The China History Podcast · Laszlo Montgomery

Anson Burlingame, the 1868 Treaty, and the Open Door Policy

·37 min·2 clips

Burlingame said the treaty denounced foreign demands that told China when to build railroads and telegraphs.

1. The China History Podcast episode on Anson Burlingame traces U.S.-China diplomacy from the 1860s to the Burlingame-Seward Treaty of 1868. 2. Laszlo Montgomery presents Burlingame as a Massachusetts abolitionist, former lawyer, and Republican congressman who was named U.S. minister to China in 1861. 3. The episode asks why Burlingame mattered for China and why his name still appears in the history of the open-door policy. 4. Montgomery places Burlingame in Beijing after the death of the Xianfeng Emperor and before the Xinyou Palace coup led by Empress Dowager Cixi, Prince Gong, and Prince Chun. 5. Burlingame’s arrival comes during the Taiping Rebellion, the Nian Rebellion, and the aftermath of the Treaty of Tianjin and Convention of Beijing. 6. The Four Bees—Anson Burlingame, Sir Frederick Bruce, Jules Berthemy, and Louis Balasek—emerge as the first Western envoys living in Beijing. 7. Montgomery says these four men met regularly from June 1863 to discuss conciliation, territorial integrity, and a new way to deal with China. 8. Burlingame returns to the United States from spring 1865 to autumn 1866 and uses speeches to present China in a positive light to officials and industrial leaders. 9. On November 21, 1867, Burlingame resigns and accepts Prince Gong’s invitation to serve the Qing court as High Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary. 10. The mission receives approval from the regency led by Cixi because the Qing court lacked someone with the language skills and sophistication to do the job itself. 11. Montgomery describes the resulting treaty as eight additional articles to the Treaty of Tianjin, drafted by William Seward and signed on July 28, 1868. 12. Article 5 allows unrestricted voluntary migration between China and the United States and outlaws the coolie trade as it was called in the nineteenth century. 13. Article 6 grants reciprocal travel and residence rights while forbidding naturalization by either side. 14. Article 7 opens schools in both countries to the other side’s children, and Article 8 protects the Emperor’s right to make internal improvements without foreign dictation. 15. Burlingame argues in a speech that foreigners had too often lectured China about railroads, telegraphs, and control of its own affairs. 16. Montgomery says the treaty advanced non-interference and reciprocity, but also notes that changing laws was easier than changing public attitudes. 17. The mission then moves to London, Windsor Castle, Paris, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, and St. Petersburg, where reaction varies from politeness to open grumbling. 18. Burlingame dies of pneumonia in St. Petersburg on February 23, 1870, and Jie Gang takes over as the delegation continues to Belgium, Italy, and back to China via the Suez Canal. 19. Listeners interested in U.S.-China diplomacy and Qing reform will likely value this episode. 20. Listeners wanting a short overview without treaty detail may skip it.

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