Touring in Europe

In 1800 Poinsett returned to Charleston hoping to pursue a military career. His father did not want his son to be a soldier. Hoping to entice his son to settle into the Charleston aristocracy, Poinsett had his son study law under Henry William DeSaussure, a prominent lawyer of Charleston. Poinsett was not interested in becoming a lawyer, and convinced his parents to allow him to go on an extended tour of Europe in 1801. DeSaussure sent with him a list of law books including Blackstone's Commentaries and Burn's Ecclesiastical Law, just in case young Poinsett changed his mind regarding the practice of law.

Beginning in 1801, Poinsett traveled the European continent. In the spring of 1802, Poinsett left France for Italy traveling through the Alps and Switzerland. He visited the cities of Naples and hiked up Mount Etna on the island of Sicily. In the spring of 1803 he arrived in Switzerland and stayed at the home of Jacques Necker and his daughter, Madame de Stael. Necker, French Finance Minister from 1776 to 1781 under Louis XVI, had been driven into exile by Napoleon I.

On one occasion, Robert Livingston, the United States minister to France, was invited for a visit while he was touring Savoy, France, and Switzerland. Poinsett was compelled to assume the role of interpreter between the deaf Livingston and the aged Necker, whose lack of teeth made his speech almost incomprehensible. Fortunately, Madame de Stael tactfully assumed the duty of translation for her elderly father.

In October 1803, Poinsett left Switzerland for Vienna, Austria, and from there journeyed to Munich. In December he received word that his father was dead, and that his sister, Susan, was seriously ill. He immediately secured passage back to Charleston. Poinsett arrived in Charleston early in 1804, months after his father had been laid to rest. Hoping to save his sister's life, Poinsett took her on a voyage to New York, remembering how his earlier voyage to Lisbon had intensified his recovery. Yet, upon arriving in New York City, Susan Poinsett died. As the sole remaining heir, Poinsett inherited a small fortune in town houses and lots, plantations, bank stock, and "English funds." The entire Poinsett estate was valued at a hundred thousand dollars or more.

Travel in Russia

Map of the Russian, Tartar and Persian areas through which Joel Poinsett traveled while in Europe.

Poinsett arrived in the Russian capital of St. Petersburg in November 1806. Levett Harris, consul of the United States at St. Petersburg, and the highest American official in the country, hoped to introduce Poinsett at court to Czar Alexander. Learning that Poinsett was from South Carolina, the Empress asked him if he would inspect the cotton factories under her patronage. Poinsett and Consul Harris traveled by sleigh to Cronstadt to see the factories. Poinsett made some suggestions on improvement, which the Dowager Empress accepted. Poinsett did not believe the cotton industry could be successful in Russia because of the necessity of employing serfs who received no compensation and therefore could have no interest in its prosperity. Furthermore, he believed that the institution of serfdom made it difficult for Russia to have a merchant marine or become industrialized.

In January 1807, Czar Alexander and Poinsett dined at the Palace. Czar Alexander attempted to entice Poinsett into the Russian civil or military service. Poinsett was hesitant, which prompted Alexander to advise him to "see the Empire, acquire the language, study the people", and then decide. Always interested in travel, Poinsett accepted the invitation and left St. Petersburg in March 1807 on a journey through southern Russia. He was accompanied by his English friend Philip Yorke, Viscount Royston and eight others.

With letters recommending them to the special care of all Russian officials, Poinsett and Royston made their way to Moscow. They were among the last westerners to see Moscow before its burning in October 1812 by Napoleon's forces. From Moscow they traveled to the Volga River, and then by boat to Astrakhan, situated at the mouth of the river. Poinsett's company now entered the Caucasus, containing a very diverse population, and only recently acquired by Russia through conquests by Czars Peter the Great and Catherine the Great. Because of ethnic conflict, the area was extremely dangerous. They were provided with a Cossack escort as they traveled between Tarki and Derbent in Dagestan, but when a Tartar dignitary claimed that this would only provoke danger, the escort was bypassed for the security of the Tartar chiefs. This new security increased the numbers in Poinsett's company, which they believed made it less vulnerable to attack as it passed out of Russia proper. Thus, they were joined by a Persian merchant, who was transporting young girls he had acquired in Circassia to Baku, Azerbaijan and harems in Turkey. With a strong Persian and Kopak guard, the party left Derbent and entered the realm of the Khan of Kuban.

Armed Tartars on horses in 1813.

While traveling through the Khanate, a tribal chief stole some of the horses in Poinsett's party. Poinsett boldly decided to go out of his way to the court of the Khan in the town of Kuban to demand their return. As there were normally never any foreigners in this place, the Khan was surprised. Of course, he had never heard of the United States, and Poinsett did the best he could to answer all the questions the Khan had. In order to convey the greatness of the U.S., Poinsett spoke at length on its geography. The Khan referred to President Thomas Jefferson as the Shah of America. Finally, Poinsett stated that the theft of his horses would reflect badly on the fair name of the Khanate. The Khan was impressed and told Poinsett that the head of the guilty chief was his for the asking, yet since the thief had made it possible for him to accept such a distinguished visitor, perhaps a pardon might be in order.

Poinsett's company traveled to Baku on the Caspian Sea. He noted that because of the petroleum pits in the region, it had long been a spot of pilgrimage for fire-worshipers. He became one of the earliest U.S. travelers to the Middle East, where, in 1806, the Persian khan showed him a pool of petroleum, which he speculated might someday be used for fuel.^[3]

Attracted by the military movements in the Caucasus Mountains, Poinsett visited Erivan, which was then besieged by the Russian Army. After a time with the troops, Poinsett and company journeyed through the mountains of Armenia to the Black Sea. Avoiding Constantinople because of conflict between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, the party proceeded to the Crimea, then through Ukraine, reaching Moscow late in 1807. The trip had been hazardous and Poinsett's health was much impaired. Furthermore, of the nine who had set out on the journey the previous March, Poinsett and two others were the only survivors.

