The United States Recognizes the Kingdom of Italy

American representation in the Italian peninsula began with consuls assisting shipping and seamen in ports belonging to different governments. Separate legations followed in Naples, Turin, and Rome. [1]

Giuseppe Bertinatti presented new credentials in Washington on 11 April 1861. He had represented the Kingdom of Sardinia; he now spoke for the Kingdom of Italy. By accepting him in that capacity, the United States recognized the newly united state while continuing an existing diplomatic relationship. [1]

Washington had dealt separately with Sardinia, the Two Sicilies, and the Papal States during the decades of efforts to unite the Italian states. Sardinia supplied the monarchy around which unification proceeded, and a national government replaced much of that diplomatic patchwork. [1]

Venetia and Rome still lay outside the kingdom proclaimed in 1861; both would join it later. [1]

Minister George P. Marsh oversaw the American legation's transfer from Turin to Florence in 1865 and then to Rome in 1871. [1]

Related Diplomats

1. Giuseppe Bertinatti [1]

Related Reading

• Italy and the United States