U.S. Consuls in the Mediterranean and Latin America and the American Trading Nation, 1785-1850

FAIN: HB-251138-17

Lawrence A. Peskin
Morgan State University (Baltimore, MD 21251-0001)

Research for a history of American consuls in the Mediterranean and Latin America in the first decades after American independence.

Following recent interest in transnational contours of American history, this project examines the development of American national identity from the outside in. The applicant proposes to look at early national history through the lens of Americans living abroad -- first in the Mediterranean region and then in Latin America. The primary focus is on American consuls who sought to build up and protect new national trading networks in the wake of independence. Consuls served at the head of a developing American trading nation consisting of diplomats, merchants, naval officers, ship captains, and common mariners. They were acknowledged leaders of the American community and were treated as representatives to the federal government by other Americans. In the eyes of many non-Americans, these individuals literally represented the United States.