Upon his return to Moscow, Czar Alexander discussed the details of Poinsett's trip with him and offered him a position as colonel in the Russian Army. However, news had reached Russia of the attack of the Chesapeake affair, and war between the United States and Great Britain seemed certain. Poinsett eagerly sought to return to his homeland.

Before leaving Russia, Poinsett met one last time with Czar Alexander. The Czar declared that Russia and the United States should maintain friendly relations. Poinsett again met with Foreign Minister Count Romanzoff where the Russian disclosed to Poinsett that the Czar ardently desired to have a minister from the United States at the Russian Court.

Election to Congress

In 1820, Poinsett won a seat in the United States House of Representatives for the Charleston district. As a congressman, Poinsett continued to call for internal improvements, but he also advocated the maintenance of a strong army and navy. In December 1823, Poinsett submitted a resolution calling upon the Committee on Naval Affairs to inquire into the expediency of authorizing the construction of ten additional sloops of war. As a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Poinsett took strong views on developments in South America. Poinsett's political views were aligned with such nationalists as Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and Secretary of War John C. Calhoun. Poinsett, like many opponents of Clay's American system, opposed the Tariff of 1824.

First Minister to Mexico

The poinsettia, which takes its name from Poinsett.

Poinsett simultaneously served as a special envoy to Mexico from 1822 to 1823, when the government of James Monroe became concerned about the stability of newly independent Mexico. Poinsett, a supporter of the Monroe Doctrine, was convinced that republicanism was the only guarantee of a peaceful, free form of government for North American countries, and tried to influence the government of Agustín de Iturbide, which was beginning to show signs of weakness and divisiveness. The U.S. recognized Mexican independence but it was not until 1825 and the establishment of the Mexican Republic that it sent a minister plenipotentiary. Andrew Jackson and several others turned down the appointment, but Poinsett accepted and resigned his congressional seat.^[4]

On January 12, 1828, in Mexico City, Poinsett signed the first treaty between the United States and Mexico, the Treaty of Limits, a treaty that recognized the U.S.-Mexico border established by the 1819 Adams–Onís Treaty between Spain and the U.S. Because some U.S. political leaders were dissatisfied with the Treaty of Limits and the Adams–Onís Treaty, Poinsett was sent to negotiate acquisition of new territories for the United States, including Texas, New Mexico, and Upper California, as well as parts of Lower California, Sonora, Coahuila, and Nuevo León; but Poinsett's offer to purchase these areas was rejected by the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs headed by Juan Francisco de Azcárate.^[5] (Poinsett wrote Notes on Mexico, a memoir of his time in the First Mexican Empire and at the court of Agustín de Iturbide.)^[4]

^[6] He became embroiled in the country's political turmoil until his recall in 1830, but he did try to further U.S. interests in Mexico by seeking preferential treatment of U.S. goods over those of Britain, attempting to shift the U.S.–Mexico boundary, and urging the adoption of a constitution patterned on that of the U.S.^[4]

After visiting an area south of Mexico City near Taxco de Alarcón, Poinsett saw what later became known in the United States as the poinsettia. (In Mexico it is called Flor de Nochebuena, Christmas Eve flower, or Catarina).^[7][8] Poinsett, an avid amateur botanist, sent samples of the plant to the United States, and by 1836 the plant was widely known as the "poinsettia".^[4] Also a species of Mexican lizard, Sceloporus poinsettii, is named in Poinsett's honor.^[9]

Unionist

Although Poinsett was a proponent of the slave system and owned slaves,^[10] he returned to South Carolina in 1830 to support the Unionist position during the Nullification Crisis, again serving in the South Carolina state legislature (1830–1831). Poinsett also became a confidential agent of President Andrew Jackson, keeping Jackson abreast of situation in South Carolina between October 1832 and March 1833.^[11] In 1833, Poinsett married the widow Mary Izard Pringle (1780–1857), daughter of Ralph and Elizabeth (Stead) Izard.

Secretary of War

Message of President Martin Van Buren nominating Joel Poinsett to be Secretary of War, March 7, 1837.

Poinsett served as Secretary of War from March 7, 1837, to March 5, 1841, overseeing the Trail of Tears, and presided over the continuing suppression of Native American raids by removal of Indians west of the Mississippi and over the Seminole War; reduced the fragmentation of the army by concentrating elements at central locations; equipped the light batteries of artillery regiments as authorized by the 1821 army organization act; and again retired to his plantation at Georgetown, South Carolina, in 1841.

Promotion of American Arts

During the 1820s, Poinsett was a member of the prestigious society, the Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences, who counted among their members former presidents Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams and many prominent men of the day, including well-known representatives of the military, government service, medical and other professions.^[12] He was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1825^[13] and as a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1827.^[14]

In 1840 he was a cofounder of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science and the Useful Arts, a group of politicians advocating for the use of the "Smithson bequest" for a national museum that would showcase relics of the country and its leaders, celebrate American technology, and document the national resources of North America. The group was defeated in its efforts, as other groups wanted scientists, rather than political leaders, guiding the fortunes of what would become the Smithsonian Institution.

Freemasonry

It is unknown when Poinsett became a Master Mason, but it is known that he was a Past Master of Recovery Lodge #31, Greenville, and Solomon's Lodge, Charleston.^[15] Poinsett played a prominent role in defining Freemasonry in Mexico; he favoured promoting the York Rite, which was allied to the political interests of the United States. This became one of three strands, the other to being allied to Continental Freemasonry and the other an "independent" National Mexican Rite.