United States of America

President Monroe’s Declaration on Greece, 1822

On 3 December 1822, during his annual address to Congress on the State of the Union, US President James Monroe, speaking of the Greek Revolution, said:


The mention of Greece fills the mind with the most exalted sentiments and arouses in our bosoms the best feelings of which our nature is susceptible. Superior skill and refinement in the arts, heroic gallantry in action, disinterested patriotism, enthusiastic zeal and devotion in favor of public and personal liberty are associated with our recollections of ancient Greece. That such a country should have been overwhelmed and so long hidden, as it were, from the world under a gloomy despotism, has been a cause of unceasing and deep regret to generous minds for ages past. It was natural, therefore, that the reappearance of those people in their original character, contending in favor of their liberties, should produce that great excitement and sympathy in their favor which have been so signally displayed throughout the United States. A strong hope is entertained that these people will recover their independence and resume their equal station among the nations of the earth.


It was in fact the first recognition of the Greek Struggle for Independence by the leader of a big nation, who even referred to the country as Greece.


US Secretary of State John Quincy Adams sends a letter to the envoy of the Greek Provisional Administration to London (to negotiate a loan) Andreas Luriottis

[6]18 August 1823. US Secretary of State John Quincy Adams sends a letter to the envoy of the Greek Provisional Administration to London (to negotiate a loan) Andreas Luriottis stating that, if Greece gains independence, the US will be one of the first countries to enter into diplomatic and commercial relations with it.

Annals of the Congress, 18th Congress, Appendix 1st Session

21 July [2 August] 1828. Letter from Governor of Greece Ioannis Kapodistrias to the representatives of the Philhellenic Committee of New York Samuel Woodruff, Rev. Jonas King and John R. Stuyvesant, to whom he expresses the gratitude of the Greek people for the humanitarian aid that was dispatched from the US.

The Ministry of Justice aks the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to consider recognizing Petros Kardias as US Consul in Mykonos

17[29] April 1831. The Ministry of Justice asks the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to verify whether Petros Kardias has been recognized as US Consul in Mykonos.

Copy of the letter from US Chargé d’Affaires in Constantinople David Porter to Greek Ambassador Konstantinos Zographos

Copies of letters from US Chargé d’Affaires in Constantinople David Porter to Greek Ambassador Konstantinos Zographos ([23 June] 5 July 1836) and US Ambassador in London Andrew Stevenson to Greek Ambassador Spyridon Trikoupis ([28 July] 9 August 1836) assuring that the US President wishes to develop amicable relations between the two countries. The purpose of the exchange of these letters was to resolve the problem created by the absence of official recognition of King Othon by the US Administration.

12/24 August 1836. Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs Iakovos Rizos-Neroulos informs US Fleet Commander in the Mediterranean Jesse Elliot that the Greek Government grants permission to French Vice-Consul in Μilos Louis Brest to take over the protection of US citizens, until a US Consul is officially recognized on the island. The Greek Regency had refused in 1834 to recognize US Consuls in Syros and Milos unless King Othon first received an official letter of recognition from the US President.

Nomination of the Dutch merchant Eugène Dutilh as the first Honorary Consul of Greece in New York

25 July / 6 August 1837. Nomination of the Dutch merchant Eugène Dutilh as the first Honorary Consul of Greece in New York. The document bears the signatures of King Othon and Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ignaz von Rudhart.

Royal Decree nominating merchant James Andrews as the first Consul of Greece in Boston

23 October / 4 November 1837. Royal Decree nominating merchant James Andrews as the first Consul of Greece in Boston.

10/22 December 1837. First and last page of the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between USA and Greece, signed in London by the Ambassadors of the two States Andrew Stevenson and Spyridon Trikoupis respectively.

18/30 March 1838. Royal Decree recognizing Gregorios A. Perdikaris as US Consul in Athens.


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The first Ambassador of Greece in Washington, Alexandros Rizo Ranghabe, was appointed in 1867.