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The Conversation USA

Joel Roberts Poinsett: Namesake of the poinsettia, enslaver, secret agent and perpetrator of the 'Trail of Tears'

  • Written by Lindsay Schakenbach Regele, Assistant Professor of History, Miami University
imageJoel Roberts Poinsett is given credit for bringing the popular red and green plant to the U.S.Constantine Johnny/Getty Images

If people know the name Joel Roberts Poinsett today, it is likely because of the red and green poinsettia plant.

In the late 1820s, while serving as the first ambassador from the U.S. to Mexico, Poinsett clipped samples of...

Read more: Joel Roberts Poinsett: Namesake of the poinsettia, enslaver, secret agent and perpetrator of the...

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