Natlp IS a Tf ARC HI VESAND R1CD ROS^SE RVICE : WAS HIN G to N
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NATlp IS A tf ARC HI V E S A N D R1CD ROS^S E RVICE : W A S HIN G TO N • The records reproduced in the microfilm publication are from Record Group 59 General Records of the Department of State in the National Archives DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR INSTRUCTIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE 1791-1801 On the five rolls of this microcopy are reproduced four volumes and parts of two volumes consisting of record copies of communica- tions addressed by the Department of State chiefly to officials of the United States assigned to service abroad, including diplomatic and consular representatives, special agents, and bearers of des- patches, January 23, 1791 - September 28, 1801. Some of the communications give notice of appointments, convey information or inquiries, express approval or disapproval of proposals or actions, or merely transmit enclosuresj but the greater number are instructions in the most definite and narrow sense. In the usage of the Department of State, however, the term "instructions" applies, by synecdoche, to all communications addressed by the Department to its officials in foreign service. This intradepartmental designation has been established for more than a century, has long been employed in citing the records, and has the advantage of brevity. The records re- produced in this microcopy may be briefly described, therefore, as "Diplomatic and Consular Instructions." The volumes also contain record copies of a number of communica- tions to foreign diplomats and rulers, to the bankers of the United States in London and Amsterdam, and to other persons who applied for employment, presented claims, or received thanks for friendly services. Most materials of the kinds here mentioned were entered not in these volumes but in other series of volumes, particularly "Domestic Letters" (File Microcopy -40) and "Notes to Foreign Legations" (File Microcopy 38). The volumes reproduced in this microcopy are a continuation of a volume labeled "Foreign Letters" (File Microcopy 61), forming Number 121 of the Papers of the Continental Congress and containing record copies of the same classes of communications that are entered in these volumes. The "foreign letters" were sent by John Jay, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, later acting head of the Department of State (Janu- ary lit, 1785 - March 3, 1790), and by Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State (March 30 - December 23, 1790). It will be observed that the volume contains copies of letters written both before and after the establishment of the Federal Government. "Foreign Letters" was probably as accurate a short title as could have been devised for the somewhat miscellaneous correspondence copied in tne volume, particularly wnen contrasted to the series of "American Letters" that contained many of the other letters sent by the Secretary for r'oreign Affairs. The four volumes of "American Letters" were con- tinued by a series labeled "Domestic Letters," beginning with a volume numbered 5. This numbering made clear (in spite of the change of title) the continuity of the series. Though there is equally close continuity between "Foreign Letters" and the volumes reproduced in this microcopy, the continuity is indi- cated neither by titles nor by volume numbers. The first five of the volumes in this microcopy are labeled "United States Ministers, Instruc- tions''—^ title that is misleading in that it designates only a part, though a main part, of the contents of the volumes. It appears unfortu- nate that the title "Foreign Letters" was not retained until 1301, and that the volumes mentioned in this paragraph were not numbered from 1 to 6—an arrangement that would have made clear the nature and sequence of the records. In 1801 the series reproduced in this microcopy divided into two branches—communications to diplomatic representatives (File Microcopy 77) and communications to consular representatives (File Microcopy 78). The division in 1801 was made in a highly confusing way. "United States Ministers, Instructions," Volume 5» pages 1-388, contains copies of com- munications (of all the kinds found in Volumes 1-4) from December 3» 1798, to September 2?, 1800. These are continued in "Despatches to Con- suls," Volume 1, pages 1-109, containing copies of communications from October 4, 1300, to September 28, 1801. The remaining pages of this volume contain copies of communications to consular representatives only. It is to be observed that neither the title nor the numbering of the volume gives any indication that its first 109 pages are a continuation of Volumes 1-5 of "United States I Ministers, Instructions." Volume 5 of the latter series contains not only the copies mentioned above, occupying pages 1-388, but transcripts, in a later hand, of let- ters to Rufus King, January 3 - July 28, 1801 (pages 389-418), and of fifteen letters to King and other ministers, October 21, 1801 - December 21, 1814 (pages 419-435), and drafts or press copies of a few other let- ters, November 18, 1798 - August 5* 1799 (attached to recto pages, 437- 457). The fifteen letters from 1801 to 1814 belong chronologically to Volumes 6-8 of the series of instructions to ministers, and cross refer- ences to the letters are inserted in the margins of these volumes at appropriate points. The handwriting of the references is identical with that of most of the materials after page 388 of Volume 5—evidence that these materials were entered in the volume at least thirteen years after the terminal date of the preceding materials. It may be nore or less safely assumed that Volume 5 was originally blank after page 388, that what is now Volume 1 of "Despatches to Con- suls" was begun as Volume 6 of "United States I.Iinisters, Instructions," and that at the end of September 1801 it was decided to enter diplomatic and consular instructions thereafter in separate volumes. The separate series of consular instructions was begun not in a new volume but near the foot of page 109 of the first volume now labeled "Despatches to Con- suls." Several years later certain letters to King and other ministers, which may have been overlooked previously and may have been found in the form of press copies or rough drafts, were entered in the latter pages of Volume 5, presumably for no other reason than that space was available there. In filming the two volumes affected by this confusion it is possible to restore in part the continuity of the records. Roll 5 of this micro- copy therefore contains (1) Volume 5 of "United States Llinisters, Instruc- tions," pages 1-418, 437-457, and (2) Volume 1 of "Despatches to Consuls," pages 1-109 (not including the foot of the last page). The remaining pages of Volume 5 are filmed in File Llicrocopy 77, Roll 1, and the remain- ing pages of Volume 1 in File Microcopy 78, Roll 1. Though the general order of the letters is chronological, many ex- ceptions occur. Such deviations are usually indicated in marginal notes in the volumes. Yifhen such cross references are absent and when the mis- placed items are entered several pages after the proper page, references are inserted by the National Archives for the purpose of this microcopy. The first and the last letter included in the microcopy from each of the Secretaries of State are dated as follows: Thomas Jefferson (January 23, 1791 - December 14, 1793), Edmund Randolph (January 10, 1794 - August 15, 1795), Timothy Pickering (August 25, 1795 - Hay 9, 1800), Charles Lee, ad interim (May 14-27, 1300), John Marshall (June 16, 1300 - February 26, 1301), Levi Lincoln, ad interim (?.ferch 10 - April 25, 1801), and James Lfadison (J.'ay 25 - September 28, 1801). Some of the letters were signed by Jacob 17agner, Chief Clerk. Anong the duties of the Chief Clerk was that of acting as Secretary of State whenever the Secretary was absent or when the office of Secretary was vacant. Let- ters dealing with recurrent matters not requiring the Secretary's atten- tion were usually signed by the Chief Clerk. Of the volumes included in this microcopy all except Volume 4 are provided with indexes; and an index to Volume 4, prepared by the National Archives, is filmed after the introductory note for that volume. It has seemed desirable, however, to bring together in a single alphabetical list the names of all persons addressed in the volumes and their prede- cessor, "Foreign Letters," and also to classify the names according to diplomatic and consular posts. Such a list, prepared by the National Archives, follows this introduction,, Copies of letters sent by the Department of State between 1791 and 1801 that are not entered in these volumes will be found chiefly in two other series of State Department records in the National Archives—"Domestic Letters" and "Notes to i-oroign legations." Orig- irnls of letters addressed to diplomatic and consular officials are among the records of diplomatic and consular posts abroad,, Such orig- inals often contain enclosures that were not entered in the letter books here reproduced,, The earlier records of most diplomatic and consular posts of the United States are in the National Archives but are usually incomplete, particularly for the years before I860; and hence many of the original letters received from, the Department of State are aliasing from the records of the posts0 Complementary to the letters sent are the despatches received by the Department of State from diplomatic and consular officials and special agents of the Department, and also, though less closely related, notes from foreign legations in the United States and letters from other sources (the latter labeled "Miscellaneous Letters")0 File microcopies (with microcopy numbers indicated in parentheses) have been made of diplomatic despatches from France (34-), Great Britain (30), the Netherlands (4^), Portugal (43), Prussia (44), Spain (31), and special agents (3?); of consular despatches from Ste Bartholomew (72); and of notes from the legations of Prance (53), Great Britain (50), the Nether- lands (56), Portugal (57), and Spain (59).