The Treaty of Tripoli
The Treaty of Tripoli
The Treaty of Tripoli (1797) was crafted during the “Barbary Powers Conflict.” This conflict occurred after the Revolutionary War and persisted through four presidential administrations.
The literary cabal had some time ago formed something like a regular plan for the destruction of the Christian religion. … These atheistical fathers have a bigotry of their own, and they have learned to talk against minks with the spirit of monks. …. To this system of literary monopoly was joined an unremitting industry to blacken and discredit in every way, and by every means, all those who did not hold to their faction.
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, 1790
The Declaration of Independence (1776) recognizes a Creator as the source of the unalienable rights that the government is formed to secure. This acknowledgment was the very foundation of the Constitution of the United States of America (1787).
Frederick R. Smith Speaks, Our Endowed Rights.
The Treaty of Tripoli (1797) occurred during the “Barbary Powers Conflict.” This battle, which occurred after the Revolutionary War, persisted through the presidential administrations of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison. An alliance between Algiers, Morocco, Tunis, and Turkey (Muslim Barbary Powers) was sparing against what they called the Christian nations of the world. England, France, Spain, Denmark, and the United States’ interests were all attacked. Tripoli (Algiers capital) formerly declared war against the United States in 1801.
The Barbary Powers regularly attacked undefended American merchant ships to take cargo and capture “Christian” mariners. The Barbary Powers were settling the score for the Crusades.
George Washington dispatched envoys to negotiate treaties with the Barbary Powers to release captured mariners and secure future cargo shipping goods from the United States in the Mediterranean Sea. Washington also pursued the construction of Naval warships, but President Adams followed through in 1798 to create the Department of Navy.
The envoys sent to negotiate terms with the Barbary Powers encountered roadblocks by each county’s demands of extortion (tribute) for assurances to stop ship attacks. Demands also included payment of ransom to release captured American mariners. The treaty recognized the religion of each other in an attempt to prevent further escalation of a “Holy War” between Christians and Muslims. As such, Article XI of that treaty stated:
As the 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 [hatred] against the laws, religion or tranquility of Mussulmen [Muslims] and as the said States [America] have never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan 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.
That is all our postmodern, debased collectivist secular humanist friends need to see, as this alone assures them that we are indeed a “totally secular nation.” It is important to note that the keyword is “founded.” Even those who know that the nation was based on Christian precepts by a predominantly Protestant population know that we were never a Christian theocracy. Nevertheless, this one item and other selected out-of-context quotes are the instruments used to twist the whole true meaning of the First Amendment to the Constitution out the window. Sad to say, there are writings from Christian authors who use this treaty to “prove” that the Founders were Deists, henceforth our modern problems.
Indeed, the Federal government is not a religious institution, and the Framers of the Constitution certainly gave us the instruments to ensure it would not interfere with religion. While there may not be a “wall of separation,” Your Author submits that there is metaphorically a one-way wall that prevents the government from interfering in religion. It never applied to the people who were guaranteed their freedom of religion. There would be bonds between the people (faith) and the government. Also, see Frederick R. Smith Speaks: Natural Law, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution; and The Worshiped Wall of Separation.
Concerning Article XI of the 1797 Treaty of Tripoli, this clause differentiated the United States from those historical strains of European Christianity, which held an inherent disdain for the Muslims. It assured the Muslims that the United States was not a Christian nation like in previous centuries. Noah Webster explained: “The ecclesiastical establishments of Europe which serve to support tyrannical governments are not the Christian religion but abuses and corruptions of it.”1
Some writings suggest that Washington signed the treaty, which is incorrect, as it did not arrive in America until after he left office. Ratified under Adams, it is also important to note he would probably not have endorsed something that would have repudiated Christianity. To wit, Adams declared: “The policy of Christendom has made cowards of all their sailors before the standard of Mahomet. It would be heroical and glorious in us to restore courage to ours.”2
In official correspondence, General William Eaton, a major player in the Barbary Powers conflict, indicated that the battle was a Muslim war against a Christian America. Eaton complained that after Jefferson had approved his plan for military action, he got the obsolete warship the “Hero.” And when General Eaton finally commenced his military action against Tripoli, his journal noted: “We find it almost impossible to inspire these wild bigots with confidence in us or to persuade them that, being Christians, we can be otherwise than enemies to Mussulmen. We have a difficult undertaking!”3
There is also evidence that Article XI was not actually in the original treaty, specifically the Arabic copy. Nevertheless, the treaty of Tripoli remained on the books for eight years when renegotiations dropped Article XI. And the bottom line - any copy of the treaty with Washington’s signature is a fraud.
The primary source for this write-up is the book Christianity and the Constitution: The Faith of Our Founding Fathers by John Eidsmoe, 1987, Baker Book House Company.
Noah Webster from Value of the Bible and Excellence of the Christian Religion, 1834. Also, see Frederick R. Smith, Notable and Wonderful Noah Webster. Arguably, that quote may be an anti-Catholic screed. Nevertheless, the original intent of the First Amendment to the Constitution provided the freedom of faith while prohibiting a government-established religion that was common in Europe during the Barbary Wars. Some government-established or sponsored Christian beliefs continue in selected European nations. Of course, the brainwashing machine has no worries about the scores of countries today that have Sharia Law. Honorable mention goes to China with its government-sanctioned fake catholic church with Vatican approval. May God bless the faithful underground true Catholics in China.
John Adams, Works, Vol. VIII, p. 407, to Thomas Jefferson on July 3, 1786
After the military action against Tripoli ended, its account was written and published. The accounts bear witness to the nature of the conflict: “The Life of the Late Gen. William Eaton . . . commander of the Christian and Other Forces . . . which Led to the Treaty of Peace Between The United States and The Regency of Tripoli.” (Brookfield: Merriam & Company, 1813), pp. 92-93, from General Eaton to Timothy Pickering, June 15, 1799.