Foundations of Foreign Affairs, 1775-1823

James Monroe, Early American Diplomat American diplomats played a key role in the struggle for independence and in winning respect for the new nation during the early years of the new Republic. Those who served included some of the most brilliant and gifted diplomats ever to represent the United States.

Origins of a Diplomatic Tradition

Despite their status as colonial subjects of the King, some 18th century Americans already had a great deal of experience negotiating with ministers at the highest levels of the British Government. Benjamin Franklin In 1757, Benjamin Franklin began his first term as Pennsylvania’s colonial agent in London. By the end of his second term (1765-75), Franklin also represented Massachusetts, Georgia, and New Jersey. Other distinguished Americans, such as Arthur Lee, served in a similar capacity.

Franklin secretly negotiated with the British in 1774 to prevent the outbreak of war. Although he was unsuccessful, he gained valuable diplomatic skills. When war became inevitable, a nucleus of Americans, including Franklin, was ready to assume the tremendously important task of representing the breakaway nation in the courts of Europe.

Diplomacy: A Key Component of the Revolution

Given the overwhelming strategic and military advantages of Great Britain, the United States could gain independence only if it attracted the support of Britain’s enemies, France and Spain. Silas Deane In November 1775, Congress established the Committee of Secret Correspondence to “correspond with friends” and prospective supporters abroad and to send commissioners to other key countries. Silas Deane was sent to France in March 1776, and Arthur Lee became a “confidential correspondent” in London.

American commissioners during the Revolutionary period were authorized to appoint commercial agents to supply the American war effort, but the committees of the Continental Congress also appointed some commercial agents directly. The resulting confusion caused Franklin to complain, “Commercial agents . . . and the captains are continually writing for my opinion or orders or leave to do this or that, by which much time is lost to them and much of mine is taken up to little purpose from my ignorance.”

The Continental Congress

In October 1776, Franklin sailed to France to lead the diplomatic effort. His patient diplomacy combined with the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga resulted in a Treaty of Alliance with France in February 1778. Benjamin Franklin officially became the first American Minister to serve overseas when, on March 23, 1779, he presented his credentials to King Louis XVI of France.

In June 1781, Congress named a Peace Commission, including Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay to negotiate an end to the war. The commissioners reached agreement with the British on November 30, 1782.

Diplomacy under the Articles of Confederation

While negotiations in Paris were underway, legislators in the United States created a new government—the Articles of Confederation. Robert R. Livingston, First Secretary for Foreign Affairs Today’s Department of State began on January 10, 1781, as the "Department of Foreign Affairs.” Shortly after approval of the resolution, Congress selected Robert R. Livingston of New York as the first Secretary for Foreign Affairs. Many of America’s leading public figures served as envoys under the Articles of Confederation, among them John Adams in the Netherlands, John Jay in Spain, and Thomas Jefferson in France.

Robert Livingston’s 19 months in office were filled with frustration since the weak and inefficient Articles of Confederation diffused foreign policy making authority. After Livingston complained, Congress further restricted his authority to act. Livingston’s successor, John Jay, another New Yorker, was appointed Secretary for Foreign Affairs on May 7, 1784, and found the job equally frustrating. During the national debate on whether to adopt the new constitution drafted in 1787, Jay summarized his critique of congressional foreign policy under the Articles of Confederation: John Jay, Envoy to Spain and Second Secretary for Foreign Affairs under the Articles of Confederation “They may make war, but are not empowered to raise men or money to carry it on. They may make peace, but are without power to see the terms of it imposed. . . . They may make alliances, but [are] without ability to comply with the stipulations on their part. They may enter into treaties of commerce, but [are] without power to enforce them at home or abroad.”

While “ministers” handled the country’s official business, other officials, known as “consuls” handled business matters for Americans overseas. Although a 1778 treaty with France provided for the appointment of consular officials, no American consuls began their service until 1781.

Thomas Barclay of Pennsylvania was appointed consul in France on October 2, 1781, replacing William Palfrey, who was lost at sea on his way to post. In early 1786, Congress appointed Samuel Shaw, a Yankee merchant whose ship Empress of China had just returned from a successful trading voyage to the Far East, as consul at the China’s western trading port, Canton.

A New Framework for Foreign Affairs

The new Constitution of 1789 was designed to redress the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation, and it allotted significantly more responsibility for foreign affairs to the Federal Government. Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution gave the President the power to make treaties with the “advice and consent” of the Senate. The Constitution of the United States Practically, the clause stipulated that two-thirds of the Senators would have to approve any treaty negotiated by the Executive Branch. The President also was given the power to appoint ambassadors, ministers, and consuls, with Senate approval. But the Legislative Branch retained the power to declare war and, equally important, the power to appropriate money.

