Mission Impossible: The 1810 Voyage of the Dorothea and the Price of Patriotism in the Spanish Atlantic

Abstract:On 11 May 1810, the American merchant brig Dorothea departed Philadelphia for Veracruz on a mission that had little to do with trade. Instead, its sponsors, Francisco Caballero Sarmiento, a Philadelphia-based merchant, and Luis de Onís, the Spanish ambassador to the United States, intended the voyage to resolve a financial emergency that threatened both men on a professional, patriotic, and personal level. Suffering from a chronic lack of funding that undermined his diplomatic operations at a time of profound political upheaval for Spain, Onís had accepted a significant loan from Sarmiento in order to carry out his official duties. Unable to repay the merchant, the ambassador used the Dorothea to send Felipe Fatio, the legation secretary, to Mexico City to confirm viceregal support for the ad hoc partnership and secure a stable source of funding for the embassy. This paper relates the origins and outcome of the voyage of the Dorothea. While the story has many layers, this account focuses on the relationship between imperial officials at a time when the loyalist struggle against the French had reached its nadir and the independence movements in Spanish America had just begun. As a result, it raises important questions about the effectiveness of colonial institutions at a critical time in the history of the empire. While Spanish patriots most feared Napoleon, this mission suggests that the colonial bureaucracy was often its own worst enemy.