Anson Burlingame, an American diplomat.

• Author: Jue, Stanton
• Position: Biography

Anson Burlingame, an American Diplomat

Abraham Lincoln's envoy to China played a most unusual role in the foreign relations of the United States by passionately advocating the principles of fairness, equality and reciprocity in U.S.-China relations, 1861-70. These principles were poignantly embedded in the Burlingame Treaty of 1868. However, there was no momentum, no traction. His achievements, hopes and pleas were quickly shattered by the xenophobic forces of the day. Clearly, Burlingame was a man ahead of his time.

Is it possible that an American diplomat was sent to China, then known as the Qing Empire, as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary and then upon completion of his tour returned to the United States as China's roving envoy to Washington and European capitals? Yes, as rare as it was, Anson Burlingame was the diplomat who played that unusual dual role in the diplomatic history of the United States and China.

Anson Burlingame, appointed by Abraham Lincoln as the American envoy to China on June 14, 1861, returned to the United States as the envoy from China in November 1867. However, Burlingame was not the first American representative to China. That was Caleb Cushing, who served, 1843-44, in the wake of the first Opium War. Unlike Cushing, Burlingame had the more exalted title of envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary.

Who was Anson Burlingame?

Who was this American envoy and how did he play such a unique and unusual role in American diplomatic history? At a recent meeting of the Diplomatic and Consular Officers, Retired (DACOR) in Washington, I queried a number of retired diplomats including a few "old China hands". Some had heard the name but did not know what Burlingame did or what he had accomplished. That spurred my interest and curiosity further.

In his early career, Anson Burlingame was a congressman from Massachusetts. He was also a Methodist lay leader of high moral standard and integrity, as exhibited by his stance on the controversial issue of slavery then debated around the country. A rousing orator, he delivered a scathing denunciation against Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina over slavery. The press, including The New York Times, described his performance as powerful and brilliant as one who could fire up a crowd like a revival evangelist like no other.

As a student at the University of Michigan's Detroit campus, he already had a reputation for oratorical skill and power. After receiving a law degree from Harvard Law School under Justice Joseph Story in 1846, he practiced law in Boston for a brief period, won a wide reputation with his powerful and elegant speeches on behalf of the Free Soil Party and later the newly formed Republican Party in the Massachusetts legislature. He also was a man of broad vision, scope and versatility who could effectively speak out on the critical issues of the day before various audiences around the country.

His reputation attracted the attention of Abraham Lincoln, who less than three months after his...