Ottoman Algeria in Western Diplomatic History with ... - Bibliothèque

Continental Congress. 103 The latter, acting as a de facto government, 104
assumed the conduct of foreign relations of the United States from the date of
its first initiation in 1774 up to 1789, time at which a new system of
government was established under a new constitution. 105
In 1776, Congress
worked simultaneously on three major issues: independence, confederation,
and foreign trade and treaties. That work was carried by three committees
(Committee on Independence, Committee on Confederation, and Committee on
Foreign Correspondence) which were charged with drafting the Declaration of
Independence, elaborating a plan for union of the future thirteen states, and
drafting a “model set of articles for treaties with foreign nations”
respectively. 106
Preceding that three-fold activity, Congress had already
appointed a secret committee in 1775 “for the sole purpose of corresponding
with our friends in Great Britain, Ireland, and other parts of the world.” 107
Known at first as the Committee of Correspondence, it soon changed name to
Committee of Secret Correspondence (CSC). 108 That committee was in fact the
embryo of the currently omnipotent American Department of State; and its
creation preceded that of all other structures in the American government. The
original appointed members of the CSC included such figures as Benjamin
103 USRDC, 2:230, Committee of Secret Correspondence to Franklin, Dean, and A. Lee, Dec. 21, 1776.
104 Bemis, A Diplomatic History, p. 46, fn 1.
105 For developments in American foreign policy under the Continental Congress and federal system
see Barnes, William and John Heath Morgan. The Foreign Service of the United States: Origins,
Development, and Functions (Washington, D. C.: Historical Office, Bureau of Public Affairs,
Department of State, 1961), pp. 3-25.
106 Bemis, A Diplomatic History, p. 22.
107 SJ, 2:1, November 29, 1775.
108 Barnes, Foreign Service, p. 5.
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