Treaty of Tripoli

Background. For three centuries before the treaty, Christian ships in the Mediterranean had been preyed upon by the Barbary corsairs of the North African states of Tripoli, Algiers, Morocco, and Tunis. After France allied with the United States in 1778, the French Navy protected American shipping in the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic, but the United States subsequently negotiated individual treaties with the Barbary powers, including Morocco in 1786 and Algiers in 1795.

Negotiation and Signing. President George Washington appointed David Humphreys as Commissioner Plenipotentiary on March 30, 1795, to negotiate with the Barbary powers. On February 10, 1796, Humphreys named Joel Barlow and Joseph Donaldson as Junior Agents to forge a treaty of peace and friendship. Under Humphreys' authority, the treaty was signed at Tripoli on November 4, 1796, and certified at Algiers on January 3, 1797, with a third-party witness.

Ratification and Effect. The treaty reached the U.S. Senate in May 1797, was read aloud on the floor, and was ratified unanimously and without debate on June 7, 1797. It took effect June 10, 1797, with President John Adams' signature. The official treaty was in Arabic, but the Barlow English translation was the text submitted to the Senate and deemed authoritative in the United States.

Article 11 and Religious Language. The treaty is frequently cited in debates over religion in American government because Article 11 of the ratified English translation states that the Government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion. Modern translations of the Arabic original confirm no such phrase exists in the Arabic text, though the Barlow translation was universally accepted as equivalent since 1797.