Ottoman Algeria in Western Diplomatic History with ... - Bibliothèque

independence raised questions bout the future of trade in the Mediterranean in
general. The loss of British admiralty passes and privileges enjoyed previously
under the Algerian-British treaties, particularly, triggered fears among many
leading American politicians who predicted an uneasy, even perilous, situation
for American interests in the region. The Continental Congress, as early as
1776, expressed concerns about potential dangers coming from the side of
Algiers even though nothing could have indicated that whatsoever aggressive
intentions, and even less deeds, towards a country that had not existed yet
emanated from that far away and unknown country, meaning Algiers, that the
American were quick to condemn prematurely. This is clearly discernable in
the “plan of treaties to be proposed to foreign nations,” better known as the
Plan of 1776, 100 which Congress devised as a model treaty for future American
treaties. Article VII of the plan stated:
The most christian king shall protect, defend and secure, as far as in his
power, the subjects, people and inhabitants of the said United States, and
every of them, and their vessels and effects of every kind, against all
attacks, assaults, violences, injuries, depredations or plunderings, by or
from the king or emperor of Morocco, or Fez, and the states of Algiers,
Tunis and Tripoli, and any of them, and every other prince, state and
power on the coast of Barbary in Africa. 101
It is evident that this plan was not intended for Muslim kings with whom
probably Congress did not envisage to have diplomatic relations and peace
treaties but it was intended for a probable ‘christian king’ who would sanction
the terms stated by the Americans. Barely two months after declaring
100 Bemis, A Diplomatic History of the United States, 5 th edition (New York/Chicago/San Francisco:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1965), p. 66.
101 SJ, 2:6, 10, Plan of a Treaty with France, September 17, 1776. See Appendix 3.
191