Burlingame Treaty

The Burlingame Treaty, also known as the Burlingame-Seward Treaty of 1868, was a landmark treaty between the United States and China, amending the unequal Treaty of Tientsin to establish formal friendly relations between the two nations, with the United States granting China the status of most favored nation in trade. It was signed in Washington in 1868 and ratified in Beijing in 1869, the first fully equal treaty China had signed with a western power since the Opium Wars.

China and the United States concluded the Burlingame–Seward Treaty in 1868 to expand upon the Treaty of Tianjin of 1858. The new treaty established some basic principles that aimed to ease immigration restrictions, and represented a Chinese effort to limit foreign interference in internal Chinese affairs.

On June 14, 1861 Lincoln appointed Anson Burlingame as minister to the Qing Empire. Burlingame worked for a cooperative policy rather than the imperialistic policies of force which had been used during the First and Second Opium Wars and developed relations with the reform elements of the court.

The United States also wanted to gain access to profitable trading opportunities and foster the spread of Christianity in Asia, alongside the leading European nations, who also sought to gain inroads in China and Japan. As a part of the general effort to convince the Chinese to adopt a more Western approach to diplomacy and governance, the Western powers also encouraged the Chinese Government to send diplomatic missions abroad. Finally persuaded to do so, the Chinese requested that Burlingame accompany their representatives on a tour that included stops in the major capitals of Washington, London, Paris, and Berlin. Burlingame, originally a representative of the U.S. Government, gave up his post to assist the Chinese in their treaty negotiations with Seward.

While in Washington, Burlingame negotiated a treaty with Secretary of State William H. Seward, his former superior to revise and expand upon the points established in the Treaty of Tianjin of 1858. The first few articles of the new treaty protected commerce conducted in Chinese ports and cities, and established the right of China to appoint consuls to American port cities. The more groundbreaking articles included measures that promised the Chinese the right to free immigration and travel within the United States, and allowed for the protection of Chinese citizens in the United States in accordance with the most-favored-nation principle. Another article gave the citizens of the two nations reciprocal access to education and schooling when living in the other country. All of these articles served to reinforce the principle of equality between the two nations.

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