Partly-printed DS as president, signed “R. B. Hayes,” one page, 8 x 10, June 4, 1880. President Hayes directs the Secretary of State to “cause the Seal of the United States to be affixed to an envelope containing the Letter of Credence of James B. Angell addressed to His Imperial Majesty, The Emperor of China.” Signed neatly at the conclusion by Rutherford B. Hayes. In fine condition.
James Burrill Angell was an American educator and diplomat (1829-1916) who served as America's minister to China from 1880 to 1881 and then to the Ottoman Empire from 1897 to 1898. On his mission to China, he was the primary American negotiator of the Angell Treaty of 1880, which this document predates and to which it is undoubtedly related. Following his nomination by Hayes and subsequent Senate confirmation as treaty chairman, Angell left for Peking in June 1880 with fellow commissioners John F. Swift and William Henry Trescot, presenting his credentials on August 16th.
The Angell Treaty of 1880, was passed in Beijing, China, on November 17, 1880. A modification of the 1868 Burlingame Treaty between the United States and China, the Angell Treaty, which was proclaimed by President Chester A. Arthur on October 5, 1881, sought to restrict the flow of Chinese immigrants into the United States while also maintaining a friendly relationship with China. An agreement was reached and, according to the new treaty, the United States government would temporarily suspend the immigration of skilled and unskilled laborers from China, while still allowing the immigration of white-collar professionals. The treaty also reaffirmed the United States' continuing commitment to protect the rights and privileges of Chinese laborers already present in the United States.
Less than seven months later, on May 6, 1882, President Arthur signed The Chinese Exclusion Act, which prohibited all immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The Chinese Exclusion Act, which excluded merchants, teachers, students, travelers, and diplomats, was the first and only major U.S. law ever implemented to prevent all members of a specific national group from immigrating to the United States.
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