Anson Burlingame (November 14, 1820 – February 23, 1870) was an American lawyer,
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
/American Party legislator, diplomat, and
abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The British ...
. As diplomat, he served as the U.S. minister to
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
(1862–1867) and then as China's envoy to the U.S., which resulted in the 1868 landmark
Burlingame Treaty
The Burlingame Treaty (), also known as the Burlingame–Seward Treaty of 1868, was a landmark treaty between the United States and Qing China, amending the Treaty of Tientsin, to establish formal friendly relations between the two nations, with ...
.
Early life
Burlingame was born in
New Berlin,
Chenango County, New York
Chenango County is a County (United States), county located in the south-central section U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 47,220. Its county seat is Norwich, New York ...
. In 1823 his parents (Joel Burlingame and Freelove Angell) took him to
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, and about ten years afterwards to
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
. Between 1838 and 1841 he studied at the Detroit branch of the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, and in 1846 graduated from
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class ...
. On June 3, 1847, he married Jane Cornelia Livermore. They had sons Edward Livermore Burlingame (born 1848) and Walter Angell Burlingame (born 1852), as well as a daughter Gertrude Burlingame (born 1856).
Early career
Burlingame practiced law in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Massachusetts, and won a wide reputation by his speeches for the
Free Soil Party
The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery into ...
in 1848. He was a member of the
constitutional convention in 1853, of the
Massachusetts State Senate
The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member sen ...
from 1853 to 1854, and of the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
from 1855 to 1861, being elected for the first term as a
Know Nothing
The Know Nothing party was a nativist political party and movement in the United States in the mid-1850s. The party was officially known as the "Native American Party" prior to 1855 and thereafter, it was simply known as the "American Party". ...
and afterwards as a member of the new
Republican Party
Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party.
Republican Party may also refer to:
Africa
*Republican Party (Liberia)
* Republican Part ...
, which he helped to organize in Massachusetts. He was a brother of the
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active colonies across North America. It was founded at Yale College in 1844 by fifteen ...
fraternity (Sigma chapter).
Burlingame vs. Preston Brooks
In May 1856, Senator
Charles Sumner
Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811March 11, 1874) was an American statesman and United States Senator from Massachusetts. As an academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the anti-slavery forces in the state and a leader of th ...
(R-Massachusetts) delivered a fiery anti-slavery speech. He was subsequently
brutally assaulted in the Senate chamber by Representative
Preston Brooks
Preston Smith Brooks (August 5, 1819 – January 27, 1857) was an American politician and member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina, serving from 1853 until his resignation in July 1856 and again from August 1856 until his ...
(D-
South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
), who was hailed as a hero by the pro-slavery South.
Shortly afterwards, Burlingame delivered what ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' referred to as "the most celebrated speech" of his career: a scathing denunciation of Brooks' assault on Sumner, branding him as "the vilest sort of coward" on the House floor. In response, Brooks challenged Burlingame to a duel, stating he would gladly face him "in any Yankee
mudsill of his choosing". Burlingame eagerly accepted; as the challenged party, he had his choice of weapons and location. A well-known marksman, he selected rifles as the weapons and the Navy Yard on the Canadian side of the U.S. border in
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...
as the location (in order to circumvent the U.S. ban on dueling). Brooks, reportedly dismayed by both Burlingame's unexpectedly enthusiastic acceptance and his reputation as a crack shot, neglected to show up, instead citing unspecified risks to his safety if he were to cross "hostile country" (the northern U.S. states) in order to reach Canada. Burlingame's solid defense of a fellow Bostonian greatly raised his stature throughout the North.
Diplomatic posts
Minister to China (Qing Empire)
On March 22, 1861, after Burlingame lost his bid for re-election, President
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
appointed Burlingame as
Minister to the
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...
, but Burlingame, who had championed the Hungarian
Lajos Kossuth
Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva (, hu, udvardi és kossuthfalvi Kossuth Lajos, sk, Ľudovít Košút, anglicised as Louis Kossuth; 19 September 1802 – 20 March 1894) was a Hungarian nobleman, lawyer, journalist, poli ...
and his drive for independence from the Austrian Empire, was not acceptable and did not serve.
On June 14, 1861, Lincoln instead appointed Burlingame as minister to the
Qing Empire
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
. Burlingame worked for a cooperative policy rather than the imperialistic policies of force which had been used during the
First
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
and
Second Opium War
The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Sino War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a colonial war lasting from 1856 to 1860, which pitted the British Empire and the French Emp ...
s and developed relations with the reform elements of the court. As he put it, the "cooperative policy... substituted for the old doctrine of violence one of fair diplomatic action," and the representatives of the Western powers agreed that they would not interfere in the internal affairs of China. Burlingame reported that he had used his diplomacy to get the European powers to agree that they would "give to the treaties a fair and Christian construction; that they ... never would menace the territorial integrity of China."
China's envoy to U.S. and European nations
The success of this diplomacy was not lost on Qing dynasty court officials. On November 16, 1867, when he was set to retire and return to his political career at home, the Chinese government appointed Burlingame envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to head a Chinese diplomatic mission to the United States and the principal European nations. The mission, which included two Chinese ministers, an English and a French secretary, six students from Peking, and a considerable retinue, arrived in the United States in March 1868. Burlingame used his personal relations with the Republican administration to negotiate a relatively quick and favorable treaty. In a series of speeches across the country, he displayed eloquent oratory to advocate equal treatment of China and a welcoming stance toward Chinese immigrants.
