A landmark of the bilateral relation is the year 1826, when the U.S. Government recognized the Republic of Peru and its government in an official and diplomatic manner.
In 1827, James Cooley arrived in Peru, designated by the Secretary of State, Henry Clay, he was the first Chargé d’Affaires of the United States in Peru. Our country, nevertheless, would name its first diplomatic agent in Washington, D.C. almost 20 years later.
The important role of Tudor and Colley resides in their reports, points of view and vision of Peru, which left a deep track in the U.S. perception of our country (Clayton, p. 69). Colley was replaced by Samuel Larned in 1829. Under his tenure a trade and navigation treaty was to be negotiated, but the war between the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation and Chile threatened to make unfruitful the celebration of said agreement.
Since then, the United States became one of our main trading partners, only surpassed by Great Britain at that moment.
The responsibilities of the first U.S. Chargé d’Affaires were centered in promoting free trade, implementing a policy of preferential tariffs and broadening the bilateral relations.
As stated, in the first years of the Republic of Peru, the bilateral relations were impelled by economic, commercial, transport and navigation matters, not without some private claims, like those formulated by retailers and U.S. shipping companies against the Peruvian Government. These requests were consequence of acts committed during the war of independence. An agreement on pending reclamations was signed between Peru and the United Stated in 1841.
In 1846, due to the increasing importance of the relationship between both countries, the Government of Peru named Juan Ignacio de Osma, as its first Plenipotentiary Minister to the United States.