Edmund Roberts of New Hampshire

Edmund Roberts (1784-1836), of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, negotiated America’s first treaties with Asian powers. He secretly took part in the slave trade between Africa and Argentina, traded illegally with the British during the War of 1812, and brought ruin to his family with foolish investments. President Andrew Jackson appointed him in 1832 to negotiate commercial treaties with Vietnam, Siam, and Oman. Though failing in Vietnam, Roberts succeeded at Siam and Oman. The British linguist, John Robert Morrison, master of the Chinese language, proved critical to Roberts’s success at Siam. Roberts almost sabotaged his treaty with the Sultan of Oman when he illegally demanded restitution for previous business losses at Zanzibar. During his second mission (1835-1836), Roberts exchanged ratifications with Oman and Siam but died in Macao in June 1836. This biography, focusing on American commercial and diplomatic history, will be of significant worldwide interest to historians, scholars, and general readers.