Despatches from U.S. Ministers to China, 1843-1906

This collection comprises 131 volumes that consist, for the most part, of despatches addressed to the State Department by U.S. diplomatic representatives to China between June 27, 1843, and August 14, 1906. The initial portion of the collection consists of selected pages from thirteen State Department registers of correspondence that constitute a register of despatches from China from June 27, 1843, to December 31, 1906. Although the register lists correspondence through December 31, 1906, the despatches and communications after August 14, 1906, were filed in a new subject series begun at that time and so are not included in this collection.

On May 8, 1843, Caleb Cushing, America's first diplomatic representative to China, received two commissions: one as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary and the other as commissioner. Only commissioners were appointed thereafter until April 18, 1857, when William B. Reed was commissioned envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary. From 1857 until 1906 an envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary was in charge of the legation in China.

Most of the communications are original numbered despatches and many of them are accompanied by enclosures. The despatches contain a wealth of information concerning not only China proper but also Manchuria, Tibet, Formosa, Korea, the Philippine Islands, and Indochina. They relate to such subjects as the opening of treaty ports and the extraterritorial rights of American citizens, the Opium Wars, the Taiping Rebellion, the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars, the Boxer Rebellion and other anti-foreign disturbances, and the need for additional U.S. naval vessels in Chinese waters. There are despatches and reports in which are discussed the problems of piracy, the treatment of shipwrecked American seamen, the protection of missionaries, the emigration of Chinese to and the exclusion of Chinese from the United States, claims of American citizens in China against the Chinese government, prohibition of the opium trade, the “coolie” trade, floods and famine, and epidemics of such diseases as cholera and the bubonic plague.

There is also information on the growth of shipping and trade, China's natural resources and agriculture, public health, education (by the Chinese government, by missionaries, and by admitting Chinese students to educational institutions in the United States), and communications, including roads, river transport, mail service, construction of the Trans-Siberian Railroad and other railways, and telephone and telegraph lines.

In each volume the general order of the despatches is chronological by date of writing, with enclosures following the transmitting letter. Many of the enclosures are copies of notes to or from the Chinese foreign office, which in turn are accompanied by copies of enclosures (royal orders, announcements of court ceremonies, or complaints of Chinese subjects against citizens and officials of the United States). Other enclosures were written by American consuls in China, often relating to the commercial activities of American citizens in China. Still other enclosures are copies of communications to local Chinese officials and private citizens. Pamphlets, issues of newspapers, and other printed materials are sometimes enclosed.

Apart from numbered despatches and enclosures, these volumes contain many unnumbered communications, some of which are marked “Private” or “Confidential.” These unnumbered communications, more informal than despatches, may report official matters requiring secrecy or not fully covered in the despatches or may convey personal news, acknowledgments of appointments, announcements of arrival or departure, and bills for official expenses. The volumes also contain numerous telegrams or cables, which are not numbered; communications from private citizens, U.S. government agencies, and White House officials; and memoranda prepared by the State Department.