DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES WITH GER MANY. Although American diplomatic and political relations with Germany did not assume large importance until the end of the last cen tury, comparatively unimportant historical rela tions were begun a century earlier. American hopes of Prussian sympathy in the Revolution were disappointed. Arthur Lee, who was sent to Berlin as American envoy, failed to secure official recognition, although Prussia maintained a friendly neutrality toward the struggling colo nies. Frederick the Great, although he favored the American war of independence because of his resentment against England, refused to open the port of Emden to American privateers and failed to keep his promise (made to Lee) to rec ognize the Luited States whenever France did so.
In 1785, the last diplomatic act of Franklin abroad was to negotiate with Prussia a treaty of amity and commerce, providing (for 10 years) for abolition of blockades and privateer mg and inviolability of private property at sea, provisions which were omitted in the later note worthy treaty of 1799 (also limited to 10 years), negotiated by John Quincy Adams in substitu tion of that of 1785 which expired in 1796.
The American treaty of 1827 with the Hansa, and of 1828 with Prussia, contained the new Henry Clay principle of absolute reciprocity of tonnage duties. The Prussian treaty, although differently interpreted by the two governments, remained in force, for matters not governed by subsequent convention, until America was forced into the World War in 1917.
In 1835 Henry Wheaton arrived in Berlin as the first American Minister after Adams. He had instructions to direct his attention to three purposes: to establish commercial rela tions with the German states, to secure the removal of droit d'aubaine and droit de detrac tion (tax on estates of foreigners, and tax on emigration), and (in accord with resolutions of Congress, 1837-38) to secure reduction of duties on tobacco and rice. He negotiated for six years, embarrassed somewhat by the question of the obligations assumed in the °most-favored nation" clause — a question which had first arisen in the interpretation of the Louisiana Treaty with France. In 1838 he appeared be fore the Zollverein (formed 1834) at Dresden and obtained a reduction on rice. In 1842-43 he attended other sessions but found difficulties because of the American tariff of 1842. He finally obtained a commercial treaty of 1844 on a reciprocal basis, and also an agreement to reduce duties on tobacco and lard and not to impose any duty on unmanufactured cotton.
The treaty was rejected by the American Sen ate by a strictlyparty vote of 26 to 18 on the ground that the State Department had no right to interfere in regulation of commerce. An extradition treaty of 1845 with Prussia was also rejected, because under it a state was exempted from the necessity of surrendering its own citizens. Meantime, in 1840, Wheaton arranged a treaty with Hanover. The United States always refused to recognize the right of Han over to impose duties (tolls) at Staade on ships ascending or descending the Elbe. By treaty of 1846 Hanover agreed to levy no higher duties on tonnage or cargoes of American vessels than on vessels of Hanover. This treaty was annulled by the conquest of Han over and incorporation into Prussia in 1866. In 1861 the United States, like other powers, agreed to pay indemnity to Han over in consideration of the total abolition of the Staade dues and maintenance of works necessary for free navigation as before. An American treaty of 1845 with Bavaria was ratified with amendments later accepted by Ba varia. Between 1852 and 1857 extradition trea ties with various German states were negotiated at Washington. In 1852 Prussia concluded such a treaty for herself and 18 other states of the Germanic confederation.
In the American Civil War Germany was friendly to the American Union. During the war, as a result of increasing German emigra tion to America after 1840, negotiations were begun on the question of the status in Germany of German emigrants who after naturalization in the United States returned temporarily to the land of their birth, which required an ab sence of 10 years for expatriation. In accord ance with an act of Congress (of 1868) asserting the right of expatriation and for providing for defense of American citizens abroad, Geo'rge Bancroft, the American Minister at Berlin, pressed, first upon the German states and later on the German Empire, the American principle in regard to international status of naturalized citizens. In 1868 he obtained from the North German Union and other German states a satis factory treaty acknowledging the right of citi zens to transfer their allegiance by an uninter rupted residence of five years, accompanied by naturalization. After the creation of the Ger man Empire, Secretary Fish desired to replace this and other German naturalization treaties by a new treaty with the whole empire, including Alsace-Lorraine, but Bancroft did not think the time auspicious to negotiate a treaty which would relieve emigrating Germans from the rigor of German military laws.