Treaty of Tripoli and Actual views of Moslems

Submitted by Samuel Pegg (United States), Dec 17, 2007 at 18:45

In 1797, the US government concluded the "Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the United States of America and the Bey and Subjects of Tripoli, or Barbary," now known simply as the Treaty of Tripoli. Article 11 of the treaty contains these words:

"As the Government of the United States...is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion - as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity of Musselmen [i.e. Muslims] - and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mohemitan [i.e. Islamic] nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."

This document was endorsed by Sec. of State Timothy Pickering and President John Adams. It was then sent to the Senate for ratification; the vote was unanimous. It is worth pointing out that although this was the 339th time a recorded vote has been required by the senate, it was only the third unanimous vote in the Senate history. There is no record of debate or dissent. The text of the treaty was printed in full in the Philadelphia Gazette and in two New York papers, but there were no cries of outrages as one would expect today.

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