In December 1777, the Moroccan Sultan Mohammed III included the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in a list of countries to which Morocco's ports were open. Morocco thus became the first country whose

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

publicly recognized the newly-independent

. Relations were formalized with the Moroccan–American Treaty of Friendship, which was negotiated by Thomas Barclay in

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...

and signed by American diplomats in

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Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

, and

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

with Sultan Mohammed III in 1786. Muhammad III, or Sidi Muhammad bin Abdallah, came to power in 1757 and ruled until his death in 1790. Prior to his reign,

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

had experienced 30 years of internecine battles, instability and turmoil. During the 33 years that Sidi Muhammad ruled, he transformed the politics, economy and society by putting development of

international trade International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (see: World economy) In most countries, such trade represents a significant ...

high on his agenda and restoring power to the

sultanate This article includes a list of successive Islamic states and Muslim dynasties beginning with the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (570–632 CE) and the early Muslim conquests that spread Islam outside of the Arabian Peninsula, and continui ...

. That quickly served to bring respect to Morocco on the international scene. Central to his 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

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had ended in 1783, and he welcomed Thomas Barclay's arrival to negotiate in 1786. The treaty signed by Barclay and the sultan and then by Jefferson and Adams was ratified by the

Confederation Congress The Congress of the Confederation, or the Confederation Congress, formally referred to as the United States in Congress Assembled, was the governing body of the United States of America during the Confederation period, March 1, 1781 – Marc ...

in July 1787. It was reaffirmed by the sultan in 1803, when the USS ''Constitution'', ''Nautilus'', ''New York'', and ''Adams'' engaged in

gunboat diplomacy In international politics, the term gunboat diplomacy refers to the pursuit of foreign policy objectives with the aid of conspicuous displays of naval power, implying or constituting a direct threat of warfare should terms not be agreeable to th ...

as part of the

First Barbary War The First Barbary War (1801–1805), also known as the Tripolitan War and the Barbary Coast War, was a conflict during the Barbary Wars, in which the United States and Sweden fought against Tripolitania. Tripolitania had declared war against Sw ...

. At the time, independent corsairs and

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

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, which makes it the longest unbroken treaty relationship in United States history.Ogot, ''General History of Africa'', pp. 231–232.

References

External links

English text of the treaty
from Yale's

Lillian Goldman Law Library The Lillian Goldman Law Library in Memory of Sol Goldman, commonly known as the Yale Law Library, is the law library of Yale Law School. It is located in the Sterling Law Building and has almost 800,000 volumes of print materials and about 10,000 ...

History of The Moroccan–American Treaty of Friendship and Moroccan–American RelationsMoroccan–U.S. Relations, 1750–1912
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship 1786 in the United States 1786 treaties Barbary Wars

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Morocco–United States relations Treaties of Morocco Treaties of the United States 1786 in Africa Ordinances of the Continental Congress

See also

References

External links