United States Department of Foreign Affairs

<p>About eight years before the Department of State was set up under the Constitution, the Department of Foreign Affairs, directed by a Secretary for Foreign Affairs, was established by a resolution passed by the Continental Congress on January 10. 1781. This new Department was justified by the Congress on the basis that "the extent and rising power of these United States entitles them to a place among the great potentates of Europe while our political and commercial interests point out the propriety of cultivating with them a friendly correspondence and connection."</p>
<p>The new Secretary for Foreign Affairs was Robert R. Livingston, a delegate from New York and a former member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Soon after taking office, Livingston set up his offices in a small, plain, brick house at 13 South Sixth Street, a short distance north of the northeast corner of Sixth and Chestnut Streets, in Philadelphia. This building was the first home of an office of foreign affairs as an entity separate from Congress, although the Secretary was still, in reality, an agent of Congress, which continued to involve itself closely in the conduct of foreign relations.</p>

<p>From Annapolis Congress moved to Trenton, New Jersey, where it was in session from November 1 to December 24, 1784. In Trenton Congress met in a building then known as the "French Arms Tavern," which was located on the southwest corner of King (now Warren) and Second (now State) Streets.</p>
<p>For nearly the entire time Congress was at Trenton, the papers of the Department of Foreign Affairs were under the control of the Under Secretary, Henry Remsen, Jr.1 A new Secretary for Foreign Affairs, John Jay, had been appointed in May 1784 to succeed Robert Livingston, who had resigned 11 months before, but he did not enter upon his duties until December 21, 1784.</p>
<p>Although no specific record has been found as to where in Trenton Remsen had his office,2 he was probably with Congress. The French Arms Tavern was a building evidently large enough to have accommodated not only the meetings of Congress and the office of its Secretary, but the Department of Foreign Affairs as well.</p>

<p>In 1783 Congress moved the seat of government from Princeton to Annapolis, where it remained until August 19, 1784.1 Although the Congress had resolved to meet at Annapolis on November 26, 1783, there was not a sufficient number of members in attendance "to proceed to business" until December 13, 1783.</p>
<p>The papers of the Department of Foreign Affairs remained locked, sealed, and inaccessible, and the President of Congress acted as Secretary for Foreign Affairs ad interim 5 until March 2, 1784, when Congress elected Henry Remsen, Jr., "as under secretary in the office for foreign affairs, to take charge of the papers in that office."6 He served in this capacity, taking charge of the books and papers without other assistance, until Livingston's successor, John Jay, entered upon his duties as Secretary for Foreign Affairs in December 1784.</p>

<p>In 1783 Congress moved the seat of government from Princeton to Annapolis, where it remained until August 19, 1784.1 Although the Congress had resolved to meet at Annapolis on November 26, 1783, there was not a sufficient number of members in attendance "to proceed to business" until December 13, 1783.</p>
<p>The papers of the Department of Foreign Affairs remained locked, sealed, and inaccessible, and the President of Congress acted as Secretary for Foreign Affairs ad interim 5 until March 2, 1784, when Congress elected Henry Remsen, Jr., "as under secretary in the office for foreign affairs, to take charge of the papers in that office."6 He served in this capacity, taking charge of the books and papers without other assistance, until Livingston's successor, John Jay, entered upon his duties as Secretary for Foreign Affairs in December 1784.</p>

<p>On October 2, 1788, the Department of Foreign Affairs moved to another building on Broadway. Again, the exact location is not known for certain. According to Hunt, however, this building was a house located on the east side of the street.</p>

<p>It was during the period of the Department's occupancy of this second building on Broadway that the change-over took place from government under the Articles of Confederation to government under the Constitution. The new Congress convened on March 4, 1789, although there was no quorum of the House of Representatives until April 1 and no quorum of the Senate until April 6. President Washington took his oath of office on April 30. Until such time as a Department of Foreign Affairs was established under the Constitution, the former Department, with John Jay still as Secretary, continued to function.</p>
<p>The Department of Foreign Affairs under the Constitution was created by an act of Congress approved on July 27, 1789. Its name was changed less than two months later, on September 15, 1789, to the Department of State, and its functions were augmented to include certain domestic duties as well as those pertaining to foreign affairs already prescribed.</p>
<p>The first Secretary of State under the Constitution was Thomas Jefferson. Although he was commissioned on September 26, 1789, he was still in France at the time, and Jay continued to perform the essential duties of the office until Jefferson entered upon his duties on March 22, 1790.</p>