United States Congress (June 4, 1805) during Thomas Jefferson's presidency, drafted a Treaty of Peace and Amity with Tripoli, ratified April 12, 1806, in order to prevent the pirates of the North African Barbary Coast from seizing American ships, confiscating their cargo, and selling the crews and passengers as slaves.
The United States had made a previous treaty with Tripoli and paid large sums of extortion money, but it failed when war broke out in 1801.
Lieutenant Stephen Decatur (1779-1820) won famed by stealing into the Tripoli harbor on the small vessel Intrepid, February 16, 1804, burning a captured ship and escaping unharmed amidst fierce enemy fire.
British Admiral Horatio Nelson called it the "most bold and daring act of the age."
In April of 1805, the U.S. Marines seized the Barbary harbor of Derne, Tripoli, the daring act of which is remembered in the Marine Hymn "From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli."
The June 4, 1805, Treaty of Tripoli, did not include a phrase that had been questionably inserted into the previous Treaty with Tripoli, June 7, 1797, that the United States "is not, in any sense founded on the Christian Religion..," (an insertion intended to clarify that the American government was not like the Mohammedan, Buddhist, or Hindu governments which controlled the religious life of its citizens and "that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.")
This phrase was not in the Arabic version of the 1797 treaty, and appears to have been an insertion by Joel Barlow (1754-1812), the American consul at Algiers who oversaw the translation process from Arabic to English. (Joel Barlow's position as American consul to Algiers was originally intended for the naval hero John Paul Jones, but he died before he could fill the appointment.)
The original Arabic translation of the 1797 treaty stated:
<Glory be to God! Declaration of the third article. We have agreed that if American Christians are traveling with a nation that is at war with the well- preserved Tripoli, and [the Tripolitan] takes [prisoners] from the Christian enemies and from the American Christians with whom we are at peace, then sets them free; neither he nor his goods shall be taken...
Praise be to God! Declaration of the twelfth article. If there arises a disturbance between us both sides, and it becomes a serious dispute, and the American Consul is not able to make clear his affair, and the affair shall remain suspended between them both, between the Pashna of Tripoli, may God strengthen him, and the Americans, until Lord Hassan Pashna, may God strengthen him, in the well-protected Algiers, has taken cognizance of the matter. We shall accept whatever decision he enjoins on us, and we shall agree with his condition and his seal; May God make it all permanent love and a good conclusion between us in the beginning and in the end, by His grace and favor, amen!> 1805US001
In the book, Backfired-A Nation Born For Religious Tolerance No Longer Tolerates Religion (Amerisearch, 2008, P. 77-84), William J. Federer wrote:
<Some argue that a line from the failed Treaty of Tripoli, 1798, "the [federal] government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion" discounts America's Judeo-Christian heritage, but this is clearly not the case when one examines the context.
Barbary Pirates of Tripoli were terrorizing the high seas, capturing American ships and enslaving sailors.
As Tripoli was a Muslim country, its Islamic Shari'a Law instructed them not to make treaties with "infidel" Christians:
"Infidels are those who declare: 'God is the Christ, the son of Mary'" Sura 5:17,
"Infidels are those that say 'God is one of three in a Trinity'" Sura 5:73, "Believers, take neither the Jews nor the Christians for your friends" Sura 5:51,
"Believers, do not make friends with those who have incurred the wrath of Allah" Sura 60:13.
As Muslims fought infidel "Christian" nations of Europe for over a thousand years, U.S. Ambassador Joel Barlow had the challenge of convincing Tripoli that this time they were not negotiating with the Christian religion, but with a nation-state.
This was a novel concept to the 18th century Muslim. If Tripoli did not understand this new concept, then Barbary Pirates would continue capturing "infidel" American sailors and selling them into slavery, as the Koran instructed:
"The infidels are your sworn enemies" Sura 4:101,
"Make war on the infidels who dwell around you" Sura 9:123, "When you meet the infidel in the battlefield strike off their heads" Sura 47:4,
"Muhammad is Allah's apostle. Those who follow him are ruthless to the infidels" Sura 48:29,
"Prophet, make war on the infidels" Sura 66:9.
