The Treaty of Watertown, the first foreign

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pers ...

concluded by the

United States of America 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 territori ...

after the adoption of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...

, was signed on July 19, 1776, in the Edmund Fowle House in the town of Watertown,

Massachusetts Bay Massachusetts Bay is a bay on the Gulf of Maine that forms part of the central coastline of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Description The bay extends from Cape Ann on the north to Plymouth Harbor on the south, a distance of about . Its ...

. The treaty established a military alliance between the United States and the St. John's and some of the Mi'kmaw bands against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

for the early years of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. (Seven Mi'kmaw bands chose to decline the American treaty.) Three years later, on 7 June 1779, the Mi'kmaq "delivered up" the Watertown treaty to Nova Scotia Governor

Michael Francklin Michael Francklin or Franklin (6 December 1733 – 8 November 1782) served as Nova Scotia's Lieutenant Governor from 1766 to 1772. He is buried in the crypt of St. Paul's Church (Halifax). Early life and immigration Born in Poole, England, ...

and re-established all the Mi'kmaw bands loyalty to the British. After the British resounding victory over the American

Penobscot Expedition The Penobscot Expedition was a 44-ship American naval armada during the Revolutionary War assembled by the Provincial Congress of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The flotilla of 19 warships and 25 support vessels sailed from Boston on July 1 ...

, according to Mi'kmaw historian Daniel Paul, Mi'kmaq in present-day New Brunswick renounced the Watertown treaty and signed a treaty of alliance with British on 24 September 1779.

Terms

The treaty was signed by the Provincial Council of Massachusetts Bay (then a colony in rebellion, not yet a State, which it would become with the signing of the Treaty of Watertown 1776), "in behalf of said State, and the other united States of America," A copy of the newly signed Declaration of Independence was delivered by courier to the treaty conference at the Meeting House in Watertown, where it was read to the Wabanaki representatives before it was proclaimed from the balcony of the Old State House in nearby Boston. After the Declaration had been translated, the Indigenous delegates said, "We like it well." The preamble of the treaty quotes verbatim from the conclusion of the Declaration of Independence, asserting for the thirteen colonies "that as Free and Independent States they have full power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts & Things which Independent States may of Right do." Under the terms of the treaty, the

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the north ...

and St. John's Tribes (

Maliseet The Wəlastəkwewiyik, or Maliseet (, also spelled Malecite), are an Algonquian-speaking First Nation of the Wabanaki Confederacy. They are the indigenous people of the Wolastoq ( Saint John River) valley and its tributaries. Their territo ...

and

Passamaquoddy The Passamaquoddy ( Maliseet-Passamaquoddy: ''Peskotomuhkati'') are a Native American/First Nations people who live in northeastern North America. Their traditional homeland, Peskotomuhkatik'','' straddles the Canadian province of New Brunswick ...

) committed to "supply and furnish 600 strong men...or as many as may be" for service in the Continental Army. (600 Indigenous fighters from the Wabanaki confederacy was a significant reduction from the 1200 fighters estimated to be available during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the s ...

. There were 5000 British troops in Nova Scotia by 1778.) Three of the six Mi'kmaq delegates who signed the treaty "manfully and generously" volunteered to enlist immediately. The treaty also notes that their pay would commence upon their arrival at Washington's camp in New York. Tribal forces formed an "American Battalion" in the

Battle of Fort Cumberland The Battle of Fort Cumberland (also known as the Eddy Rebellion) was an attempt by a small number of militia commanded by Jonathan Eddy to bring the American Revolutionary War to Nova Scotia in late 1776. With minimal logistical support from Ma ...

(November 22 – December 28, 1776). They also protected the Maine border and launched other attacks against British installations.Denny (1987). Since 1995, the town of

Watertown, Massachusetts Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and is part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Square, and the West End. Watertown ...

has held an annual Treaty Day celebration. Mi'kmaw historian Daniel N. Paul notes many individual Mi'kmaq did indeed volunteer and serve with the Continental army as per the terms of the Treaty. However the Signators who signed on were representing only their bands; its part of Mi'kmaq Treaty protocol that each bands was Sovereign and could sign Nation to Nation agreements; then they would return home to present the agreements to the Grand Council, the Council of Women, and finally to all citizens, which if consensus occurred, the newly signed Treaty would be ratified District by District. The Watertown Treaty was never fully ratified by all Mi'kmaq bands until modern times. Following the original signing of the Treaty, it was ratified by all the bands of the Maliseets in a plebiscite. The Treaty of Watertown is still honored today: all Mi'kmaq are allowed to join the US Armed Forces, regardless of the Nation of their birth. These warriors who have gone to Iraq and Afghanistan, and many other places around the world are celebrated.

References

Sources

* (includes full text of both treaties). *Christopher Groden & Gary Simon
"Alliance and Renewal"
WatertownTreaty.org, retrieved January 2, 2006. * Alex Denny (Mi'kmaq Grand Captain)
Address to the Massachusetts House of Representatives
June 24, 1987. WatertownTreaty.org, retrieved January 2, 2006.

External links

*https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/civil/legacy/2011/04/22/C-FRAUDS_FCA_Primer.pdf
Full Text of Watertown TreatyImage of Watertown TreatyPDF Images of Treaty Manuscript with Background History and Commentary from the Mi'kmaq
Romani Union
Massachusetts Executive Order No. 126 (July 8, 1976)
*https://www.usaopps.com/government_contractors/contractor-5982179-MIKMAQ-AMERICAN-TRUCKHOUS.htm aka http://www.micmac-nsn.gov/

UN/ European Union and Independence from British crown (Admiralty Law)

International Laws

{{Authority control Mi'kmaq in the United States Watertown Watertown, Massachusetts 1776 in the United States Watertown Watertown First Nations history Diplomacy during the American Revolutionary War United States Declaration of Independence 1766 in Nova Scotia

Terms

See also

References

Sources

External links