Treaty of Tripoli

This article is about the 1796 treaty. For the 1805 treaty, see Treaty of Tripoli (1805).
Treaty of Tripoli
Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the United States of America and the Bey and Subjects of Tripoli of Barbary (Ottoman Empire)
Scan of the first article of the original treaty, written in Arabic, signed November 4, 1796
Type"Treaty of perpetual peace and friendship"
SignedNovember 4, 1796
LocationTripoli
EffectiveJune 10, 1797
Parties
LanguageArabic (original), English[1]
Full text
Treaty of Tripoli at Wikisource

The Treaty of Tripoli (Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the United States of America and the Bey and Subjects of Tripoli of Barbary) was signed in 1796.[2] It was the first treaty between the United States and Tripoli (now Libya) to secure commercial shipping rights and protect American ships in the Mediterranean Sea from local Barbary pirates.

It was authored by Joel Barlow, an ardent Jeffersonian republican, and signed in Tripoli on November 4, 1796, and at Algiers (for a third-party witness) on January 3, 1797. It was ratified by the United States Senate unanimously and without debate on June 7, 1797, taking effect June 10, 1797, with the signature of President John Adams.

Succeeding Adams as president, Thomas Jefferson refused to continue paying Tripolitania the tributes stipulated by this treaty, partially leading to the First Barbary War. A superseding treaty, the Treaty of Peace and Amity, was signed on June 4, 1805.[3]

The treaty is often cited in discussions regarding the role of religion in United States government due to a clause in Article 11 of the English language translation that was ratified by the Senate and signed by the president, which states, "[t]he Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion."[4] However, modern translations of the official Arabic text of the treaty confirm that no such phrase exists.[5]

  1. ^ "The Barbary Treaties : Tripoli 1796 – Barlow's Receipt of Goods". The Avalon Project at Yale Law School. Retrieved 2015-05-12.
  2. ^ "The Barbary Treaties 1786–1816 : Treaty of Peace and Friendship, Signed at Tripoli November 4, 1796". The Avalon Project, Yale Law School. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  3. ^ "Avalon Project – The Barbary Treaties 1786–1816 – Treaty of Peace and Amity, Signed at Tripoli June 4, 1805". avalon.law.yale.edu.
  4. ^ "Avalon Project – The Barbary Treaties 1786–1816 – Treaty of Peace and Friendship, Signed at Tripoli November 4, 1796". avalon.law.yale.edu.
  5. ^ Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje, translation of Arabic text of treaty (1930), via Avalon Project (some OCR errors)- accessed 2008-12-06