Burlingame Treaty
Washington, D.C., USA
What happened
Anson Burlingame, an American acting as China's envoy, negotiated with US Secretary of State William H. Seward. Burlingame had been the US minister in Beijing, and China then sent him abroad as its own representative. In Washington he agreed articles that let Chinese people travel and live in the United States, set up consuls, and attend American schools. It also promised religious freedom to citizens of each country in the other.
Why it matters
Why it matters: It is called the first equal treaty between China and the United States. It encouraged large-scale Chinese immigration.
What came next
As anti-Chinese feeling grew, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 overturned its free-immigration clauses. Burlingame died in Saint Petersburg in 1870 while on another mission for China.
Did you know?
The treaty helped make possible China's first government study-abroad programme, the Chinese Educational Mission.
Timeline
- 1862Burlingame becomes US minister to China.
- 28 July 1868The Burlingame Treaty is agreed.
- 23 February 1870Burlingame dies in Saint Petersburg.
- 1882Chinese Exclusion Act.