The Constitution did not give predominance in foreign affairs to the Executive Branch, although early Presidents worked to establish the precedent. Thomas Jefferson insisted, “…the President is the only channel of communication between this country and foreign nations, and it is from him alone that foreign nations or their agents are to learn what is or has been the will of the nation.” First Secretary of State under the Constitution, Thomas Jefferson

But the President could not manage foreign policy alone. On May 19, 1789, James Madison proposed the creation of a Department of Foreign Affairs under the leadership of a Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. But, since there wasn’t thought to be enough work for a Department of “Home Affairs,” Congress also assigned domestic duties to the new Department of State. John Jay, originally appointed as Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Articles of Confederation, continued at this post until 1790. As President, George Washington immediately appointed Thomas Jefferson, then Minister to France, to be the first Secretary of State. Jefferson began work on March 22, 1790.

Despite significant constraints on the Department of State in terms of budget and manpower, the United States achieved a remarkable number of triumphs in foreign affairs during the early years of the republic. During the 1790s, the Jay Treaty (1794) and the Pinckney Treaty (1795) regularized relations with England and Spain.

A Diplomatic Tradition

As Secretary of State, Jefferson abhorred the intrigues and ostentation of European courts, but as an experienced American diplomat with experience, he realized that if the United States was to be taken seriously, the United States had to adopt some European diplomatic practices. President George Washington

Washington and Jefferson lobbied Congress for a large enough appropriation to support a limited number of overseas missions, in a style comparable to those of other nations. Jefferson drew a distinction between a diplomatic service, conducting political relations with foreign countries, and a consular service, dealing with commercial matters and the needs of American citizens abroad. By 1791, diplomatic missions had been established in five European countries: England, Spain, France, Holland, and Portugal.

Ministers concentrated on two important responsibilities: reporting on significant activities in their countries of residence and executing formal diplomatic instructions transmitted to them from the Department of State.

By 1792, 16 consulates had been created, most of them in Europe. Jefferson saw the consulates as a valuable source of intelligence, and he sent a circular letter to consuls asking them to report to him regularly “such political and commercial intelligence as you may think interesting to the United States.” He mentioned particularly news of American ships and also “information of all military preparations and other indications of war, which may take place in your ports.”

Consuls did not receive salaries or allowances for expenses, and they lived off the fees they charged for their services. Because their income was so uncertain, consuls often served for many years in the same location and paid little attention to their official duties. One consul in La Guaira, Venezuela, was dismissed because “not a single communication” had been received from him in seven years.

The precarious nature of U.S. consuls overseas was a concern to Jefferson. He feared that the few Americans overseas who were eligible to serve as consuls might be in debt or “…young, ephemeral characters in commerce without substance or conduct.” Even worse, if appointed, they “…might disgrace the consular office, without protecting our commerce.” Congress amended the law requiring consuls and vice-consuls to be American citizens and, when necessary, reputable foreign citizens were appointed as vice-consuls.

American Diplomatic Style

Following the early practice of Benjamin Franklin, representatives of the United States traditionally wore unpretentious clothing and adopted simple manners, a departure from the ostentatious practice at European courts. Americans considered this policy appropriate for emissaries of a young republic that had repudiated monarchy. Thomas Jefferson particularly was opposed to undue ceremony and rigid protocol. Later, he refused to recognize formal social distinctions at dinners held in the White House during his presidency, especially the order of precedence—i.e., seating by rank—a practice that greatly annoyed the foreign diplomatic corps.

Even if the new nation’s democratic ideology had not mandated republican simplicity, the meager salaries paid to American ministers would have produced the same effect. In 1817, President James Monroe, a former Minister to France and a former Secretary of State, complained to a congressional committee about the nation's failure to provide sufficient salaries and allowances for members of the Diplomatic Service. Monroe insisted that American diplomats had to gain access to the most important social circles before they could do their jobs. “By taking the proper [social] ground,” Monroe wrote, “He will become acquainted with all that passes and from the highest and most authentic sources... Deprive him of the necessary means to sustain this ground, separate him from the circle to which he belongs and he is reduced to a cipher.”

Congress turned a deaf ear to these arguments, and ministers at important posts such as London or Paris were forced to spend their own private fortunes. As a result, only those with wealth could aspire to a diplomatic career. Lack of adequate funding also meant that little or no interchange took place between those serving in Washington and those overseas. The diplomatic service and the consular service remained strictly separate. Ultimately, these circumstances limited flexibility and interfered with the development of professionalism.

