Consular and commercial activities of the United States of America in Bilad al Sham (Damascus and its affiliated provinces) (1832-1910)

The United States of America has had commercial contacts with the Ottoman Empire since the 19th century. The relations between the two countries were formalized with the Treaty of Commerce and Friendship signed in 1830. In accordance with this Treaty, the United States of America opened consulates in various commercial cities of the Ottoman Empire to protect the rights of both Americans living in the Ottoman Empire and American merchants doing business. For this purpose, American consulates were first opened in Aleppo and Beirut in Bilad al-Sham, where the Provinces of Aleppo, Syria, Beirut, Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate and Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem were located. As of the second half of the 19th century, the consular structure in the region was organized and the USA continued its commercial activities here through consulates and consular representatives established in Beirut and Jerusalem. The thesis consists of three main chapters. In the first chapter, the agricultural, livestock, trade, and industrial activities that formed the economic life of the Bilad al-Sham region, where the United States carried out its commercial activities, are examined in detail. The second chapter covers the process of establishing commercial relations between the United States in the Mediterranean and the establishment of diplomatic contacts with the Ottoman Empire. In addition, the Treaties of Commerce and Friendship signed in 1830 and 1862, which established the legal foundations of the relations between the two countries, are also included in the first chapter. In the last chapter, the process of establishing the American consular network in the Bilad al-Sham region and the commercial activities of the United States in the region are examined. The commercial activities are analyzed by dividing them into ten-year periods in light of the trade reports prepared by American consuls and consular agents in Beirut, Aleppo, and Jerusalem, which are preserved in the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the United States Department of Commerce and Labor.