Race relations

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William H. Taft

President Roosevelt looks forward to seeing President-elect Taft on February 24, and will give any advice or counsel that he can. He discusses the work of the Isthmian Canal Commission, and admires Taft’s letter to President Jose Domingo de Obaldia of Panama. Roosevelt has been having a difficult time with the California Legislature over the “Japanese business,” and has sent a letter to future Secretary of State Philander C. Knox about it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-02-13

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Philip A. Stanton

President Roosevelt explains to Philip A. Stanton, Speaker of the California State Assembly, that the federal government’s policy regarding Japanese immigration has been successful and represents the interests of western Americans. Roosevelt warns Stanton that California’s recent “school bill” will undermine this progress, cause unneeded friction, and force the federal government to challenge the legislation in federal courts. If the government’s Japanese immigration policy needs changing in the future, Roosevelt assures that actions taken by the president and Congress, rather than the states, will be most effective.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-02-08

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Benjamin Ide Wheeler

President Roosevelt tells Benjamin Ide Wheeler, president of the University of California, that the Japanese letter is too good not to be published. Roosevelt is concerned about “California’s totally unexpected outburst over the Japanese,” and is doing his best to prevent any more damage from it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-02-10

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Edgar Borah

President Roosevelt has forwarded Senator Borah’s letter to Secretary of War Luke E. Wright. However, Roosevelt reminds Borah that his previous messages about the “Brownsville matter” have always advocated for giving the president the power to reenlist these soldiers. Roosevelt encloses a copy of his most recent letter to Senator Nelson W. Aldrich.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-02-03

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Kent

President Roosevelt agrees with William Kent, and outlines the foreign policy stance he believes the United States should follow in its relationship with Japan. Roosevelt has come to see the matter of Japanese workers immigrating to the United States as “a race question.” He believes that Japanese citizens should not be permitted to settle permanently in America. However, Roosevelt does not want to provoke a war by offending the “sensitive” Japanese government and population. Current legislation in California and Nevada banning Japanese children from public schools frustrates him, because it is offensive to Japan and does not prevent immigration. Roosevelt wants to forbid Japanese immigration while treating the Japanese government politely and continuing to build up the American navy. He seconds Kent’s view that Japanese laborers should not work on Hawaiian sugar plantations. Roosevelt would prefer to send laborers from Spain, Portugal, or Italy, who could become naturalized United States citizens.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-02-04

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Arthur Hamilton Lee

President Roosevelt is glad that Viscount Lee liked his comments about India. He felt the timing was right given that agitators like James Keir Hardie and William Jennings Bryan are feeding existing discontent in India, Great Britain, and America about the establishment of an Indian republic. Roosevelt agrees with Lee’s argument about the “two-power navy policy,” and does not believe Americans will take offense if Lee frames his reasoning thus. It would be a bad diplomatic decision to make a special exception for America, or any country, because this would give offense to other allies. Roosevelt is worried about the current conflict over Japanese immigration to the United States. He wants to follow a policy that prevents Japanese immigration “with the minimum of friction and the maximum of courtesy,” while also building up the navy.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-02-07

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Frederic Remington

President Roosevelt agrees with Frederic Remington that Japanese immigration to America should be prevented. However, he is frustrated by certain politicians like California’s Senator George C. Perkins who are trying to implement policies that insult the Japanese government and do nothing to prevent immigration. Roosevelt is working towards a solution that will preserve peaceful relations with Japan.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-02-07

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Philander C. Knox

President Roosevelt advises Senator Knox, who will be president-elect William H. Taft’s secretary of state, on the importance and fragility of the relationship between the United States and Japan. Roosevelt explains why he believes that there is a real possibility that Japan will declare war on the United States, although this is by no means certain. Currently, many Americans are pursuing ineffectual and offensive strategies in an effort to prevent Japanese immigration to the United States. Roosevelt supports their goal but not their means. In Hawaii, meanwhile, Roosevelt disapproves of sugar planters encouraging large numbers of settlers from China and Japan to come work on their plantations. Roosevelt feels that the settlement of Hawaii by individuals from Southern Europe should be encouraged. His more general policy is threefold. He wants the government to prevent Japanese citizens from settling in America, while treating Japan “so courteously that she will not be offended more than necessary,” and building up the navy as a preventative measure. Although the value of this policy should be self-evident, Americans “are shortsighted and have short memories.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-02-08

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Nelson W. Aldrich

A notable lawyer’s interpretation of the current version of the Brownsville Affair bill compounds the dissatisfaction with the bill’s wording that President Roosevelt has already articulated to Senator Aldrich. Roosevelt worries that the bill will compel the reenlistment of any man found innocent by the board of officers, a measure that he strongly opposes.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-02-02

