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Perdicaris affair
The Perdicaris affair, also known as the Perdicaris incident, was the kidnapping of Greek-American Ion Hanford Perdicaris (Περδικάρης) (1840–1925) and his stepson, Cromwell Varley, a British subject, by Ahmed al-Raisuni and his bandits on 18 May 1904 in Tangier, Morocco. Raisuni, leader of several hill tribes, demanded a ransom of $70,000, safe conduct, and control of two of Morocco's wealthiest districts from the Sultan of Morocco Abd al-Aziz. During lengthy negotiations, he increased his demands to control of six districts. The historical importance of the affair lay not in the kidnapping itself but in the concentration of naval power in Tangier and what it meant for the politics of gunboat diplomacy.
Born in Greece in 1840 to the American ambassador and his wife, Perdicaris grew up mostly in New Jersey in the United States and was an American citizen. He had been living in Tangier since the 1870s. President Theodore Roosevelt felt obliged to react on his behalf in Morocco. Ultimately, he dispatched seven warships and several Marine companies to Tangier to convince the Sultan to accede to Raisuni's demands. Western European nations also reacted with force, with the United Kingdom, France, and Spain sending ships to prevent rioting in Morocco. John Hay, the American Secretary of State, issued a statement to the Republican National Convention in June 1904 that "This government wants Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead."
Roosevelt's display of force in this incident is credited with helping the incumbent president win re-election later in 1904. After being released, Perdicaris moved with his family to England, settling in Tunbridge Wells.
Ion Perdicaris's father, Gregory Perdicaris, was sponsored in 1826 as a young Greek to study in the United States by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Perdicaris became a naturalized citizen of the United States and married the daughter of a wealthy family in South Carolina. In 1837, he returned to Greece, serving as the American ambassador. In 1840, his son Ion Perdicaris was born in Athens, Greece, while his father was serving as ambassador. The family returned to the United States in 1846, where the father at one time was a professor of Greek at Harvard University. The family settled in Trenton, New Jersey, where Gregory Perdicaris became wealthy as one of the organizers of the Trenton Gas Company.
For many years, Ion lived the life of a dilettante. He entered the Harvard University class of 1860 but left at the end of his sophomore year and studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris for a time. In 1862, because of the American Civil War, the family's estate in South Carolina was in danger of confiscation by the government of the Confederate States of America. The younger Perdicaris, who was living in Athens, "registered" as a Greek subject in order to avoid confiscation or being drafted into the Confederate States Army.
After the war ended, Perdicaris lived in Trenton with his father. He published some articles in The Galaxy in 1868, before moving to England. There he studied electricity and related engineering. In 1871 in Malvern, England, Perdicaris met Ellen Varley, wife of the British telegraph engineer C.F. Varley. Varley was away on cable business. Ellen and Perdicaris began an affair that resulted in Ellen leaving her husband. The Varleys formally divorced in 1873 and Ellen married Perdicaris the same year.
The couple moved to Tangier around 1884, with Ellen's two sons and two daughters from her first marriage. She and her family were all British subjects. Perdicaris purchased a summer house there in 1877 known as Aidonia (Αηδόνια), or the "Place of Nightingales", as he collected a menagerie of exotic animals. Perdicardis dabbled in the arts and retained some ties to the US: In 1876, he exhibited a painting at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. In 1879, Perdicardis produced a play at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City, but it was unsuccessful. After 1884, he lived permanently in Tangier. He became the unofficial head of Tangier's foreign community. Serving as president of the Hygienic Commission in Tangier, he helped organize construction of a modern sanitation system for the city. The commission was said to act as the "chief foreign-controlled organization in Tangier, actually a government within a government". He also maintained business interests in England and the United States, frequently visiting New York.
In 1886, Perdicaris filed a complaint of misconduct against Felix Mathews, then the American Consul General in Morocco. Mathews had refused to prosecute a Moroccan for rape who was under American protégé status. Perdicaris also wrote and distributed a pamphlet entitled "American Claims and the Protection of Native Subjects in Morocco" in London in response to the issue. The government arrested and fined Perdicaris for shielding a Moroccan from arrest. (Later he sought and received redress for this). Through Perdicaris' crusading, the incident made national headlines in the United States, and Mathews was removed from his position in March 1887.
