to December 15, 1892. In 1889 he became known as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Venezuela. Scruggs appeared to resign his ambassadorship to Venezuela in December 1892, but in fact had been dismissed by the US for bribing the President of Venezuela. R. A. Humphreys (1967), "Anglo-American Rivalries and the Venezuela Crisis of 1895", Presidential Address to the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...

10 December 1966, ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'', 17: pp131-164

Venezuela lobbyist

In 1893 Scruggs was recruited by the Venezuelan Government to operate on its behalf in Washington D.C. as a

lobbyist In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

and legal attache. As a lobbyist, Scruggs published the pamphlet entitled ''British Aggressions in Venezuela: The Monroe Doctrine on Trial''. In the pamphlet, he attacked "British aggression" claiming that Venezuela was anxious to arbitrate over the Venezuela/

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was ...

border dispute of territory at west of

Essequibo river The Essequibo River ( Spanish: ''Río Esequibo'' originally called by Alonso de Ojeda ''Río Dulce'') is the largest river in Guyana, and the largest river between the Orinoco and Amazon. Rising in the Acarai Mountains near the Brazil–Guyana b ...

limited by

Schomburgk Line (), sometimes also called or Essequibo, is a disputed territory of west of the Essequibo River that is administered and controlled by Guyana but claimed by Venezuela.

. Scruggs also claimed that British policies in the disputed territory violated the

of 1823. It was this relationship that eventually led to his service as Special Counsel before the Boundary Commission, three years later. Scruggs collaborated with Georgian compatriot Congressman Leonidas Livingston to propose House Resolution 252 to the third session of the 53rd Congress of the United States of America. The bill — written by Scruggs — recommended Venezuela and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

settle the dispute by arbitration. President

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

signed it into law on February 20, 1895, after passing both houses of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

. The vote had been unanimous. The president Cleveland adopted a broad interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine that did not just simply forbid new European colonies but declared an American interest in any matter within the hemisphere. Zakaria, Fareed, ''From Wealth to Power'' (1999). Princeton University Press. . pp145–146 British prime minister Lord Salisbury and British ambassador to the US Lord Pauncefote both misjudged the importance the American government placed on the dispute. The key issue in the crisis became Britain's refusal to include the territory east of the Schomburgk Line in the proposed international arbitration. By December 17, 1895, President Cleveland delivered an address to the United States Congress which was perceived as direct threat of war with Great Britain if the British did not comply with Venezuelan demands (now openly championed by the United States). Almost immediately after Cleveland's statement to the United States Congress, the US military was put on combat alert for a potential war with Great Britain. Ultimately Britain backed down and tacitly accepted the US right to intervene under the Monroe Doctrine. This US intervention forced Britain to accept arbitration of the entire disputed territory. On December 18, 1895, Congress approved $100,000 for the United States Commission on the Boundary Between Venezuela and British Guiana. It was formally established on January 1, 1896. Jose Andrade, the Venezuelan Minister to Washington, on February 26, 1896 announced that Scruggs had been appointed by the Venezuelan President as his "agent charged with submitting information" to the United States

Venezuela Boundary Commission The Venezuelan crisis of 1895 occurred over Venezuela's longstanding dispute with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland about the territory of Essequibo and Guayana Esequiba, which Britain claimed as part of British Guiana and Venezuela ...

, and to present "reports relative to the titles and rights of Venezuela." An

Arbitration Tribunal An arbitral tribunal or arbitration tribunal, also arbitration commission, arbitration committee or arbitration council is a panel of unbiased adjudicators which is convened and sits to resolve a dispute by way of arbitration. The tribunal may con ...

was agreed between the US and Britain in 1896, and this concluded in 1899 in Paris (France). The

Schomburgk Line (), sometimes also called or Essequibo, is a disputed territory of west of the Essequibo River that is administered and controlled by Guyana but claimed by Venezuela.

was re-established as the border between

and Venezuela, which had been set in 1835. The Anglo-Venezuelan boundary dispute asserted for the first time a more outward-looking American foreign policy that marking the United States as a world power. This is the earliest example of modern interventionism under the Monroe Doctrine in which the USA exercised its claimed prerogatives in the

Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the te ...

. By standing with a Latin American nation against European colonial powers, Cleveland improved relations with the United States' southern neighbors, but the cordial manner in which the negotiations were conducted also made for good relations with Britain. However, by backing down in the face of a strong US declaration of a strong interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine, Britain tacitly accepted the Doctrine, and the crisis thus provided a basis for the expansion of US interventionism in the mericas Leading British historian

Robert Arthur Humphreys Robert Arthur Humphreys (1907–1999), known as Robin Humphreys, was a British historian, the first professor of Latin American studies in the United Kingdom, and the founder of the Institute of Latin American Studies at University College Lond ...

later called the boundary crisis "one of the most momentous episodes in the history of Anglo-American relations in general and of Anglo-American rivalries in Latin America in particular."

Later life

Scruggs retired to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, where he died July 18, 1912. He was buried in

Westview Cemetery Westview Cemetery, located in Atlanta, Georgia, is the largest civilian cemetery in the Southeastern United States, comprising more than , 50 percent of which is undeveloped. ( Georgia National Cemetery, for military veterans and their families, ...

Bibliography

"Restriction of the Suffrage"
''The North American Review'', vol. 139, issue 336 (1884)
"Blundering American Diplomacy"
''The North American Review'', vol. 145, issue 370 (September 1887)] * ''British Aggressions in Venezuela: The Monroe Doctrine on Trial'' (pamphlet, 1895)
''Fallacies of the British Blue Book on the Venezuela Question''
(pamphlet, 1896) * ''The Guyana Boundary Dispute: Important testimony by an English geographer. The Essequibo River recognized by England as the frontier line between Venezuela and British Guiana as late as 1822'' (pamphlet, 1896) * ''Lord Salisbury's mistakes'' (pamphlet, 1896) * ''The Venezuelan question: British aggressions in Venezuela, or The Monroe doctrine on trial; Lord Salisbury's mistakes; Fallacies of the British "blue book" on the disputed boundary'' (book, collected works, 1896) * ''Case of Venezuela: Brief concerning the question of boundary between Venezuela and British Guiana'' (book, 1898) * ''The Colombian and Venezuelan Republics, with notes on other parts of Central and South America'' (book, 1900) * ''The Monroe doctrine: Whence it came, what it is, and what it is not'' (pamphlet 1902)

References

External links