CHANCERIESTHE DIPLOMATIC ATLAS

Joaquín José de Osma Becomes Peru’s First Minister to the United States

1846

After independence from Spain, Peru entered a confederation with Bolivia in 1836; that union dissolved in 1839. [1] [2]

Peru named Joaquín José de Osma its first minister plenipotentiary to the United States in December 1846, twenty years after Washington had recognized Peruvian independence. American diplomats were already in Lima. [1]

Osma soon challenged a commercial treaty made with the short lived Peru–Bolivian Confederation. Peru’s Congress had repudiated it after the confederation collapsed, and in April 1847 he brought that decision to Secretary of State James Buchanan, arguing that the former ruler had lacked the authority to bind Peru. [2]

Buchanan disputed the reasoning but proposed a way around the quarrel: the two governments could negotiate another treaty and leave the old one’s validity undecided. Osma signed the replacement in February 1848. The U.S. Senate approved it; Peru’s Congress rejected it the following year. [2]

Related Diplomats

  1. Joaquín José de Osma [1] [2]

Sources

  1. Peru: recognition and diplomatic relations — Office of the Historian

    Recognition; Peruvian Legation in the United States, 1846

    Peru–Bolivian Confederation, 1836–1839; U.S. legation established in 1827

  2. Peruvian treaties and diplomatic correspondence — H. Rep. 347

    Printed pp. 8–9, 12, and 16–17; Clayton report of July 11, 1850, Osma–Buchanan correspondence, and February 9, 1848 treaty

  3. Bilateral relations — Embassy of Peru

    Original preview reference

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Joaquín José de Osma Becomes Peru’s First Minister to the United States. Chanceries Diplopedia. Record d891c540b8d8f22db56c. https://chanceries.org/research/history/peru-envoy-2913d8a97e/

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