On July 28, 1868, the mission concluded at Washington, D.C., a series of articles, supplementary to the Reed Treaty of 1858, and later known as the
Burlingame Treaty
The Burlingame Treaty (), also known as the Burlingame–Seward Treaty of 1868, was a landmark treaty between the United States and Qing China, amending the Treaty of Tientsin, to establish formal friendly relations between the two nations, with ...
. The treaty provided that Chinese subjects in the United States should enjoy the same rights as citizens of the
most favored nation, a legal strategy which up until that point had only been used to expand foreign privileges in China. Burlingame worked successfully to include a clause permitting Chinese to become citizens, which was barred by American law. This treaty was the first equal treaty between China and a western power after the Opium War.
Subsequently, Burlingame also negotiated treaties with Denmark, Sweden, Holland, and Prussia. He died suddenly at
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
on February 23, 1870, while negotiating terms for a treaty with Russia. He was buried in
Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural cemetery, rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, Watertown in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middl ...
in
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
.
Family
His son
Edward L. Burlingame was founding editor of ''
Scribner's Magazine
''Scribner's Magazine'' was an American periodical published by the publishing house of Charles Scribner's Sons from January 1887 to May 1939. ''Scribner's Magazine'' was the second magazine out of the Scribner's firm, after the publication of ' ...
''. His grandson (Edward's son),
Roger Burlingame, was an author of fiction, nonfiction, and biographies.
Legacy
After Burlingame's death, the spirit and many of the specific provisions of the treaty bearing his name were reversed. Foreign powers continued to encroach upon China, and Congress passed strict laws against Chinese immigration. The success of the Communist Revolution of 1949 led to animosity between the two countries and Burlingame's reputation was as a naive and euphoric advocate of China. After warming of relations in the 1980s, Burlingame's reputation began to rise again, however.
Burlingame, California
Burlingame () is a city in San Mateo County, California. It is located on the San Francisco Peninsula and has a significant shoreline on San Francisco Bay. The city is named after diplomat Anson Burlingame and is known for its numerous eucalyp ...
;
Burlingame, Kansas
Burlingame is a city in Osage County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 971.
History
Burlingame was originally established as Council City and was an stop on the Santa Fe Trail. The Council City po ...
; and
Anson, Wisconsin
Anson is a town in Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 2,076 at the 2010 census. The unincorporated communities of Anson and Jim Falls are located in the town. The town was named after Anson Burlingame, a Massachus ...
, are all named after Anson Burlingame. The
ranch which Burlingame purchased in
San Mateo on the San Francisco Bay retained his name and was eventually developed after his death.
[Burlingame Family Papers, Library of Congress.]
Anson Burlingame's portrait, painted by Albion Harris Bicknell, hangs in historic Faneuil Hall, Boston. In 2018, upon the 150th anniversary of the
Burlingame Treaty
The Burlingame Treaty (), also known as the Burlingame–Seward Treaty of 1868, was a landmark treaty between the United States and Qing China, amending the Treaty of Tientsin, to establish formal friendly relations between the two nations, with ...
, a new bust of Anson Burlingame sculpted by Zhou Limin was unveiled at an international ceremony held at the Burlingame Public Library in
Burlingame, California
Burlingame () is a city in San Mateo County, California. It is located on the San Francisco Peninsula and has a significant shoreline on San Francisco Bay. The city is named after diplomat Anson Burlingame and is known for its numerous eucalyp ...
.
References
Citations
Further reading
* Anderson, David L. "Anson Burlingame: American Architect of the Cooperative Policy in China, 1861–1871." ''Diplomatic history'' 1.3 (1977): 239–256
online* Anderson, David L. "Anson Burlingame: Reformer and Diplomat." ''Civil War History'' 25.4 (1979): 293–308
online* Biggerstaff, Knight. "The Official Chinese Attitude Toward the Burlingame Mission" ''American Historical Review,'' 41#4 (1936), pp. 682–70
online* Schrecker, John. "'For the Equality of Men -- for the Equality of Nations': Anson Burlingame and China's First Embassy to the United States, 1868," ''
Journal of American-East Asian Relations
Journal of American-East Asian Relations (JAEAR), according to its website, is a "peer-reviewed quarterly journal of interdisciplinary historical, cross-cultural, and social science scholarship from all parts of the world," which began publication ...
'' 17.1 (2010): 9-34
online* Williams, Frederick Wells. ''Anson Burlingame and the First Chinese Mission to Foreign Powers'' (New York: Scribner's, 1912)
online
External links
*
External links
*
Burlingame Public Library – History: Anson Burlingame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burlingame, Anson
1820 births
1870 deaths
People from New Berlin, New York
Massachusetts Free Soilers
Know-Nothing members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts
19th-century American diplomats
Ambassadors of the United States to Austria
Ambassadors of the United States to China
Republican Party Massachusetts state senators
Burlingame, California
Harvard Law School alumni
University of Michigan alumni
Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery
19th-century American politicians
American duellists