Staffing and Administration

Jefferson's initial staff consisted of:

• a chief clerk—who physically wrote all diplomatic correspondence—,
• three other clerks,
• one translator, and
• a messenger

The Department's domestic budget for 1790, not counting the expenses of employees overseas, was $7,961; a figure which included firewood and stationery. Jefferson himself was paid $3,500. Total expenditures in 1791, both domestic and foreign, were $56,600.

In 1807 the Department's staff included only a chief clerk, five other clerks, and some part-time help, along with a few retainers. The Secretary of State's salary had been raised to $5,000 per year. In 1818 a Presidential order authorized a staff that included a chief clerk, seven other clerks, and a few other minor employees. In 1820, expenditures for domestic operations reached $87,300; the cost of overseas operations totaled $253,400.

Despite the increase in expenditures, the Department of State and its foreign missions were chronically overworked—and so was the Secretary of State. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams In 1817, John Quincy Adams complained of excessive responsibilities shortly after assuming his duties. “Business crowds upon me from day to day requiring instantaneous attention,” he wrote to his wife Louisa. “Unless everything is disposed of just as it occurs, it escapes from the memory and runs into the account of arrears.”

Adams found that the Department’s record keeping—already somewhat disorganized because of persistent staff shortages—became even more confused as a result of the burning of Washington, D.C., during the War of 1812 and the Department’s expanded domestic responsibilities. In an attempt to straighten out the mess, Secretary Adams carried out the first reorganization of the Department in 1818. An executive order finally spelled out clearly the responsibilities and salaries of the Department’s officers. In particular, it made the Chief Clerk the highest-ranking Department officer below the Secretary and, in addition to making him responsible for carrying out the Secretary’s instructions and assisting him with diplomatic correspondence, the Executive Order gave him oversight over all functions of the Department.

To streamline the bureaucratic process, as many as ten clerks, each of whom worked in a specific subject area, reported to the Chief Clerk. Their duties included writing consular and non-diplomatic correspondence, forwarding commissions and other documents to American or foreign ministers, preserving books and papers of the Congress, translating documents, and preparing passports, certificates, and exequaturs for foreign consuls. Other clerks copied and filed documents.

The Development of Foreign Policy

During the first 50 years of the nation, diplomats were guided by the idea that the United States should observe political isolation from European powers during peacetime and maintain strict neutrality during periods of war. Years before, Benjamin Franklin had summed up this point when he wrote: “A virgin state should preserve its virgin character and not go suitoring for alliances, but wait with decent dignity for the application of others.”

Selection from Rough Draft of President George Washington's 1796 Farewell Address

In his 1796 Farewell Address, President Washington argued: “The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is to have with them as little political [as distinct from commercial] connection as possible.” Europe, he continued, had its own set of interests, and those interests were very different from those of the United States. Fortunately, the state of international relations tended to confer freedom of action upon the nation. “Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rival-ship, interest, humor, or caprice?” Therefore, concluded Washington, "it is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world, so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it.”

Although the political views of Thomas Jefferson were very different from those of Washington, Jefferson agreed that isolation and neutrality were the most beneficial course for the United States. In his First Inaugural Address (1801), Jefferson spoke of “Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.”

Diplomatic Gains in the Early 19th Century

The Department of State played a key role in America’s westward expansion. In 1803, the Louisiana Purchase brought a vast chunk of the continent between Canada and Mexico under United States control. President James Monroe's Administration arranged the Rush-Bagot Agreement of 1817 and the Convention of 1818, which settled disputes with Great Britain over the Great Lakes and the border with Canada westward along the 49th parallel to the Rocky Mountains, and the Adams-Onis (or Transcontinental) Treaty with Spain (1819), which added Florida to the national domain and settled the boundary with Mexico on advantageous terms.

The Treaty of the Louisiana Purchase

As the United States spread across the continent, and American prestige and influence grew, diplomats worked hard to keep the European nations out of the rest of the Western Hemisphere. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams succinctly summed American thought in the Monroe Doctrine of 1823.

The Monroe Doctrine “closed” the Western Hemisphere to further colonization, announced that the United States would refrain from interference in European affairs, and warned the Europeans to stay out of the domestic affairs of any of the new American Republics. As President Monroe’s message stated: “We could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing [the nations of Latin America], or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States.”

Although the young United States was still too weak to enforce the Monroe Doctrine, its presentation in 1823 was a clear indication that the United States saw itself as the most senior of the republics and the leader of the free nations of the Western Hemisphere.

Conclusion

Foreign affairs declined in importance toward the end of this period and throughout the 19th century while the nation focused on domestic expansion and internal trade. Despite the great prestige of the Secretary of State in the early days of the nation, Congress remained tight-fisted throughout the 19th century when allocating money for foreign affairs.