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Perdicaris affair
The Perdicaris affair, also known as the Perdicaris incident, was the kidnapping of Greek-American Ion Hanford Perdicaris (Περδικάρης) (1840–1925) and his stepson, Cromwell Varley, a British subject, by Ahmed al-Raisuni and his bandits on 18 May 1904 in Tangier, Morocco. Raisuni, leader of several hill tribes, demanded a ransom of $70,000, safe conduct, and control of two of Morocco's wealthiest districts from the Sultan of Morocco Abd al-Aziz. During lengthy negotiations, he increased his demands to control of six districts. The historical importance of the affair lay not in the kidnapping itself but in the concentration of naval power in Tangier and what it meant for the politics of gunboat diplomacy.
Born in Greece in 1840 to the American ambassador and his wife, Perdicaris grew up mostly in New Jersey in the United States and was an American citizen. He had been living in Tangier since the 1870s. President Theodore Roosevelt felt obliged to react on his behalf in Morocco. Ultimately, he dispatched seven warships and several Marine companies to Tangier to convince the Sultan to accede to Raisuni's demands. Western European nations also reacted with force, with the United Kingdom, France, and Spain sending ships to prevent rioting in Morocco. John Hay, the American Secretary of State, issued a statement to the Republican National Convention in June 1904 that "This government wants Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead."
Roosevelt's display of force in this incident is credited with helping the incumbent president win re-election later in 1904. After being released, Perdicaris moved with his family to England, settling in Tunbridge Wells.
Ion Perdicaris's father, Gregory Perdicaris, was sponsored in 1826 as a young Greek to study in the United States by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Perdicaris became a naturalized citizen of the United States and married the daughter of a wealthy family in South Carolina. In 1837, he returned to Greece, serving as the American ambassador. In 1840, his son Ion Perdicaris was born in Athens, Greece, while his father was serving as ambassador. The family returned to the United States in 1846, where the father at one time was a professor of Greek at Harvard University. The family settled in Trenton, New Jersey, where Gregory Perdicaris became wealthy as one of the organizers of the Trenton Gas Company.
For many years, Ion lived the life of a dilettante. He entered the Harvard University class of 1860 but left at the end of his sophomore year and studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris for a time. In 1862, because of the American Civil War, the family's estate in South Carolina was in danger of confiscation by the government of the Confederate States of America. The younger Perdicaris, who was living in Athens, "registered" as a Greek subject in order to avoid confiscation or being drafted into the Confederate States Army.
After the war ended, Perdicaris lived in Trenton with his father. He published some articles in The Galaxy in 1868, before moving to England. There he studied electricity and related engineering. In 1871 in Malvern, England, Perdicaris met Ellen Varley, wife of the British telegraph engineer C.F. Varley. Varley was away on cable business. Ellen and Perdicaris began an affair that resulted in Ellen leaving her husband. The Varleys formally divorced in 1873 and Ellen married Perdicaris the same year.
The couple moved to Tangier around 1884, with Ellen's two sons and two daughters from her first marriage. She and her family were all British subjects. Perdicaris purchased a summer house there in 1877 known as Aidonia (Αηδόνια), or the "Place of Nightingales", as he collected a menagerie of exotic animals. Perdicardis dabbled in the arts and retained some ties to the US: In 1876, he exhibited a painting at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. In 1879, Perdicardis produced a play at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City, but it was unsuccessful. After 1884, he lived permanently in Tangier. He became the unofficial head of Tangier's foreign community. Serving as president of the Hygienic Commission in Tangier, he helped organize construction of a modern sanitation system for the city. The commission was said to act as the "chief foreign-controlled organization in Tangier, actually a government within a government". He also maintained business interests in England and the United States, frequently visiting New York.
In 1886, Perdicaris filed a complaint of misconduct against Felix Mathews, then the American Consul General in Morocco. Mathews had refused to prosecute a Moroccan for rape who was under American protégé status. Perdicaris also wrote and distributed a pamphlet entitled "American Claims and the Protection of Native Subjects in Morocco" in London in response to the issue. The government arrested and fined Perdicaris for shielding a Moroccan from arrest. (Later he sought and received redress for this). Through Perdicaris' crusading, the incident made national headlines in the United States, and Mathews was removed from his position in March 1887.
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