The Treaty of Tripoli
“The 1796 treaty with Tripoli states that the United States was ‘in no sense founded on the Christian religion’ This was not an idle statement, meant to satisfy muslims-- they believed it and meant it.” ~Ken Harding
What was this treaty with Tripoli?
The Barbary Pirates, Muslim pirates with support from countries such as Tripoli, Aligiers, Tunis, and Morocco attacked any and all vessels of Christendom. Christendom? Europe and America. The statement above comes from one of the treaties The United States of America forged with the Muslim state of Tripoli. We had only a small navy at the time and could not handle the Barbary pirates. Prior we had relied upon the British and French to protect our ships, but now we were independent. It was one of the first international trouble we had as a nation.
Article 11 of the treaty is what brings us such controversy today. It reads in English,
“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 Mussulmen [Muslims],—and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan [Muslim] 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.”
(The Muslim version of the treaty may have had no such phrase in it, but since the American version did, and it was that version that Congress passed, we will only deal with the American version of the treaty)
So even looking at the full quote itself, it can be said that this is Not saying that we are not a Christian nation at all, but that in the sense that we are not opposed to or have any “enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility of Mussulmen” such as has been the case with European “Christendom”; we are not like that.
The treaty was obscure, just one of many agreed upon to deal with the Barbarys. This treaty failed though, when the U.S. failed to pay tribute to the state of Tripoli. So Tripoli attacked American ships. President Thomas Jefferson built up the navy and blockaded the state of Tripoli. Eventually Tripoli sued for peace and the struggle ended, but the verbiage was not quite the same. It was not that we were not a Christian nation, but that America had no official religion. We do not to this day. We never have. England’s official religion was the Church of England. France and Spain’s official religion was Catholic. The United States of America had religious freedom. We had No official church religion. We were different.
That is what it meant. Why it was in there with that verbiage, no one really knows. We do not have much information on the transaction when it took place, we only know what it said. But we can be sure that it is not a support of those who claim the Founding was of Deism and Atheism. This treaty was not meant to be a litmus test, nor any where near a declaration of import. What we can know, according to a Biography of Joel Barlow, the man who penned the Treaty of Tripoli, is that:
"Barlow makes a clear distinction between the state church as an ally of authoritarian government and plain religion. He argues that the wedding of church and state is a great evil and points to the blessings enjoyed by the United States without a state church. As a result, he asserts, 'in no country are the people more religious.'" ~David Barton
This is the distinction that must be made. One that the vast majority of the Founders believed in. There must be a separation. There must not be a National religion. A national church. At the same time the Church must not dictate our government. There must remain a separation of the two. But not a separation from. This is not saying no politician can be Christian, no. For “he asserts, ‘in no country are the people more religious.’”
Jared Williams
What was this treaty with Tripoli?
The Barbary Pirates, Muslim pirates with support from countries such as Tripoli, Aligiers, Tunis, and Morocco attacked any and all vessels of Christendom. Christendom? Europe and America. The statement above comes from one of the treaties The United States of America forged with the Muslim state of Tripoli. We had only a small navy at the time and could not handle the Barbary pirates. Prior we had relied upon the British and French to protect our ships, but now we were independent. It was one of the first international trouble we had as a nation.
Article 11 of the treaty is what brings us such controversy today. It reads in English,
“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 Mussulmen [Muslims],—and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan [Muslim] 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.”
(The Muslim version of the treaty may have had no such phrase in it, but since the American version did, and it was that version that Congress passed, we will only deal with the American version of the treaty)
So even looking at the full quote itself, it can be said that this is Not saying that we are not a Christian nation at all, but that in the sense that we are not opposed to or have any “enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility of Mussulmen” such as has been the case with European “Christendom”; we are not like that.
The treaty was obscure, just one of many agreed upon to deal with the Barbarys. This treaty failed though, when the U.S. failed to pay tribute to the state of Tripoli. So Tripoli attacked American ships. President Thomas Jefferson built up the navy and blockaded the state of Tripoli. Eventually Tripoli sued for peace and the struggle ended, but the verbiage was not quite the same. It was not that we were not a Christian nation, but that America had no official religion. We do not to this day. We never have. England’s official religion was the Church of England. France and Spain’s official religion was Catholic. The United States of America had religious freedom. We had No official church religion. We were different.
That is what it meant. Why it was in there with that verbiage, no one really knows. We do not have much information on the transaction when it took place, we only know what it said. But we can be sure that it is not a support of those who claim the Founding was of Deism and Atheism. This treaty was not meant to be a litmus test, nor any where near a declaration of import. What we can know, according to a Biography of Joel Barlow, the man who penned the Treaty of Tripoli, is that:
"Barlow makes a clear distinction between the state church as an ally of authoritarian government and plain religion. He argues that the wedding of church and state is a great evil and points to the blessings enjoyed by the United States without a state church. As a result, he asserts, 'in no country are the people more religious.'" ~David Barton
This is the distinction that must be made. One that the vast majority of the Founders believed in. There must be a separation. There must not be a National religion. A national church. At the same time the Church must not dictate our government. There must remain a separation of the two. But not a separation from. This is not saying no politician can be Christian, no. For “he asserts, ‘in no country are the people more religious.’”
Jared Williams