When one understands this background, the sentence of the Treaty, read in its entirety, reveals the intent was not to diminish Christianity's influence on America's founding, but to simply negotiate a treaty that the Muslims would keep:
"As the [federal] government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion,-as it has in itself no character of enmity against the law, religion or tranquility of the Musselmen,- and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinion shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."
The Muslims did not honor the Treaty, so U.S. Marines captured the city, thus the anthem "From the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli."
The new treaty drafted under Jefferson's administration, 1806, did not include the misunderstood phrase.
If treaties are a way of uncovering the beliefs of America founders, then other treaties besides Tripoli's must be examined, such as The Treaty of Paris, 1783, which ended the Revolutionary War, signed by Ben Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay-first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court:
"In the name of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity. It having pleased the Divine Providence to dispose the hearts of...Prince George the Third...and of the United States of America, to forget all past misunderstandings....Done at
Paris in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three." President Thomas Jefferson extended three times a 1787 Act of Congress in which lands were designated by treaty:
"For the sole use of Christian Indians and the Moravian Brethren missionaries for civilizing the Indians and promoting Christianity."
The Treaty with the Kaskaskia Indians, December 3, 1803, similar to the Wyandot Treaty, 1805, and Cherokees Treaty, 1806, was passed in Jefferson's administration:
"Whereas the greater part of the said tribe have been baptized and received into the Catholic Church, to which they are much attached, the United States will give annually, for seven years, one hundred dollars toward the support of a priest of that religion, who will engage to perform for said tribe the duties of his office, and also to instruct as many of their children as possible, in the rudiments of literature, and the United States will further give the sum of three hundred dollars, to assist the said tribe in the erection of a church."
In 1822, Congress ratified the Convention for Indemnity Under Award Of Emperor Of Russia as to the True Construction of the First Article of the Treaty of December 24, 1814, which begins:
"In the name of the Most Holy and Indivisible Trinity."
On January 20, 1830, in a Message to Congress, President Andrew Jackson stated:
"According to the terms of an agreement between the United States and the United Society of Christian Indians the latter have a claim to an annuity of $400, commencing from the 1st of October, 1826, for which an appropriation by law for this amount, as long as they are entitled to receive it, will be proper."
On December 6, 1830, in his Second Annual Message, President Andrew Jackson commented on Indian treaties:
"The Indians...gradually, under the protection of the Government and through the influence of good counsels, to cast off their savage habits and become an interesting, civilized, and Christian community."
On December 6, 1831, in his Third Annual Message, President Andrew Jackson stated:
"The removal of the Indians beyond the limits and jurisdiction of the States does not place them beyond the reach of philanthropic aid and Christian instruction."
In 1848, Congress ratified the Treaty ending the Mexican War, which brought into the Union California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming:
"In the Name of Almighty God: The United States and the United Mexican States...have, under the protection of Almighty God, the Author of Peace, arranged, agreed upon, and signed the following: Treaty of Peace...If (which God forbid) war should unhappily break out between the two republics, they do now solemnly pledge....all churches, hospitals, schools, colleges,
libraries, and other establishments for charitable and beneficent purposes, shall be respected, and all persons connected with the same protected in the discharge of their duties, and the pursuit of their vocations...Done at city of Guadalupe Hidalgo, on the second day of February, in the year of the Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight."
Referring to Indian treaties, President Abraham Lincoln stated in his Third Annual Message, December 3, 1863:
"It is hoped that the treaties will result in the establishment of permanent friendly relations with such of these tribes as have been brought into frequent and bloody collision with our outlying settlements and emigrants.
Sound policy and our imperative duty to these wards of the Government demand our anxious and constant attention to their material well-being, to their progress in the arts of civilization, and, above all, to that moral training which under the blessing of Divine Providence will confer upon them the elevated and sanctifying influences, hopes and consolations, of the Christian faith."
Of the treaty to end Turkish Genocide of Armenian Christians, President Cleveland wrote December 2, 1895:
"By treaty several of the most powerful European powers have secured a right and have assumed a duty not only in behalf of their own citizens and in furtherance of their own interests, but as agents of the Christian world. Their right to enforce such conduct of Turkish government as will refrain fanatical brutality, and if this fails their duty is to so interfere as to insure against such dreadful occurrences in Turkey as have shocked civilization."
