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Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship

The Moroccan–American Treaty of Friendship was the first international treaty between the United States and another country after gaining independence. Signed in 1786, it formalized relations between the two countries that had begun when Morocco was the first nation to publicly recognize the US in 1777. The treaty established open trade between Morocco and the US and was reaffirmed in 1803, making it the longest unbroken treaty relationship in US history at over 234 years.

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561 views3 pages

Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship

The Moroccan–American Treaty of Friendship was the first international treaty between the United States and another country after gaining independence. Signed in 1786, it formalized relations between the two countries that had begun when Morocco was the first nation to publicly recognize the US in 1777. The treaty established open trade between Morocco and the US and was reaffirmed in 1803, making it the longest unbroken treaty relationship in US history at over 234 years.

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Moroccan–American Treaty of Friendship

In December 1777, the Moroccan Sultan Muhammad III included


the United States in a list of countries to which Morocco's ports Moroccan–American
were open. Morocco thus became the first country whose head of Treaty of Friendship
state publicly recognized the newly independent United
States.[1][2]

Relations were formalized with the Moroccan–American Treaty


of Friendship[3] negotiated by Thomas Barclay in Marrakesh, and
signed by American diplomats in Europe, Thomas Jefferson, John
Adams with Sultan Muhammad III in 1786.[4][5]

Contents
History
See also
References
External links

History
Moroccan–American Treaty of
Muhammad III, or Sidi Muhammad ibn Abdallah, came to power Friendship (Treaty of Marrakesh),
in 1757 and ruled until his death in 1790. Prior to his reign, 1786–1787
Morocco had experienced 30 years of internecine battles,
instability and turmoil. During the 33 years Sidi Muhammad ruled Signed 28 June 1786,
he transformed the politics, the economy and the society, putting 15 July 1786
development of international trade high on his agenda and Location Marrakesh, Morocco
restoring power to the sultanate. This served to quickly bring Original
Morocco
respect to Morocco on the international scene.[6] Central to his
signatories United States
pursuit of international trade was the negotiation of agreements
with foreign commercial powers. He began seeking one with the
United States before the war with Great Britain was settled in 1783, and welcomed Thomas Barclay's
arrival to negotiate in 1786. The treaty signed by Barclay and the sultan, then by Jefferson and Adams, was
ratified by the Confederation Congress in July 1787.[7] It was reaffirmed by the sultan in 1803 when the
USS Constitution, Nautilus, New York, and Adams engaged in gunboat diplomacy as part of the First
Barbary War. (At the time, independent corsairs and pirates were using Morocco's ports as safe harbors
between raids on American and European shipping.) The treaty has withstood transatlantic stresses and
strains for more than 234 years, making it the longest unbroken treaty relationship in United States
history.[8]

See also
List of treaties
Morocco–United States relations
Moorish sovereign citizens

References
1. Roberts, Priscilla H.; Tull, James N. (June 1999).
"Moroccan Sultan Sidi Muhammad Ibn Abdallah's
Diplomatic Initiatives toward the United States, 1777–
1786". Proceedings of the American Philosophical
Society. 143 (2): 233–265. JSTOR 3181936 (https://ww
w.jstor.org/stable/3181936).
2. "History of the U.S. and Morocco" (https://ma.usembassy.
gov/our-relationship/policy-history/io/). U.S. Embassy &
Consulate in Morocco. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
3. "History of the U.S. and Morocco" (https://ma.usembassy.
gov/our-relationship/policy-history/io/). U.S. Embassy & Scan of the complete Arabic text of
Consulate in Morocco. Retrieved November 19, 2020. the Moroccan-American Treaty of
4. Roberts, Priscilla H. and Richard S. Roberts, Thomas Friendship, executed in a Maghrebi
Barclay (1728–1793): Consul in France, Diplomat in script.
Barbary. Lehigh University Press. 2008, pp. 158–223.
ISBN 978-0-934223-98-0.
5. "US-Morocco: Longstanding Ties (Remarks by President
Bush and King Hassan II); U.S. Department of State
Dispatch" (http://global.factiva.com/aa/default.aspx?pp=
Print). January 24, 2007.
6. B.A. Ogot, General History of Africa, Vol. V: Africa from
the 16th to the 18th Century. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1992. pp. 231–232.
7. Roberts, Thomas Barclay (1728–1793)..., pp. 195–223
8. Ogot, General History of Africa, pp. 231–232.

External links
English text of the treaty (http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/bar1786t.asp) from Yale's
Lillian Goldman Law Library
History of The Moroccan–American Treaty of Friendship and Moroccan–American Relations
(https://web.archive.org/web/20051224204920/http://www.usembassy.ma/usmorrelations/his
toricalbgrnd.htm)
Historical Background (https://web.archive.org/web/20060207022758/http://www.usembass
y.ma/usmorrelations/historicalbgrnd2.htm)
Morocco-US relations, Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco (http://www.embassyofmorocco.
us/MoroccoUsRelations.html)
Moroccan–U.S. Relations, 1750–1912 (https://web.archive.org/web/20051026151806/http://
www.moroccanamericantrade.com/relations.cfm)

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States
Department of State.
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