Globalization of the United States, 1789-1861

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Elliot, Jonathan. The American Diplomatic Code, Embracing a Collection of Treaties and Conventions Between the United States and Foreign Powers: From 1778 to 1834. Washington DC: J. Elliot, 1834.

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Jonathan Elliot. The American Diplomatic Code, Embracing a Collection of Treaties and Conventions Between the United States and Foreign Powers: From 1778 to 1834. Washington DC: J. Elliot, 1834. 1:Title page.

Elliot believed that the United States’ “elevated rank in the family of Nations” necessitated a more systematic approach to preserving its scattered diplomatic records.

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The inconvenience of having our National Treaties and Conventions scattered through a number of volumes and pamphlets, must he felt by all those, who, from official duty, inclination, or interest, are led to consult the stipulations of our Diplomatic Code. It has, therefore, occurred to the compiler, that a complete collection, methodically arranged, and accurately printed, would be extremely useful and convenient, in examining or adjusting Treaty Engagements, or in comparing the provisions of one Convention with another; which heretofore could only be investigated by reference to various sources, not always accessible to public men, on the pressure of the moment. In thus endeavouring to abridge the labour of research, the compiler believes he may have performed an acceptable service in the production of his Book of Treaties — a labour which our elevated rank in the family of Nations, and our extensive political and commercial intercourse, with various parts of the globe, evidently demands. In Great Britain, in France, and in most of the other governments of Europe, great care has been taken to gather and to preserve, in a distinct and convenient form, collections of treaties, comprehending vast and valuable bodies of International Law, of paramount utility to the Negotiator and the Statesman, and both curious and interesting to the learned.

If we may judge from the bulk of the materials, composing these volumes, we have already reached that period of our national existence when a similar labour ought to be performed, not only for ourselves, but for the benefit of other independent political societies, and of posterity.