President Wilson wrote to the Senate, July 10, 1919, on the Treaty of Peace with Germany signed at Versailles:
"A new responsibility has come to this great nation...The stage is set, the destiny disclosed. It has come about by no plan of our conceiving, but by the hand of God who led us into this way."
Of the U.S. delegation drawing up the Four-Power Treaty, President Warren Harding wrote December 23, 1921:
"He has full confidence now and is more than gratified over their efforts, because they are working out the greatest contribution to peace and goodwill which has ever marked the Christmas time in all the Christian era."
To clear up a misunderstanding of the term "Christian," it is important to understand there are two threads traceable throughout history, GREED and the GOSPEL.
Those motivated by GREED, though they may have called themselves Christian, were so in name only, and often fought against genuine Christian work, giving the faith a bad name.
The Apostle Paul referred to these people in his letter to Titus, chapter 1, verse 16:
"They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate."
These includes merchants of the East India Tea Company that hindered the work of Christian missionaries in India, or those who traded slaves, or took land from Indians, or discriminated against women, or held racial prejudice, or voted their pocketbook even though they knew it meant the spread of immorality and disregard for innocent human life.
The sole concern of people motivated by greed is their job, financial security, the bottom line, in other words, "whoever has the gold rules," yet true Christians are motivated by Jesus' Golden Rule "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." (Mark 7:12)
These true Christians fought to abolish slavery, built orphanages, medical clinics, hospitals, donated money, gave free food and clothes, took in homeless, dug wells, dispensed emergency aid, inoculated, taught farming techniques, visited those in prison, provided literacy programs and disaster relief.
These included missionaries like Lottie Moon, who helped famine victims in China; Mary Slessor who helped end twin killing in Africa; Gladys Aylward, who helped end the binding of girls' feet in China; William Carey, who helped end the Hindu Sati practice of burning a widow to death on her husband's ashes; or Detrich Bonhoffer, who stood up to Hitler.
Even concepts like "women and children first," philanthropy, volunteerism, civil rights, and tolerance have roots traceable to Judeo-Christian thought.
It is unfortunate that Conquistadors lusted for gold, but thankfully they were followed by sincere missionaries, like Bartolome' de Las Casas, who ministered to the natives and helped end cannibalism and human sacrifice.
True Christians tried to follow Jesus' teaching "whatever you have done unto the least of these my brethren, you have done unto me"(Mat. 25:40), as Mother Teresa of Calcutta said:
"I see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself, this is hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is sick Jesus. This one has leprosy or gangrene; I must wash him and tend to him. I serve because I love Jesus."> 1805US002
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1805US001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). United States Congress. June 4, 1805, United States Senate drafted a Treaty of Peace and Amity with Tripoli, ratified April 12, 1806, Article XIV. Gary DeMar,"The Treaty of Tripoli" (Atlanta, GA: The Biblical Worldview, An American Vision Publication-American Vision, Inc., December 1992), Vol. 8, No. 12, pp. 7-12. "Our Christian Heritage," Letter from Plymouth Rock (Marlborough, NH: The Plymouth Rock Foundation), p. 5. D. James Kennedy, "The Bible and the Constitution" (1987). June 7, 1797, Treaty with Tripoli. Charles Bevans, Treaties and Other International Agreements of the United States of America 1776-1959 (Washington, D.C.: Department of State, 1974), 11:1070. Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje of Leyden, Netherlands in his 1930 retranslation of the original treaty from Arabic into English. Gary DeMar, America's Christian History: The Untold Story (Atlanta, GA: American Vision Publishers, Inc., 1993), p. 80. John W. Whitehead, "The Treaty of Tripoli" (The Rutherford Institute (Jan/Feb 1985), pp. 10-11.
1805US002. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Treaty of Tripoli. William J. Federer, Backfired-A Nation Born For Religious Tolerance No Longer Tolerates Religion (St. Louis, MO: Amerisearch, Inc., 2008), p. 77-84.