Machine generated contents note: Dedication; List of illustrations; Preface; Acknowledgements; Introduction; PART I; 1. Early colonial history and American independence; 2. Creation and growth of the State Department; 3. Establishment and development of the Consular Service; PART II; 4. US consular representation in Britain; 5. Impact of the Civil War and the role of American consuls in Britain; PART III; 6. Consular Posts and Consular Agencies in Major British Cities; 7. Belfast; 8. Birmingham; 9. Bradford; 10. Bristol; 11. Cardiff; 12. Dublin; 13. Dundee; 14. Dunfermline; 15. Edinburgh & Leith; 16. Falmouth; 17. Liverpool; 18. London; 19. Newcastle upon Tyne; 20. Southampton; 21. Stoke on Trent; 22. An evolving, adaptive service; Appendix: Locations and categories of consular offices; Sources; Bibliography; Illustration captions; Illustration credits; Notes; Index.
Summary:
"The United States started late in the day in establishing its consular service. It was a very amateurish organization, often staffed by unsuitable characters whose appointments had been sought as political favours - the so-called Spoils System. Most personnel changed every four years when the administrations changed. This compared unfavourably with the consular services of the European nations, but gradually by the turn of the twentieth century things had improved considerably-- appointment procedures were tightened up, inspections of consuls and their running of their consulates were introduced, and the once separate consular and diplomatic services were merged. The first appointments to Britain were made in 1790, with James Maury, a Virginian, becoming the first operational consul in the country, at Liverpool. At one point, there was a network of up to ninety US consular offices throughout the UK, stretching from the Orkney Islands to the Channel Islands"-- Provided by publisher.
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