The conclusion explores the afterlife of Henry Astwood’s consulship in Santo Domingo. Recounting the Dominican Republic’s absence at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, among other events, it demonstrates how the Dominican crossroads vanished as white supremacist concepts of morality consolidated a new US world order in the 1890s. Astwood’s actions in Santo Domingo contributed to this consolidation. Indeed, it is uncertain whether he ever truly believed in the emancipatory movements that made possible his life’s trajectory. Still, the conclusion argues that discerning Astwood’s character is irrelevant compared to the greater task of unraveling his various schemes. Such analysis provides insight into the postemancipation Americas, the intricacies of US-Dominican international relations, the rise of US empire in Latin America, and the history of Black US foreign service agents and Black Protestantism in the Caribbean. It also demands a reconsideration of late nineteenth-century Black internationalism through the prism of Astwood’s trickery (tigueraje).
Advertisement