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Nelson W. Aldrich

President Roosevelt has seen Secretary of War Luke E. Wright since he wrote to Senator Aldrich this morning. Wright is of the opinion that the Brownsville Affair bill would not require the president to allow the reenlistment of eligible men. Roosevelt is relieved, but wants this interpretation to be explicitly outlined in the bill for future reference. He is sure that future presidents will listen to the board, but he does not want his successors to be “compelled” to act on their recommendations.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-02-02

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Edgar Borah

The objection to the Brownsville Affair bill that President Roosevelt discussed with Senator Borah this morning is no longer a concern. Roosevelt consulted Secretary of War Luke E. Wright, who asserted that the bill will not compel the president to reinstate any soldiers.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-02-02

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Harry Johnston

President Roosevelt looks forward to receiving Sir Harry Johnston’s book about the comparison of Black people in the West Indies, southern United States, and “with what he is at home”. Roosevelt is sending a picture and map and wired Colonel George W. Goethals at once about arrangements for Johnston’s trip to the Isthmus of Panama.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-28

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Rennell Rodd

President Roosevelt has been reading The Crusaders in the East, which Rennell Rodd sent to him, and has been delighted by it. He enjoyed seeing Rodd and his wife, Lilias Georgina Guthrie Rodd recently, and regrets that it was for such a brief amount of time. Roosevelt saw Harry Johnston recently, and thought he was delightful, noting that he is much of the same mind as Roosevelt on a variety of topics.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-12-01

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Richard Watson Gilder

President Roosevelt writes Richard Watson Gilder a lengthy refutation of an article in the Evening Post in which William Garrott Brown misconstrues his actions in the Republican Party. Namely, Brown accuses Roosevelt of neglecting Republicans in the South and of doing a poor job of making nominations to local offices and positions. Roosevelt asserts that where the Republican party is not strong in the South, he has had to appoint Democrats who were quality men, rather than incapable men who are Republicans. Where he believes the party has a chance to compete with Democrats, he does all he can to support it. Roosevelt also writes that he did not use his influence on officers to get William H. Taft the nomination, but rather Taft was nominated because Roosevelt’s policies were popular, and Taft is the man who will continue those policies. Roosevelt believes that Brown is either ignorant or willfully ignorant of a number of facts.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-16

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles Banks

President Roosevelt asks Charles Banks to write him a statement detailing what the men of Mound Bayou, Mississippi, are doing, and the status of the community. Roosevelt is speaking at the laying of the cornerstone for the “colored” YMCA, and would like to make a statement that will help “the colored man,” and encourage the white man to stand by “the colored man who possesses those qualities which, if possessed by a white man, would entitle him to be called a good citizen.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-14

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Harry Johnston

President Roosevelt is glad that Harry Johnston can join him, and is particularly interested in hearing what Johnston says about Liberia. Roosevelt is interested that Johnston finds white Americans a more interesting study subject than Black Americans.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-29

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Harry Johnston

President Roosevelt tells Harry Johnston that he might see “exceedingly odd” information about Roosevelt in the papers in the next ten days. Roosevelt wants to know when Johnston can have dinner with him. He would like to discuss a lot of things with Johnston, from reformed spelling to the status of Black people to biological nomenclature to his books and several African countries he has visited.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-24

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Booker T. Washington

President Roosevelt provides a letter of introduction for Harry Johnston, an English administrator who held many positions in Africa and is “the kind of advisor and friend who is sorely needed by the colored race.” Roosevelt is glad that he will see the Tuskegee Institute.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-26

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William H. Taft

President Roosevelt offers several editing suggestions for a draft of a speech by William H. Taft.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-21

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Harry Johnston

President Roosevelt was very interested in Harry Johnston’s letter, and hopes that he can visit the United States while Roosevelt is still president. Roosevelt has a slight disagreement with Johnston, saying that there is no objection to a reasonable amount of hunting, and believing that conservation can be best done through the efforts of sportsmen. More than hunting, however, Roosevelt wishes to hear from Johnston about the “many complex problems, which we mean when we speak of the Negro question.” Roosevelt would like to hear about Johnston’s observations of Liberia, and touches on conditions in Haiti and South Africa as well. He says that he knows of no one better to assess the treatment and condition of African Americans in the United States than Johnston. Roosevelt says that, “on the one hand I very firmly believe in granting to Negroes and to all other races the largest amount of self-government which they can exercise,” but he also thinks that some races are not yet ready for full self-government. He looks forward to reading Johnston’s book on the Congo.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-11