Colonies into Nation: American Diplomacy, 1763-1801

by Lawrence S. Kaplan

331 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book addresses the importance of colonial agents to the development of an American diplomatic service within the context of a broader colonial experience in self-government. Representing individual colonies in Parliament, colonial agents were commissioned by colonial Assemblies. Some, such as Benjamin Franklin, were colonists themselves. Many of them, however, were members of parliament or British merchants. Colonial agents therefore moved freely in the political milieu of London and were perfectly situated to balance colonial objectives against the realities of power relationships in Parliament.

Once the tactical resistance by the colonial assemblies to the "Coercive Acts" changed to include a radical challenge to the constitutional authority of Parliament to levy taxes on the colonies, however, most of the agents remained loyal to England. Notable exceptions were Franklin and Lee, both of whom were native-born Americans. They moved to the left and became the first American diplomats to represent all the colonies in the struggle for independence. That they continued in the diplomatic service of the United States after independence provided a major source of American attitudes toward external affairs originating in the colonial period.