Samuel Wells Williams as a missionary, diplomat, sinologist. Glimpses of history of the American Far Eastern policy in the mid-19th century

In domestic historiography, there are few works that address the history of American-Chinese relations in the mid-19th century from the perspective of personalities contributing to their establishment. The study analyzed the activities of S.W. Williams, one of the most influential American missionaries in China in the mid-19th century that had a significant impact on developing and implementing the Far Eastern policy of the United States as well as establishing the American sinology. S.W. Williams was an active promoter of American policy and an apologist for missionary activities in China in the 19th century. Although he wrote works covering US policy in China in the 1830s-1860s, his publications cannot be fully recognized as scientific historical literature because of their subjective nature. Nevertheless, his works provided the basis for American linguistics of Chinese language.