Treaty of Tripoli

Posted by Brian Tubbs Jun 2, 2007

The Treaty of Tripoli, negotiated and approved in 1796-97, temporarily suspended hostilities between the so-called "Barbary" states of Muslim North Africa and the United States of America.

It was broken by Tripoli in 1805, triggering a war between the United States and the "Barbary Pirates" -- a war which gave the United States its first post-Revolution war hero (Stephen Decatur) and inspired part of the Marine Corps. Hymn ("....to the shores of Tripoli.").

The Treaty has become most famous, in modern years, as a supposed rejection of the United States as a "Christian" nation. Article Eleven of the Treaty reads as follows:

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 against the laws, religion or tranquility of 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 opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.

FIRST...consider the foreign policy considerations behind this treaty (which were many). The U.S. government was not interested in fueling a religious war with the Muslim states of North Africa. We remember George W. Bush's unfortunate use of the word "crusade" shortly after 9/11/01, and how that inflamed Muslim opinion against the United States.

In addition, we know from present-day experience that certain belligerents in Muslim countries make NO distinction between political and religious policy - and all wars with non-Muslim countries (for these belligerents) are religious wars. (Again, this does not describe all Muslims - but it does apply to some).

The United States was trying to make clear that this dispute between the US and Tripoli was NOT about religion. It was about shipping and commerce - and concerns over territorial waters. It was in America's interests to keep religion OUT of the equation - and that's what the Treaty of Tripoli tried to do.

SECOND...the Treaty says nothing about the American people or the American culture. It specifies the American "government." By using that word, the authors of the Treaty of Tripoli could thread the needle and be honest about it. The U.S. Constitution - the foundation of our GOVERNMENT (but not our nation overall) - is a secular document.

It was written as a contract between the states, defining in careful terms of the scope and extent of the authority and responsibilities of the US national government. One of the areas of sensitivity was religion. Most of the states had established religious denominations, so the US Constitution steered clear of religious issues - even religious language - to avoid offending these state interests. Thus, it can be stated (correctly) that the United States government was not "in any way founded on the Christian religion." Broaden that to include the states, and the treaty's language would have been dishonest.

THIRD...the Treaty of Tripoli is hardly the ONLY document worthy of our attention. It amuses me that liberals or atheists will hold up that treaty as if it's a conversation-ender. And they IGNORE hundreds of other quotes, letters, etc. and dozens of other early US documents, which express DIFFERENT sentiments from those in Article Eleven of the Treaty of Tripoli.

For example, a 1786 treaty between the United States and Morocco (another Barbary state) is signed "In the Name of Almighty God" and, in the very first Article, it says the parties are "trusting in God it will remain permanent."

Most of the colonial charters (starting as early as the Mayflower Compact) and the state constitutions cited God in general. In many cases, they cited Jesus Christ specifically. Maryland's Constitution, for example (and it's just one of MANY), required its officials to make a "declaration of a belief in the Christian religion."

The Declaration of Independence made it very clear that our "unalienable rights" come from God. It refers to Him alternatively as "Nature's God," "the Creator," and the "Supreme Judge."

By the end of the founding era, a consensus had emerged that the national government not mandate an official religious denomination or specific test of office (although states remained free to do so). It's clear that the Treaty of Tripoli had this in mind when it threaded the needle in Article Eleven.

It is a historical fact that the United States of America was founded on Judeo-Christian principles and that a clear majority of the American people at the time of the nation's founding considered themselves Christian. The Treaty of Tripoli does not contradict this.

Secularists who read too much into the Treaty of Tripoli are either showing their ignorance or their dishonesty.